Inspiring Intelligence
Learning
Preparing for Kindergarten
Dec 7th
Let me preface this post by saying that there are always at least 2 extremes to every issue.
I have been hearing a lot about people who are “Redshirting” their children from Kindergarten.
(Side note: I am a big fan of the authors of the article)
But, today, I am going to focus on the other extreme.
Preparing your child for Kindergarten.
There are things you can do to help,
but please,
remember we are talking about Kindergarten.
Kindergarten ≠ College
Daily activities can help prepare your child for school.
Play games.
Go on letter hunts.
- Write letters on cards and hide them throughout the house, then try to find them all and put them in order
- Talk about a specific letter and look for it in as many places as possible throughout the house.
- Play memory with letters written on notecards
Count things
- Count the items as you are unpacking groceries
- Count peas, crackers, candy and other things as you are eating
Compare and sort things
- Sort buttons, beads, straws
- Play the “which one is different” game with household items
But,
please,
have fun.
Be positive.
If there is already pressure on your child at this age,
imagine how much pressure you and your child will feel
when grades will go on a permanent record.
That does not happen until 6th grade.
Writing is not something that should be mastered before Kindergarten.
Allow your child opportunities to scribble and write for play.
Set up a pretend restaurant and let your child write down your order.
Turn your couch into a doctor’s office and let your child make notes about your health and then write you a prescription.
Scribbling is fine.
I am not a fan of worksheets.
I do not think that gluing triangle shapes onto the letter “T” is going to help your child master the letter “T.”
Instead, talk about words that start with the same sounds.
Play rhyming games.
Play the broken word game.
The Broken Word Game:
You say each of the sounds of the word separate from each other and ask your child to put them together.
Your child should put the 3 sounds in the word cat together when you say them.
(Be careful not to add extra sounds, though. Many people will say “KUH” instead of /K/ and that would make the word cuh-at, which would be harder to put together.)
And while I encourage you to provide opportunities for learning,
please
remember we are talking about Kindergarten.
Let the children enjoy being young.
They Can Speak for Themselves…
Nov 17th
I think something must be in the air this week.
I have seen such great information on the internet.
First, a great video that every parent of a young child should see.
Then, a great article about creativity.
On a daily basis, I must battle parents and even teachers,
who believe that preschoolers should be
drilled and PREPARED for Kindergarten.
They want drills.
They want worksheets.
They want standards and schedules.
But, the result of all of this preparation?
Well, let the children speak for themselves:
Education vs. Exploration
Oct 17th
Many people have heard of unschooling.
In case you have not,
it is an educational philosophy
that rejects the structured feel of school.
Unschooling is often driven by the interests of the child.
There is a spectrum of unschooling,
from the families who do not even teach their children to read
to the families where the parents just reject a structured curriculum.
I believe
(without any real evidence to back my words)
that most parents
would prefer for their children to learn
in a stimulating and exciting environment.
Most parents want to be able to throw the books away
and let the children explore.
At the same time,
I believe most parents do not know how to ensure that
their children are learning
without a little help.
I want to offer that help.
Please let me know what you feel is lacking.
What is preventing you from letting your child’s
natural curiosity
serve as the springboard for learning?
Exciting Open Class!
Oct 8th
So, I had planned to make another post
today
about how to add a button to your blog
for other people to grab.
But,
I just came across something
so exciting
that it is worth interrupting my other plans.
I believe that
so much research is out there
but it is not reaching
the general population.
I want to change that.
So, when I learned that
Yale
is offering
OPEN classes
I could not keep it to myself!
How exciting!?
Just pick your class and learn!
Find them here!
Now,
to find the time to take some classes!
Enjoy!
-Thanks Freely Educate
Fun with Glue
Oct 4th
If you were able to catch any of the great sales on glue, we recently did a glue themed art unit with some fun glue crafts. (If you missed the sales, you can make your own glue by mixing flour and water. Yep, that is it. Just add water to flour until you have a smooth paste.)
I am going to share some of the projects we did with glue, but I would like to encourage you to be creative and not feel like you must adhere to what we did.
that being said, some of the projects we did included:
Glue Animals
Materials
- Glue
- Wax Paper
- Eye balls or other decorations
Directions
- Pour out glue to make shapes on wax paper
- Decorate animal/shapes.
- Once glue is dry, peel off (May take all day).
Instead of Glitter…
Explore different textures when gluing
Materials
- Glue
- Paper
- Froot Loops
- For other projects, they can explore with beans, rice, cereal, dry pasta noodles, etc.
Directions
- Optional: If using Froot Loops, pour into a bag and bang/smash cereal until it resembles glitter. (A favorite activity of ours!)
- Optional: If using rice, it can be colored by adding alcohol and food coloring. Mix and spread to dry.)
- Make designs with the glue
- Sprinkle materials (smashed or whole cereal, beans, rice, etc.) all over paper
- Shake off excess and let dry.
3D Art
Great way to incorporate dimension into art.
Materials
- Paper
- Paper towels or other colored paper (such as tissue paper)
- Glue
Directions
- Twist paper towels (this works well if you color with markers on the paper towels, then let the colors bleed by painting with water on top of the markers for a tie dye effect.) Then twist paper towels and manipulate into shapes
- Shred tissue paper into scraps and crumble up
- Glue it to the paper to create shapes
Salty Watercolors
Materials
- Glue
- Paper
- Salt
- Paint and paintbrushes
Directions
- Make designs with glue
- Sprinkle page with salt and shake off excess
- Paint and watch the colors spread!
Have fun with glue.
We would love to hear where your projects lead you….
And, what other projects do you use with glue?
Free Online Resources
Oct 2nd
After commenting on another blog I follow, I realized I should probably make you aware of some of the great FREE resources available to help the preschool – 2nd grade child explore and learn.
One of our favorites is Starfall.
There are some great online games and my kids cannot get enough of them! It is designed for the preschool child, but they have added some Kindergarten resources.
National Geographic Kids is another great one.
Some of the stuff here is more educational than others, but there are some really great learning resources here!
PBS Kids has some great stuff, and there are some of my favorite shows on PBS! Sid the Science Kid does a great job of teaching some great science topics. Dinosaur Train has taught us a lot about dinosaurs. (I even use the show to learn more.) I credit Word World for teaching some great phonics to my daughter. (The Word World website even has some eBooks.) I could go on and on about how great PBS is…
Progressive Phonics has some GREAT books that I love!
We have printed a few and I have been impressed with the books!
Hunkin’s Experiments has some great science experiment ideas.
Although, many of them tend to be a little too advanced. There are some interesting ideas in there, though.
Scholastic has some great resources, too!
Most local museums and organizations have free resources that support the subject matter, too.
Many of the national chains offer resources, too. Lakeshore Learning has some great free resources that I frequent, too.
Of course, there are plenty of blogs out there, and many have great ideas. That may need to be a post for another day….
What are your favorite resources?
Cooperatives
Sep 30th
I am continually discouraged
by the programs available
to our children.
So often,
I hear people accept things.
Without question.
Most recently for me,
my husband was asked to be fingerprinted
because “he is not in the system.”
My husband volunteers with various emergency groups
and has served on the board on many of them.
He has been fingerprinted
so that he can receive security clearance for these organizations.
So, I called to ask why
he was being asked to be fingerprinted
again.
I was told that “it is in a different system.”
After asking for more information,
I was told that
“people who are applying for a gun license
must get fingerprinted,
but that does not clear them to work with children.”
I was a little shocked by this,
because I would expect these systems to be linked.
So, in my attempt to find out how I can change this,
I have been met with comments like,
“What do you expect?”
or
“That is the way things go.”
I do not know about you,
but I am not okay with that.
I believe we should not be passive.
When it comes to parenting,
it is even more vital
that we stand up for what is right.
Which is why I want to see
more programs where the teachers
and parents
play an active role
in the leadership,
management
and
instruction
of our children.
Kid WHYs is working
to develop a cooperative program
where the parents
and
teachers
are part owners
and are not
passive participants.
We will keep you posted as the details get ironed out….
In the meantime,
please contact us if you are interested in learning more.
Our learning adventure
Sep 28th
Our most recent interest has been airplanes.
(Not the project I would have selected, but it is not my project.)
We started this adventure with a trip to the library to check out books about airplanes.
Next, we went to the airport to watch the airplanes take off, watch the baggage terminal, and learn about the security process.
Then, we had a discussion about airplanes and airports. (Excuse the quality)
And, we turned the playroom into an airplane.
The ticket counter
First, we set up a ticket counter.
Then, we put the chairs in the airplane.
Airplane seats
The guests came to buy the tickets.
The first passenger
Then, the playroom was transformed to a plane.
We flew to Indiana and Florida.
The flight attendant served me some great food.
We spent the majority of the day flying around the country!
When Daddy came home, he was given a ticket to fly to Indiana, too.
(I’m not sure why Indiana. We do not know anyone in Indiana.)
And, as luck would have it,
our adventure did not end there.
A neighboring city was holding an Airfest this past weekend.
So, we attended.
We had a blast!
Their interests led us to explore the real world.
They learned a ton and I walked away confident that creativity and interest were not sacrificed in the process.
And, an event like the Airfest was so much more meaningful.
This is the type of learning Kid WHYs hopes to encourage.
