Helping Children Look for Firsts and Lasts

Spring Is a Time of Firsts and Lasts

Spring is a time of first and lasts.  Since young children are natural scientist and detectives, searching for change during this time of year is a great game to play. They sharpen their observation, writing, and drawing skills. Searching and record keeping can take many forms.

Looking for Firsts

  Families can sit down together with a spiral notebook or papers staples together and think of signs of spring. Make a list of signs and predict the days they will occur.  If you want to bet, the winner can earn a silly reward or some serious money like a nickel.

  What will be on your list?  How about the first time a spot in your yard has no snow? When will the first robin or flock of birds, first rabbit, or first deer appear?  When is the first time you can visit the park and go down the slide? When will the snow be entirely out of your yard or out of the woods?  When will the ice be gone from a lake or river in your area or on a mountain? When will you see the first tree buds and leaves? When does the temperature first hit 60 or 70 degrees.  Think of signs in your particular area that signal a definite change in the weather by what people wear or do?

A Lists of Lasts

  Now make a list of lasts and write them in your notebook or on a calendar—last snowfall, last time to wear a winter jacket, or last time to shovel.

Make Lots of Lists

  You can keep score of who makes the best predictions and do this as a new tradition every spring.

   The idea of prediction and record keeping was made famous by Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” His company printed it from 1732 to 1758 and helped make him a very rich man. It contained a calendar, weather, predictions, astronomy, and daily advice for living frugally and well borrowed from religious books and writers through the ages.

  The “Old Farmers’ Almanac” founded in 1792 continues to this day.  It carries on the tradition of an almanac which is a book about anything and everything deemed useful.  It has the dates when it is best to cut your hair, lose weight, end projects, and have dental care. You name it.  It’s an almanac!

Is It Spring, Yet?

This past winter the forecast was “winter will be warmer than normal, with the coldest periods in late November, early and late December, early January, and early February. Precipitation and snowfall will be below normal, with the snowiest periods in mid- to late December and early to mid-February. April and May will be cooler than normal, with normal precipitation.”

  For more fun activities see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons, on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Writing Personalized Books with Preschoolers

Talk and Draw Personalized Books

Young children may not be able to form their letters yet, but they are able to talk and draw.  All they need are family members to help them write a personalized book. Children like to talk about themselves and be the complete focus of an adult’s attention.

  Gather some computer paper, pencils, crayons, and markers. Explain that you are going to make a little book together to share with others to read on the next Face time with a loved one, a gift, or a book to add to the book box.

Talk Together

 The first step to writing is talking. You can talk together and take some notes for the sentence you will write for them in their words. 

   The topic is all about me, but there are many sentence 

Stories About Your Pets Are Fun

starters to help approach the topic: I am happy when… My favorite (inside or outside) things to do are … These are the things I can do (jump, run, pet my dog, sing, tell a story, set the table, ride my trike, cuddle, hug, smile, play a game, draw, throw a ball … Let me tell you about (child’s name) ....   Take out a mirror or take a picture to help them describe their hair, eyes, smile, teeth or missing teeth, busy fingers, wiggly toes, favorite clothing.

 Virtues are always good book starters: I am thankful for… I am kind when I… I show respect when I… I help when I... I show love when I... I am helpful when….

Family Teaching

   The topic may be something the family is teaching right now like self-control: I am kind to my brother when I… When I am angry I can…I am courteous when…I am prayerful when I… I help stay healthy when I….

  They can write about favorite foods, animals, places to go, colors and things to do in every season. Children can also write about the healthy habits and foods they know are good for them.

  After talking, take out three pieces of paper and fold them in half to make a small book. Together choose a few sentences to write as a captions for their illustrations.

Finish Off Your Writings Into a Book

   Talk about what they would like to draw for each sentence. They can draw illustrations on separate pieces of paper that can be cut out and glued in the book. Draw with them. You can show how to draw stick people and add features and clothes. Give a little help only if they are stuck. When finished add a cover, date, and staple together. You can reinforce the binding with packaging tape over the staples. Some pages can remain empty for another writing time together.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

  For more ideas see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live Tuesdays and Saturdays, and pod casts, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Helping Children With Summer Writing

Save Holiday Memories

There are many fun ways for families to help children get ready for reading and writing at school and practice their skills during the summer. The interest in self-expression through talking and drawing begins at a very early age. Young children become writers as they realize that they can use marks on a paper to stand for ideas they are thinking.

Keep Writing Materials Handy

Later children learn by copying what they see adults do.
  Families have many opportunities during the day to show that writing, either with crayon pencil or on the computer, is a valuable skill. Adults can model that ideas are written down by using letters and words.  The following activity is a fun way to help young children realize that their own ideas can be written down and read by themselves and others. You will need pencils, paper, glue, and photos of families, pets, or trips. 
Make a Picture Poster
  Find some photos of your family. Then spend some time talking about the photos and choose a few favorites. Help your child glue one or two pictures on a sheet of paper or make a copy. Leave lots of space between the photos.  Make up a simple sentence about the picture.  Using your child’s words and ideas, print the sentence under each photo.  Use capital letters only for beginning the sentence or names.  When you are finished, point to each word as you read the sentences out loud.  Hang the paper up on the refrigerator or wall for everyone to see.
Make Little Books
  If you have more time, make a little book using a photo on each page and a printed simple sentence that your child has asked you to write.  Make the printing big and clear on each page.  Staple or clip several pages together. 

Grab Family Photos

You might want to make a cover for the booklet with a simple title and your child’s name on the front like My Summer Trip by Cindy. Children can decorate cardboard or a brown paper bag.  Both are quite sturdy. Grocery paper bags can also be turned inside out and cut to the size you need.  Keep the handles on the bag.  Preschool children will enjoy carrying their special books around the house.  Read books together and add them to the storybooks you have for children to use. These also make treasured gifts.
  Talking, storytelling, remembering, reading and writing together are important activities that develop language.  Understanding that ideas can be written down with letters and words is the first step in the development of writing skill. With adults as their first models and teachers, children who experiment and practice communicating through writing at home will be successful writers in school.
Sketch: Mark Nowicki      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

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

Plan a Picnic -- Indoors?

Picnics are definitely a summertime favorite for kids of all ages, but how about planning a wintertime picnic? What better way to enjoy a fun, indoor activity by staying warm and not worrying about the ants! What to bring is always a big decision. Involve your children in menu planning and skill building while you are planning your fun time together. 

Materials you will need: Food magazines or old cookbooks with pictures, scissors, glue, paper plates, markers, crayons, paper punch, yarn, and drawing paper

What to do:

  Plan the Meal: Before you invite your children to go on a picnic, label several paper plates with the incomplete sentence:  _____will eat_____on our picnic. Explain that a menu needs to be planned. Ask your children what are their favorite picnic foods. Be sure to share your favorites. Make a list of these foods. Talk with your child about healthy choices and a well-balanced meal. 

  The nutrition site www.choosemyplate.gov has a many easy food suggestions for young children.  Decide what to bring and put a check mark by each food you will pack. Find pictures of favorite picnic foods in magazines or old cookbooks. Your child might want to draw and color the foods instead.

  Help your child, if necessary, cut out the pictures. Glue one picture in the middle of each paper plate pre-labeled with the sentence. Remind your children that one dot does a lot when using glue. Help your children correctly print their name on the first blank and the name of the food on the second blank. 

  Writing tips:  Use pencil dots as a guide for children to trace. Use only a capital letter at the beginning of your children’s or your name. Help children listen for sounds in the words that will be written down. Children could substitute your name on some of the plates. 

   Make a Meal Book: Decide upon a title and write it on a clean paper plate. Stack the finished plates under the front cover and bind the book along the left edge using the punch and yarn. Take time to read the book together. Have your child read each food item as you pack it. Once you are all packed, off you go on a warm sunny adventure indoors or outdoors!

How does this help my children?

Your children are learning about making healthy choices when deciding on what to eat. They are learning name recognition and writing the names correctly. When writing, your children are learning letter recognition, letter sounds, practicing correct letter formation, and that peoples’ names begin with capital letters. Proper print letter formation is found on line and in children’s practice books.

What else can I do? Go to the library to find  "Teddy Bears' Picnic" by Jimmy Kennedy and "The Bears' Picnic by Stan Berenstain. Then cuddle and enjoy some great picnic tales.

Photos: Picnic Basket: Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Author: Jeremy Noble; Campsite Mural (Teddy Bears' Picnic), Campsie, Omagh - geograph.org.uk - 619801.jpg. From Wikimedia Commons; Salads: By U.S. Department of Agriculture (20111025-FNS-RBN-2046) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Find More Activities: 

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.

Help Children Become Writers

When children begin to understand that they can put their words and ideas down on paper, they are  on their way to becoming writers.Young preschoolers use drawing and scribble writing to begin.  Later, as they develop more muscle control and a little awareness of the importance of letters, they may print strings of letters across the page.  When they start elementary school, they will learn that the sounds they need can be shown by printing certain combinations of letters to make a word.  As a grandparent, you have a wonderful opportunity to model writing and to develop your preschooler’s interest in self-expression. 

Materials You Will Need:  Sheets of white paper, crayons, pencil or pens.

What To Do: Make a picture poster

   This is an activity that can be done anytime during the year.  Be sure your preschooler has many opportunities to scribble and draw with pencils, crayons, washable markers, etc.  Sometimes children will want an older child or adult to draw with them.  First, talk together about what to draw. Maybe they will want to draw other members of the family or their pets or friends or a fun activity. Pictures will vary based on age level and muscle development.

   When the picture is finished to the satisfaction of your child, ask him/her to tell something about it.  Make up a simple sentence together.  PRINT your child’s words at the top or bottom of the paper using lower case letters(not caps)  except for beginning of names.  When you are done, point to the words and read it back out loud several times.  Put the picture up on the refrigerator, or let your preschooler take it around to show and “read” to others.

How Will This Help My Child?

  You can help your preschooler get ready for school by showing that ideas can be written down with letters and words.   When you talk together and make up sentences, you are helping to build a strong vocabulary. Children who have many opportunities to draw, scribble and write develop the necessary small muscle control which is expected in elementary school.

What else can I do?

Sometimes, when you are talking about a picture, it is fun just to print the names of things or label parts of the drawing.  As your child names the different parts, print the word next to it.  For example, print “tree” or “Daddy” or “car”.  Later, point to each word and read it back.  When finished, print your child’s name clearly on the picture. 

Look for more activities like these online at Grandparents Teach, Too and at WNMU Public Radio Learning through the Seasons Podcasts 

Illustrations: Mark Nowicki  

Music and Movement

Just like exercise, young children need music every day. When adults turn on any kind of music or sing, young children naturally move and sing along. Latest research shows the links between music and reading-readiness in young children. Here are some suggestions to help you interact through music with your children and grandchildren the same way you do with language interactions.
Materials:
All kinds of music cardboard and plastic containers paper towel tubes small ball wooden spoons
What to do:
Music activities require neither specific skills nor special competence. Adults and children can enjoy peppy music in the morning and relaxing soft music at lunch, during car rides, before naps and bedtimes.
Marching Band and Exercise
John Phillip Sousa had it right! Sing a march and get moving. If you don’t have marching music, go to www.youtube.com, and search for your favorite college band. Once you have the music, make some instruments. Drums are most popular and easiest to make. Find boxes, plastic containers, and wooden spoons.
The largest box can be a big bass drum. Smaller ones can be snare drums. Listen to the beat and drum together. Drum soft, loud, fast and slow. Try a kazoo (about $1). You can make a homemade kazoo by folding a piece of wax paper over the tooth edge of a comb and humming through the paper. For a trumpet, cover one end of a paper towel roll with wax paper and secure it with a rubber band. Punch a row of holes along one side of the roll with a pen tip. Hum into the open end while covering and uncovering hole to produce different sounds. To make chimes, tie washers on to a ruler and play with a spoon.
Pick up the drums and pretend to be called onto the football field. Marching is great exercise. March right, left, backwards, and turn around. Stop by a football game to watch the band or catch a band practice. Many cities and schools have band concerts you can attend through the year. 

Illustration by Mark Nowicki

Make Sock Puppets with a Tech Twist

Who doesn’t like puppets? Puppetry offers hours of creative fun. You can use materials around the house, but here’s the new Tech twist: grab your cell phone or electronic tablet and create puppet shows online. Then save your electronic puppet show as a video to post and share on Facebook or YouTube with others in your family.

Materials Needed:

Gather old, clean socks and markers. You also need glue, yarn, scissors, buttons, felt or cloth to create the face and other clothing on your puppet.  Check out garage sales or visit your local craft store for sale items.

 Go to the Internet iTunes links below to download the free Sock Puppet and Puppet Pals Apps to your Mac, iPad or iPod Touch.  Puppet Pals also has a full version with multiple characters and backgrounds for $2.99.  For Android phone & tablet users, use the Amazon link and search Puppet Show Apps.

Sock Puppet for iOS App http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sock-puppets/id394504903?mt=8 ; Puppet Pals  for iOS http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puppet-pals-hd/id342076546?mt=8

or search Amazon (www.Amazon.com) for the Puppet Show Android Apps by Bran Herman which costs $ .99

What to do:

Put a sock on your hand, pulling the tip of the sock into your palm to create the talking mouth.  Use the marker to mark the locations for two eyes above your knuckles. Glue the pieces of yarn to create hair, and buttons for eyes. Cut and glue on cloth for a scarf, hat or shirt.

Bring your puppet to life using different voices and puppet face movements to express feelings: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, etc. Your puppet can recite a poem, abc’s, counting, or sing a song. Make up stories with two puppets talking to each other.  This is a fun way for kids to use language and express emotions creating dialog and speaking through their puppets.

Save your stories and recitations as videos and share on Facebook or YouTube. Here you will be able to view your creation over and over.  Kids love repetition and seeing their creations online. For more advanced puppet shows, use the Puppet Pal app. Here are some tips and tricks for using these apps: http://blog.simplek12.com/education/socks-or-puppets/

What else can we do?
Read fairy tales and poems together and discuss how these stories develop. Do a Google search for puppetry videos online using key words “youtube kids puppets” (make sure to include the word “kids” in the search).

How does this help my children?

Puppetry helps develop language and writing skills where kids learn sequencing of events, and visual representation.  Development of emotional learning and communication skills occurs through creation of situations, laying the groundwork for future writing activities. 

Photo from Wikipedia Creative Commons Images at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sockbutterfly.jpg
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