How about eggs for breakfast?

Three boiled eggs should get you around 10 minutes of peace, quiet and total focus from your little one! It is great for fine motor skills, concentration and independence so it is a win for everyone. They will love being able to serve you breakfast 

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Success builds confidence!

Let's start the year by sending our children off to succeed! Remember we want every task that we give the children to be an attainable one, in which they can always succeed and build their confidence.

Another school year is ramping up to start soon, for all of you at Shenton Park, Mount Lawley and Karrinyup we will be starting the school year on the 18th of January, for Swanbourne we will be back on the 1st of February. I know you will be soon starting to get prepared, every year I send out the basic info about what to bring and I know a few parents read it, but since it doesn't seem to be too many I am trying a different tack!

Here is a bit of role playing for the day. I want you to imagine you are a three year old and you are coming towards the end of your day at preschool, time to pack your school bag up to take home. Now you have a lunch box, drink bottle, hat, spare change of clothes, 3 paintings, a page of writing, some sewing, a macaroni necklace, the shoes and socks that you quickly cast aside five minutes after mum left, your jumper and a small, but very important crocodile you coloured and stuck together this afternoon!

Now imagine that your mum had given you the adorable little lady bird bag, that quite literally won't fit a lunchbox in it... Do you think you would be able to easily complete the task, feeling competent and successful at the end of doing so? If you answered that question with a big fat no, then I beg you to think long and hard before sending your child off to preschool with anything resembling this.

On the other hand, faced with something like the snowman bag, your child is much less likely to give up, because it isn’t nearly so difficult. They can pack their bag, feeling competent and successful. Instead of chucking everything they accumulate over the course of the day on the floor in the general bag keeping area, they can easily pop into a bag that presents no resistance. They can learn to look after their things, keep a tidy area and be much less likely to lose things. Their lovely little creations and work don’t get scrunched up, left on the ground to get stepped on or eventually thrown out because no one knows who it belongs to. All round success!

The third photo is of the mess of bags packed to go home at the end of the day last year in Swanbourne. One parent had bought a bag like I had recommended… In a sea of little bags surrounded by mess it stands out, easy to fill with a nice big opening, no fiddly zips and plenty of space. I think this one came from Coles, they have some fruity ones. Best and Less had some last year with all kinds of characters like Peppa Pig, Spiderman etc if you think that would be more up your child’s alley and I know on ebay you can get all kinds of different characters. Cloth ones seem to be less useful than these plastic ones as they seem to be too floppy for the children to keep open and fill. They cost about $2-5, a small price to pay for giving your child attainable success and the ability to look after their belongings…

10 Things to do to make your next car trip fun, educational and entertaining!

     

      Life is busy, I know most of you are juggling school runs for multiple children and locations, football, tennis, dance, music, gymnastics, swimming, the list goes on… Chances are your child is spending a few minutes just sitting in the car or stroller every day. Here are ten games to help your child develop while on the move, whether it is a drive down to Dunsborough or to the park, keep your little one busy, entertained and learning! Remember repetition is needed for all their skills to develop, so don’t just play a game once, if they show interest do it over and over and over and over!

     1.       Animal Sound I spy – ask your child what sound a c – a – t makes. Sound out the letter sounds, not names and if they make the right animal sound, you know they have made the connection between the letters and formed the correct word. This is great practice for preparing them for reading phonetically.

     2.       If they are good at the above game you can ask them what letter sound does a word starts with. I.e. ‘What letter sound does cat start with’. Remember this is sounds, not letter names. The obvious progression, have them sound out short phonetic words. ‘how do you sound out dog?’ d-o-g etc. You can also play the old I Spy game in a simplified version: 'find me something beginning with c'.

     3. True or False: Test what they know and teach them some new facts. You can also test their comprehension and quiz them on a story you read that day or the night before. See what they have understood or remembered, you may hear some interesting interpretations of the story or be entertained by what they have taken away from it! 

     4.       Play ‘What is the right thing to do?’ You can pose all sorts of behavioural/ social questions to them, you probably have a fair idea of what kind of situations your child might benefit from talking through. There is a big range of things that the children go through from the youngest ones lashing out physically when in confrontational situations to the older ones forming cliques, excluding children etc. You can make these pretty leading questions so they know what the obvious answer is and accentuate the point you are trying to make. When they get it right, you can agree with them and point out why they are so right to reinforce the correct behaviour.

E.g.

·         ‘If Sam has the puzzle that you want, do you go and push him out of the way and snatch it or do you wait until he has finished and then ask him if you can have a turn?’

·          ‘If you are playing with your best friend and Sophie wants to play with you as well, do you tell Sophie that you already have a friend to play with and run away from her or do you play all together because it is nice to be friends with everyone and more fun with more friends?’

·         If you need help or want to tell me something while I am speaking to someone else, do you wail like a baby and tug on my arm or do you say “excuse me Mummy, I need help’ and wait for me to finish what I am doing?

     5.       A bit of counting practice at the lights. ‘Let’s see how much we can count to before the lights change to green.’

     6.       Singing! We really believe that singing things makes it easy to remember. Heck, before I was a preschool teacher I would have had to think long and hard to tell you all the planet names, now I can list them all in order without a second thought, all thanks to a little song! Teach them what you know and I will make sure to get some videos of the children singing our favourite songs up soon!

     7.       Once your child knows a few songs, hum the tune and have them guess what the song is. In the class we play the song on the keyboard and have them guess what the song is. They get pretty fast with a bit of practice!

     8.       One for children who have insecurities being left: On the way to school talk about what they would like to do first. I had one little boy last year who would decide in the car on the way to school with his mum, what flag he would like to colour in.  He started the day confidently with a clear idea of what he wanted to do. If asking your child what they want to do first is too broad a question, figure out something they like to do like flags, puzzles, sewing, making an animal, drawing, writing etc. and just ask them what variety of this they will start the day with.

     9.       For the way home: Ask your child what the best thing they did at school was, what made them the most happy? Studies show that reflecting on the things that we are thankful for or have enjoyed make us happier people. It is also more likely to give you an insight into what they have done and get them talking than asking ‘how was your day?’ or ‘what did you do today?’ If they struggle to answer you at first, tell them what was the best part of your day and why. They may copy your answers at first, but with time they should start to give it more thought over the day and remember little things to tell you.

    10.    In the morning, quiz your child on what day of the week it is, what month, what season it is, what the date is and what the weather is like. Start with the easy ones like the weather and give them hints like what the day before was if they need it. If they remember what they have talked about with you, until they do the days of the week activity at Smart Start, they will be sure to impress their teacher!

Top Ten ways to get a little counting practice into your child's day

      Practice makes perfect, but it really seems to be hard to put five minutes aside every day to practice things like counting or numbers. Here is our top ten ways you can integrate a bit of counting/number practice into a busy life on the go!

1.       Count each step as you go up or down stairs or every step as you walk across the road, over a bridge, across a park - you get the idea!

2.       If you are walking with your child and another adult, play 1, 2, 3 whee! Both adults hold one of their hands and when you get to a certain number you lift them up and swing them ahead. Instead of just counting to three give them a number to count to each time that you think will be challenging for them! 

3.       Whenever your child wants to have a snack tell them a number of whatever they are having that they can have, then get them to count out the crackers/ raisins/ tiny teddies/ apple slices etc into a bowl.

4.       Go old school and play ‘Snakes and Ladders’ or other board games that involve dice and counting. Have your child count the dots on the dice and then count each step out on the board too. You can have them ‘help’ you count your dice and moves as well for extra practice.

5.       Collect a bunch of shells at the beach/ little nuts at park/ rocks or pebbles and count how many you have found

6.       Counting backwards is great too! Every time you need your child to be somewhere do the count backwards from ten. I.e. I need you in the bathroom to brush your teeth, ten seconds till lift off! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF!

7.       Do some exercise! Getting their body involved really helps children remember and develop. Have them or you give instructions like ‘Do five star jumps’ or ‘clap nine times’. Get creative, we play Simon Says in the classroom to practice the teen numbers. A different child gets to choose the amount each time and they come up with how to act out all the animals, rainbows, sunshine, flowers etc!

8.       One for entertaining them in the car, quiz them on what the next number is each time. Birthdays are always a good focus point because they are instantly interested! ‘You are two now, how old will you be next?’ Your brother is five, what number will he have on his next cake?’ etc.

9.       If your child likes playing with blocks, duplo or lego give them the challenge to see how many blocks they can get before it topples! Have them count as they build and I am sure they will want to do it more than once, they all seem to think a good crash is hilarious!

10.     Do one of our counting sheets 

    Open the link to print our Happy Australia Day sheet! Have your child cut out the numbers, count the pictures and then stick on the corresponding number.

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzunNaHHgjpb2pzcGI0UkpqN2M/view?usp=sharing 

Reasons why we need to teach our young children to read

I thought this is a really interesting read - great to remember why we are doing these things with our children. I don't feel like I have come across any dyslexic children in the preschool classroom, so I found it particularly interesting to read that neuroscientists have found that the preschool brain is malleable or able to reorganise dysfunctional or dyslexic reading circuitry if we intervene 

early.https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/201107/the-top-10-reasons-teach-your-baby-or-toddler-read

Counting!

Counting!

Jake is very confident counting to ten and identifying the numbers to ten. Now it is time for him to put the two together and take it to the next level, learning how to enumerate. We do this in everyday life whenever I see the opportunity, as well as in books we are reading. At school we love using what we call ‘counting sheets’ to help the children develop their enumerating skills. These sheets have the numbers written on them, in little boxes that the children cut out and stick on the corresponding boxes. This gives the children some cutting and sticking practice as well and gives them an activity to practice their number recognition in the most basic form, having only to find the number, rather than have to identify it outright.

If your little one is like Jake, keen to cut, but not really at the point where they can cut on lines without just cutting it all to pieces, help guide them by standing behind them and holding the scissors over the top of their hands. Make sure they are holding the scissors in the correct way as this is laying the foundations for successful cutting by themselves. If you know the tune to the song ‘Open Shut them’ you can sing along as you cut (you have to sing it quite slowly so it is in time for their little snips!)

 ‘Open shut them, open shut them, give a little snip!,

  Open shut them, open shut them, snip snip snip snip snip.’

When all the little boxes are cut out you can play finding them, checking that if you ask your child to find each number they are able to do it. When you have played finding them, have your child count the objects in the first box and then find the number, before sticking it in the box. If they are racing through counting at top speed, rather than taking their time and counting each picture, tell them that they need to give each one a number and that the (insert name of picture, such as 'Daddy Pig') will be sad if it doesn't get it's own number!). Try to avoid pointing to the picture and having them count, but if necessary hold their hand and help them point carefully and slowly to each number as they count. Carry on this way until the sheet is done. Your little one can colour in the pictures if they would like. Jake is especially keen to do one if it is a present for someone, but he is also in love with Peppa Pig at the moment so anything with her on it has instant appeal to him!

We are listening to ‘Musical Times Tables – It’s Fun To Multiply’ by Don Spencer, part of a pack I got from the ABC shop. I had a past student who at four years old, had amazing counting abilities, he seemed to be able to see the pattern and know how much was in front of him. If they were laid out in rows, such as four lots of 8 counters he could tell you it was 32, almost instantly! He didn’t seem to be counting but could just see the pattern and knew. His mother said she played a CD like this of times tables in the background once every day. It could be purely coincidental as he was an extraordinary child in other ways, but I do believe in the power of singing when wanting to learn easily. It is also a major part of Accelerated Learning and we often see the benefit of using it in the classroom. Montessori saw that the children went through 'sensitive periods' where something could be learnt easily and quickly if it was done during this window of opportunity. If they are learnt in song form, perhaps it is during this age of rapid language development that it is the ideal time to just 'absorb' the times tables. 

I was always quite good at tables, thanks to the painful experience of having my dad grill a reluctant younger me, on our drive to school and back every day! I would love for Jake to be able to absorb them in an easy and painless way and I do see him starting to try and sing along from time to time, so I live in hope! An obvious footnote here is that it may drive you nuts and you might also find yourself absent-mindedly walking around later singing these repetitive little chants to yourself…

I have attached some basic 1-5 counting sheets below, which I recommend starting with, even if your child is able to do something more advanced. Small successes will help build their confidence and regardless of their skill they will get some good counting and cutting practice. If you would like more advanced ones with 1-10 or 10-20 feel free to email me at admin@smartstarteducation.com.au.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzunNaHHgjpT2hJSjlkTUs1NGc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzunNaHHgjpQ0hxdmZ6RUJMaUk/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzunNaHHgjpaHkzb2k2Q1diNGM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzunNaHHgjpalZxTzZfYnk0Vms/view?usp=sharing

Treasure Baskets

Treasure Baskets            

Maria Montessori believed that children went through ‘sensitive periods’, which she described as ‘windows of opportunity’ for learning something specific, with the greatest ease. A lot of research has supported this idea. For example, we now know that children develop language skills far more easily in their developmental years, than later in life. Around the age of two or three she observed a sensitivity for small objects, where children were fixated on small objects and tiny details.  During this time you will be amazed at the things your child might notice, that you have overlooked, or wonder at how they can be so fascinated by things that seem so inconsequential to us! 

You might also wonder what it is that your child is learning during this period, what can playing with all these little objects do for your child’s development? Well, in order for your child to understand the bigger picture of the world around them, they need to deconstruct it and break it down to the smallest level. They need to understand the smaller pieces that make up this bigger picture, examine them in great detail and then see how they fit together. When you think of it this way I think it makes sense that it is so interesting for them, it is human nature to want to know how the world around us works and so much of it is incredibly amazing when you take a step back and see it from a child's perspective. When the child is interacting with tiny objects they are also required to develop their physical skills, their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, the pincer grip that will later be used to hold a pencil and a fine control of movement.

Jake has been quite fascinated by small objects for the last few months. We have a box of assorted objects at school, which we play ‘I Spy’ with, a game where the teacher will spell out a word, C – A – T and the child will have to hear the word and find the object. Jake has for a long time, loved to take out the box and line the objects up, talking about them and looking at them for extended periods of time. He has also loved doing this with small toys at home like little cars and animals.  A month or two ago I started putting, what Montessori called, a ‘Treasure Basket’ on his shelf at home. A treasure basket tends to be a basket with a dozen or two assorted items inside it for your child to investigate and explore. They can have a theme and it is nice if they can have different things within it that appeal to all of the five senses. They can be tailored to any age, when Jake was a baby I had a basket of different miniature (but big enough nothing could be swallowed) kitchen items for him to explore; a small wooden spoon, mini whisk, little pastry brush etc. I have seen people make baskets with all the objects the same colour so that they can focus on teaching their child that colour, or all the objects made of a certain material such as wood or metal. At school we often have a treasure basket of different containers, which the children love. They practice opening and closing the lids, learning to match which lid goes on which box and they like to smell the containers and talk about what was in them! 

I often have parents say that their young child needs to be sitting with them at all times when they are playing or that their child can’t concentrate on something for long before they move off to the next thing. I really think this is a great activity to put on the shelf for any child like this. If you want to extend the amount of time your child can concentrate and work independently, this seems to be a fantastic way. In order to keep it a fascinating exercise for your child you will want to swap some or all of the objects every week and experiment to find what kinds of things they are really interested in. I found that just adding to the treasure basket is not a good thing, a limited amount of objects is best or it becomes overwhelming and they end up tipping it everywhere and making more mess than they are happy to clean up at the end of the exercise. Just like with their toy collections, less seems to be more. You can show your child how to take the objects out and stand them up, talk about what they are and what they do/ are used for/ noises they make etc. If you can see your child is interested and absorbed take a step back and see how long they are happy to work independently. As an extension for older children who want you to be involved, play the I Spy game, spelling out the letter sounds and seeing if they can make the word.

                                                       

 It isn't necessary to have a theme and mostly it is easiest to keep it fresh if you just have to rummage through some drawers for a new bunch of odds and ends. Here are some ideas for themes if you feel like it:

·         Bottles and containers - you can put some little moon stones or marbles inside the containers as the children seem to love this extra element of discover

·         Magnetic vs not magnetic – I have just given Jake a magnet and he has explored what it attracts and what it doesn’t

·         Floating and sinking - Might be a good one to do outside if you want to allow them to work independently without a huge mess being created!

·         Animal/ Dinosaurs – good for learning the names and sounds animals make

·         Colour baskets – all the objects of the same colour

·         Metal, wood, cloth – all the objects made of the same material

·         Lego is great because there is so many little fiddly bits to click in and out. Jake loves fiddling with Lego, not really building, fiddling away connecting trailers, clicking people on and off etc. He also quite likes Barbies, talking about the body parts, fiddling with all the little bits that come with them, putting on shoes and clothes, they are all great fine motor skill exercises and grab his attention.

                         

                               

The next time you go to the effort of taking your little one to somewhere like the zoo and they just want to look at the gumnuts on the path or watch the ants, don't be frustrated, try and see the world from your child's perspective and marvel at how amazing every little component of it is! 

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day,

you may look back and realise they were the big things"