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Summer Vacation is Half Over:( July 9, 2008

Posted by artinshamrocks in active kids, education, games, summer fun, technology.
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Summer vacation is half over and the natives might be getting a little restless.  I was shocked to see Back to School items in the stores already and the latest Lands End catalog is showing new packs, book bags and cool weather outfits for kids. 

Here’s a couple ideas if your child is complaining of boredom:

At Fun Brain Kid Center you child will find all sorts of activities and games that target science, music, geography, art and technology.  The games in each category are ranked by age appropriatness.

Gamequaruim offers dozens of free online videos.  There is everything from Berenstain Bears and Curious George to videos on the presidents and black history.  You can learn sign language or take a tour of the human body.

If the computer isn’t an option your child can read, read, read!  It doesn’t matter what they read really-the sports page, nonfiction on butterflies, a cookbook or a challenging novel.  The American Library Assoication has a list of suggested titles for 8-11 year olds and a list for 12-14 year olds.  Reading fills your brain with facts and expands your vocabulary AND there are so many good books!

Should You Try to Teach a 2 Year Old to Read? June 20, 2008

Posted by artinshamrocks in New Moms, Toddlers, education, games, toys.
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I’ll never forget having a play date with a fellow teacher’s two year old.  We thought it would be fun to let the little girls play while we relaxed and chatted.  I was floored to see her lower kitchen cupboards covered in sight words, letters and common nouns.  Actually many of her household furnishings were labeled too with a flash card and the name of the object.  Her two year old happily lead me through the house reading each one to me as my child examined the lint between her toes.

While there are some children who read very young, others just don’t “get it” until they are a little older.  I personally don’t believe in pushing a very young child to read but there are some common sense things you CAN do to get them interested in reading.

Two and three year olds aren’t ready to sit down and learn letters and words but you can help them develop their oral language skills.  Encourage them to talk about a story you’ve read together.  Expand their experiences and vocabulary.  Do fun activities together and talk about them.  Sing and count things together.  Make up silly rhymes.

Four year olds will begin showing more interest in print.  But even that is an individual thing.  Cash in on teachable moments!   Teach them sounds, letters and numbers when they show an interest.  If you want to excite him, teach him to read and write his name.  He will be more interested in this word than any other.  Next move on to Dad or Mom or a siblings name.

The most important thing you can do is read to your child.  This builds language skills and keeps their curiosity alive.  Give them age appropriate learning toys but don’t discount building blocks, leggos or puzzles.

Even though more is expected now days out of preschoolers and kindergartners, as long as you encourage them and help them to progress at their own speed you will find them enjoying a variety of print in no time.

It’s Summer and Time to Raise a Reader June 3, 2008

Posted by artinshamrocks in Toddlers, education.
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 Fun is the ticket to raising a reader! And summer is the season for fun.  Reading is not an elective in life, it’s a necessity.  Find out what your kids like and start reading about those subjects with them.  Enjoy books together and let them see you read.  The joy of sharing books is the most wonderful gift you can give your child and what better time then this summer?

 You will need:  A warm snuggly toddler or perhaps a sullen preteen-whatever you have lying around, a fun variety of books and printed materials, endless enthusiasm, patience, a positive attitude, the love of reading and a good sprinkling of FUN!

 
Step 1:  Begin when your child is born.  Read, sing, repeat nursery rhymes and point to pictures.  Let your baby play with the book and maybe taste it.  Hold the book so your child can see it clearly.  Don’t forget to continue reading with your children into their teen years but it’s never too soon or too late to start.
 
Step 2:  Let your child see you read often.  Modeling the enjoyment of reading is extremely important.  You can read any material that interests you including books, magazines and the newspaper.  Have a big variety of printed materials in your home for you and your child.
 
Step 3:  Take advantage of your local libraries for family outings.  Check out library, school and bookstore promotions and contests.  Get recommended grade level reading lists from your child’s teacher and work from the Newberry and Calidcott lists for award winning children’s classics.
 
Step 4:  Help your child develop phonemic awareness which is the understanding that words are made up of smaller sounds.  Play games with the sounds and find words that sound alike.  Talking about what words mean expands their vocabulary.
 
Step 5:  Make a special time and place in your home to read.  Encourage older children to read to younger siblings.  Nap time, bed time or after dinner are good times but so are times when you are “waiting” such as doctor appointments, in line somewhere or on trips.  Audio tapes in the car or even sharing your favorite ghost story camping all help to raise a reading.  Give books to your child and others as gifts.
 
Step 6:  Be a fan of silly reading!  If your child loves Captain Underpants and Junie B. Jones then read that.
You little one may ask for the same book over and over.  Perhaps your child is turned on by bugs or dinosaurs or quantum physics.  Hobbies are a great place to start reading non-fiction.  Trying to read something that doesn’t interest them will turn into a chore for you and them.
 When it’s your turn to read use lots of expression and animated voices.  Ask questions about the story and dicuss the characters.  Ask the child open-ended questions.  Encourage little ones to point to the pictures and repeat words or pick out all the red things or count the words beginning with S.  Be an example to your children by letting  them see you read books too.
 
 Don’t demonize other media.  Don’t make computers and TV the bad guys.  Those things are not going away and we do a disservice to our children by saying “TV is bad, reading is good”.  Give children the freedom to choose what they want to read rather than what you think they should read.  You can gently influence their choices later.  Make it FUN and not a chore and you will easily raise a reader and have a fun fulfilling summer! 
 

Baby Talk June 1, 2008

Posted by artinshamrocks in New Moms, Toddlers, education.
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Babies start to understand the meaning of words as early as age 6 months, maybe even earlier.  When they begin talking at around 12 months, their average vocabulary consists of about six words.  This increases to a few hundred words rapidly-mostly nouns-by age 2.  Young toddlers learn words for tangible objects more easily than intangible objects.  For example, a toddler might reach for the cat’s tail and say “kitty”.  “Tail” is a more sophisticated concept.  My daughter thought all the zoo animals were “Yaks” and also included cows and horses in that category. It was cute but not very effective.  So how can you best help your child learn her complicated language skills?
 
First, when the child reaches to say kitty to the cat’s tail.  Use your hand and words to explain that the whole animal is kitty or the cat’s name and that the long twitching part is her tail.  When a child sees a clown’s face she might say “clown” while touching or pointing to the fascinating red shiny nose.  She thinks of the whole object as “clown”.  So to be clear, you need to first explicitly show the whole clown and say “clown”.  When she seems to grasp this idea, you can point to the clown’s nose and your nose and her nose and say “nose”. 
 
These distinctions matter and without them the child could be left with incorrect assumptions about what thing are and mean.  So every animals becomes a yak!  Luckily, kiddos learn very quickly and they can easily relearn misinformation. 
Another thing you can do is read, read, read!  Reading aloud is essential.  Even infants benefit from hearing the sound of the words as you show the pictures.  You can also play the naming game by pointing at objects wherever you are and labeling them for your child.  It’s not necessary to overdo this, just have fun with it.   It’s fascinating to watch a young child learn language and even in bilingual homes the child can quickly and easily grasp many concepts, words and meaning in more than one  language.   Work with your child a little and enjoy them as they discover a whole new world of language.  Too soon they will be chattering none stop. 
 

Home Sweet Home Page May 28, 2008

Posted by artinshamrocks in Parenting Teens, education, safety, technology.
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As you first log on to the Internet the first page you see is your home page.  With Internet Explorer, you can set a number of home pages that your children can navigate and enjoy-you just might enjoy them too.  Many adults set their home page to read the latest news, play games and check the weather. Kids can do this too.  They can start surfing at a site they like right away and parents can relax and know it’s okay.
*ScholasticNews Online, is a great site where you can read the dayily news, catch up on a campaign and election updates or participate in a poll.  They let your child give their opinion too regarding current topics.  The Kids Press is a news column written for kids by kids.  You can test your IQ with games and quizzes and read the latest sports, television and music news.  You can have news downloaded to your desktop five days a week and all of it is timely but geared to kids.
*Science News for Kids, is the place to go to read about all the latest science news.  From there you can link to the game zone and puzzle zone.  Read and have fun with animals, chemistry, the environment, space, math, technology and the weather.  If your child is crazy for anything science than this a particularly good one. features the latest news, a poll zone, kid scoop, games and a homework helper.
*Kids Yahoo, is more commercial but it has a lot of bells and whistles that kids like.  They can heck out the latest music and games, send e-cards, read your horoscope and it’s a good place to access reference materials for reports and homework.
*At PBS Kids News Flash Five,  animated characters report on art, technology, science, sports and national and world news.  You can even write and submit your own story.

One nice thing about these homepages for your kids-you know they are safe and they won’t be seeing anything you’d rather them not see or read.