Family Chores Help Make Kids Successful

Children are great garden helpers.

Families want
 children spending time on activities that lea to success. Doing family chores has been proven a predictor of success according to developmental psychology studies and it is cheap. Family To- Do Lists are trainers for responsibility, wise use time, and accountability. Decades of many studies preschool into the 20’s show that To-Do children are Can-Do adults—academically, emotionally, and professionally (Weissbourd, Rende, Rossman, and Madeline Levine). In studies of 10,000 high school children, personal happiness is not from high achievement but strong family relationships.
Begin Early
  Young adults who begin chores at age 3 are more likely to have good relationships and a sense of family. How is this done?
  When children are small. Think small. A three year old can help put their dirty clothes in the correct place, find spoons and place them on the table, and help pick up toys. Families are training valuable and appreciated helpers. Their rewards are smiles, hugs, and praising words.
Chores with a Smile
    One key is an adult helping with the chore.  When children are young or doing a new job, adults can work along side, praise, and not expect perfection. Even young children can help dust with an old sock over their hand or dust mop under beds to find dust bunnies.
  Keep it simple and age appropriate.  Young children can pick up little sticks and count their pile. 
  Be careful with the language used.  Thank children for being a “helper” rather than helping.  It is important that children view themselves as one who pitches in, who helps the family, neighbors, and the community. Let’s do “our family chores”, not  “your chores”.
  Avoid tying chores to punishment. Keep talk about To-Do Lists positive or at least neutral. If adults complain about sorting, washing clothes, folding, or doing the dishes so will children.
  Carry on conversations.  One family puts cleaned clothing on a bed, and all gather around to fold and hang up their clothes. They discuss good things, successes, and things that could be better from the week. 
  Take turns with jobs. Make a schedule. Everyone has a day to fill the dishwasher.  Little ones pair up with older ones. Everyone takes their age from the table, adults last.   Schedule chore times into the calendar right next to piano lessons and sports practice. Maintain consistency.
  Keep the allowance and chores separate. Often sit down together at the kitchen table, discuss, and make a master list together to make the family run smoothly.
Start small and earn new levels of responsibility. Game it. They understand the concept.
  To build pro-family behavior like empathy, focus on chores that take care of the family rather than personal hygiene. That’s a different list.
Photo: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos; Sketch: Mark Nowicki

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Kids Make Gardens Elegant

Garden stones - fdarling fotos

 It takes patience to grow a garden. Although children are energetic, creative, and curious, they seldom are patient. While waiting for something to happen, families can do activities like these sparkling decorative spheres to keep gardening interest fresh.
  Transition Students in Marquette, their teachers, and helpers, especially Cookie, shared some garden decorations ideas to place among plants.
Concrete Sparkle Spheres
  All ages enjoy making these concrete decorative balls for gardens and window boxes. Take children along to visit a craft section of a store and purchase Styrofoam balls.  They come in many sizes perfect for containers or large plant beds. Discuss what size you’ll need for possible locations. You can even take along a ruler to measure the diameter from edge to edge of the spheres.
  You will also need grout.  The easiest to use comes premixed in a container. Check that the container states it is suitable for outdoors. For decorations, purchase sparkling craft stones that are flat on one side.
  Children can glue the sparkle stones to all sides of the sphere.  Gorilla type glue seems to work the best.  Teach children that a “dot does a lot” so there is not a dripping mess.  Children may work better with glue in a dish and Popsicle stick for a spreader. There is no rule for how close or far apart the gems should be. Remind everyone not to place their hands in their mouth, however.
  While creating, carry on conversations about plants and summer plans. Doing an art project like this helps children open up and teaches them how to discuss topics with adults.
  Allow the gems to dry on the spheres while doing an active activity together. Then cover the spheres with grout according to the directions on the container.  Try not to totally cover all of the gems since when the grout is dry the excess must be wiped off gently with a cloth.  This is similar to putting grout on bathroom tiles and having to clean off the tiles when the grout is dry.
  These spheres make excellent gifts for any

Garden Walk- fdarling fotos

gardener.  They should be taken in for winter, but are quite hardy.
Stepping Stones
  Gardens are often mine fields for children. They want to help but don’t know where to put their feet or how to prevent falling on a plant.  Families can lessen garden anxiety and plant damage by decorating with a stepping stone path. Purchase some cheap concrete tiles found at hardware stores or pick up some large flat rocks. Children can paint or decorate them with sparkle gems and stones.  Place them in the garden to make a stepping stone path through plants so they can water, help weed, and harvest plants.
 Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Small Action Delivers Big Results

Parents, Grandparents, and other caregivers often ask how they can help their children be successful in school.  According to medical providers there is one easy but very important activity that can be done to insure that young children will come to school with great background, good language development, curiosity, and a love of learning.  The answer at every age is read aloud every day!
  Local libraries have fliers published by the organization Reach Out and Read.  Below, with permission, is good advice taken from their publication titled  “Reading Tips for Your Family”.  What great information for all who want to give children a head start for a lifetime of success.
 Read Aloud Every Day
  It’s fun. It’s a special time with your child.  Reading helps children learn many new words to prepare them to be excellent readers in first grade. Here is the wise eight list: 1) It’s never too early to start.  Babies love to be held and to hear your voice. 2) A few minutes are OK. Very young children may sit still for only a few minutes.  They will listen longer as they grow. 3) Let children turn the pages.  Give a little help if they need it. 4) Ask children questions about the story.  Be sure to give them lots of time to think and answer. 5) Make the story come alive.  Read with fun and excitement in your voice.  6) Talk about the pictures.  Make up stories to go with the pictures. Let the listeners join in. 7) Read anywhere, anytime.  Read at playtime bedtime and nap time.  Read any place you have to wait. 8) Go to the local library to get more books. Let children choose some books to bring home. When children are read to by people they love, children learn to love books!”
Reach Out and Read
  Medical providers stress that direct, positive verbal interaction between caregivers and children is crucial to the development of language and understanding. Reading aloud, along with meaningful conversations, have a very important place in early learning.  As the first teachers, families and other caregivers have the wonderful opportunity and responsibility to help children build for a future of success.
   Reach Out and Read is a national non-profit organization of medical providers and volunteers who promote early literacy and school readiness by integrating books and advice to parents during actual well child visits.  Since it’s founding in Boston in 1989, Reach Out has distributed over 6 million books to children and their families.  They serve more than 4 million families annually, and the number reflects participation in every state in the country. 
Sketch: Mark Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Helping Kids Learn to Print - Jean Hetrick

 Printing legibly can be frustrating for some children even with extra help and encouragement. Many first graders have difficulty forming letters, keeping them on a line, and spacing between letters and words. It is most important to help them love reading, telling stories, and putting their creative ideas down on some surface eventually.  Children learn at different rates, but families can patiently and gently help them progress with fun learning activities.
 Here are some ways families can help with printing, especially during the summer months.
 Drawing Fun
  The American alphabet uses circles, line segments and curves. Producing them requires fine motor control. One way to help children print is to help them draw figures. Ed Emberley’s drawing books teach children that the whole world is made of geometric figures and by adding one precise figure at a time one can make cars, animals, and much more. When they make these drawings, they are developing coordination between fingers, eyes, and brain.  Since the way to any child’s brain is through fun, these library books can help struggling children and frustrated families.
  Enlarging the writing instrument may also help. Use fatter pencils and crayons or add pencil grips. Grips are found in office supply sections. Winding a rubber band around where the fingers properly grip the pencil can make a homemade grip. Check on- line for images of how to hold a pencil efficiently.
Enlarge Printing
  Provide ways for large printing. Keep a white board handy for children to make notes and drawings. Leave it clear at first so children can scribble and pretend to print. Then make it look like lined paper. Children can help you use a ruler to make black lines four inches apart. Gradually go to three, two, and one inch as children reach first grade.
  A second white board can look like children’s penmanship paper with red bottom lines (for stop), black or green dash lines, and solid lines at the top. A red bottom line shows where most capital and lower case letters should rest. If children have difficulty finding where to start letters, use a green dot to show where letter strokes should begin for their difficult letters.
  Double check which printing system your school is using and make letters correctly. Penmanship paper may have dots and numbers to help correct formation.
  Take many breaks and change activities often since this is hard word for little hands. Run around, hop, skip and jump.
  Do not try to change the dominant hand. If they use their left hand, that is their comfortable hand. 
Photo: Fran Darling; Sketch: Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest