Most parents will agree that mathematical skills are big deal. So what do you do when your child doesn’t seem interested in numbers? Try this clever number match game from mommy blogger Allison at No Time For Flash Cards. What we like about this game is that you can adjust it to be more or less challenging for kids depending on their development level. The best part is you only need colored construction paper and a marker to get your math magicians learning!
Archive for the ‘Kindergarten (5-7)’ Category
Benefits of Recess
The social and cognitive benefits of recess and free play are too important to be ignored. During recess children learn valuable social skills like learning to negotiate with peers in order to keep playing with them.
“I want to play on the monkey bars too. How about we take turns?”
“You got to choose 4-square yesterday, today let’s play tag, okay?”
“Come play with us! We need more people to play kickball! It will be fun!”
Recess also gives children opportunities to become comfortable with deciding how they want to spend their free time and who they want to spend their time with.
The argument that physical education is a good substitute for recess is not adequately supported. The instructional nature and highly structured time found in physical education classes does not allow children the same sort of free time to explore, be creative, or control how they spend their time with peers, on their terms. Physical education also does not give them the time to practice sophisticated ways to compromise and resolve conflicts.
Dr. Anthony Pelligrini has studied important questions like, does what children do on the playground predict school achievement? In fact, Dr. Pelligrini found that the behavioral measures he developed to observe children at recess actually predicted first grade achievement better than kindergarten test scores. Meaning, playground behaviors should be considered an important part of child development that could determine academic success of children early on in child education.
How do you feel about the amount of free-play time your children gets at school? Do you agree that play could potentially promote academic success?
No Time for Recess
Dr. Anthony Pelligrini is a notable scholar of recess and the education system. According to him, recess is disappearing because school administrators are more concerned with increasing instructional time and claim that recess promotes bullying and aggressive behaviors.
The argument that recess is not as developmentally important as instructional time is not well founded. We know from extensive research, that children who are asked to perform a school task are significantly more attentive after recess than when they are deprived of a break. (See our previous posts, A breath of fresh air and More than just a walk in the park)
Moreover, the argument that recess promotes negative interactions between children is also not supported. In a cross-cultural study, conducted by Pelligrini, they found that less than 2% of behaviors observed on playgrounds are physically or verbally aggressive. Additionally, with adequate adult supervision, this rate becomes even lower. We also know that children who are bullied are also bullied at lunch, on buses, in bathrooms, just about anywhere where children are not well monitored by adults. In actuality, lack of adult supervision may more likely be the culprit in creating opportunities for children to be aggressive.
How much time does your school district allot for recess or free play periods? Are your children monitored well during recess? What do you think of this argument? Do you think children are bullied more on the playground than any other setting at school?
Developmental Santa: Best Gifts for School Aged Kids
School age kids are all about getting things done. The famous psychologist, Erik Erikson, wrote (famously) that the core of development at this age is the crisis of “industry versus inferiority.” In other words, children need to feel capable and competent. They need to make things, know things, and master skills. You can plug into this powerful drive when picking out the perfect presents for the kids on your list.
Projects: Children love to have special projects they can create on their own. For younger children, look for kits that come with instructions. Older and more experienced creators need higher quality materials, and the freedom to follow their creative urges.
- Think about supplies for painting, drawing, candle-making, woodworking, macramé, knitting, assembling electronics, flower arranging, photography, and similar ventures.
Tools for science: Children with a natural curiosity about the world may enjoy a gift that helps them explore and learn about science. For that matter, it’s hard to imagine a child who wouldn’t be curious about nature, given a proper invitation. By invitation, I mean an adult who gets excited about natural things, and gives a child an opportunity to take an interest and learn about the natural world.
- Consider if your child may like a microscope and slides, a telescope, a star map, a gyroscope, binoculars for birding, a starter rock collection, a pick for digging up fossils (or just interesting junk), or a butterfly net.
Lessons: You might have bitter memories of lessons that were forced upon you. But if a child shows urges in an artistic direction, lesions can be joyful and meaningful.
- A child whose feet move with the beat might love dance lessons.
- A child who is always humming tunes may blossom with singing lessons or with a musical instrument.
- The key –and where you have to be a little lucky – is matching the child’s interest with a great teacher.
- A great teacher doesn’t have to be the best dancer or singer or actor, but he or she does need to have a love for the subject, and a love for children and for helping them grow.
Sports and Athletics: Many children express their drive for growth and accomplishment through sports and athletics. If they’re already into a particular sport, it’s no trick to find new, better equipment for them. If they are not sporty, they might still enjoy an introduction to a new non-competitive activity.
- For the last few months I’ve been giving out 3-lb weights to patients of mine who need an extra nudge to get moving. I tell them they’re for “TV exercises” –a pleasant way to keep moving, build muscles, while mentally vegging out. The kids always seem excited.
You’ll notice that I’m not advocating out and out asking children what they want, but instead making educated guesses based on what you know about their interests and leanings.
If you do ask, most of the boys (and many of the girls) will say that they want the newest video game console or handheld player. I know this, because I’ve asked. And sure, video games aren’t entirely passive, and they do teach children things (some good things and some bad), and they do feed a child’s hunger for competence. But most relate only to a virtual world, drawing a child away from the real one. Things in everyday life become dull and boring, because they can’t compete with the non-stop action (complete with catchy theme music) in the virtual reality. Anyhow, there’s a good chance that some less original Santa will tie a boy around an electronic whiz-box. Let them. You can do better, developmentally speaking.
Giving Children Space to Grow
The other day, a friend of mine gave me a book. The title of the book is not important.* What is important is the story behind the gift.
My friend is a pediatrician and mother of three children. As it turns out, they are all star students. The oldest two are attending famous universities, and the youngest has been accepted to a top school as well. Not that getting into a great college is the only index of success, or even the best one. But it is notable that all three children have chosen to play the academic game, and all are finding success.
Being John Malkovich movies It often doesn’t work this way in families. There are families in which one child—often the oldest – is a great student, but the siblings who follow aren’t. They behave as if the “great student” role has been taken, and they choose different paths. One becomes “the artist,” another “the jock,” and perhaps another “the clown.” Of course, it is possible that these roles really are the right ones for each child. But in many cases I think that what drives children is a fear of competition with a sibling who has already staked out a strong position.
In fact, this dynamic did affect my friend’s family. Early on, the eldest son established himself as someone who loved reading and learning. His younger sister, looking up at this budding star, at first shied away from books. How could she hope to compete? And yet, my friend was able to help her daughter get past this fear and develop her own love of learning.
This key, my friend explained, was to find a book that her daughter would fall in love with, a book that was very different from any of the ones that her oldest son favored. The book my friend found for her daughter – and the one she gave to me – was a book of poems about colors and flowers. To a girl who loved pretty things, the appeal of the book was instant. Soon, the girl was reading more and more and writing her own poems. With the third child, it was a different spark that ignited the love of reading.
I’m telling you this story not because all girls need to love flowers, and not even because all children need to love books. I am telling it to you because it shows how a gifted parent finds the keys to unlock each child’s talents.
The Wiggles: Pop Go the Wiggles! divx
Dumb Bell of the Yukon divx A family is an ecosystem, with each organism striving to find a niche. In a family with several children, it takes a tuned-in parent to give each child the space to follow his or her own light. Once that happens, neither competition – nor the fear of competition – controls the direction they grown in.
*The book was Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill Phoebe in Wonderland download
Books that Teach Through Experiences
Origin: Spirits of the Past buy
Many parents come in to Dr. Kessler’s book store wanting to find a book to help a child feel more comfortable with a novel situation, like what happens on the first day or school or when parents divorce. Also, parents often want to find books that will help dissuade children from doing bad behaviors, like bullying.
The Stupids move Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol dvd Kenny trailer At Bertrams Hotel divx Mostly Ghostly psp
Dr. Kessler stresses that books that discuss experiences common to children are important to share with your child. Reading books like these provide an opportunity to talk with your child about your concerns, however, remember they cannot change behavior on their own.
Dr. Kessler recommends looking at the Curious George series of books for good ways to talk about experiences that may be new and/or scary for children. This series offers a number of experiences that children go through, like going to the doctor, getting glasses, and the first day of school.