Children and today’s economy

With all of the talk lately about the economy and how Americans have been caught up in living above their means, I can’t help but think about the children that have been encouraged along this same path.

These children will no doubt go through some withdrawals for the “things” they used to get. However, the good news is they will bounce back relatively quickly into their very fun world of “make believe.” That is, if they are encouraged to use their imagination and pretend. Pretend play allows children to practice a variety of roles in life, set goals, accomplish tasks independently and most importantly play without any rules! Children who are overstimulated by lots of outside “stuff” will not learn to play by themselves or use items in their environment in creative ways (i.e. – daddy’s old tie as the seat belt on your make believe adventure to Africa to see wild animals).

Where am I going with this? I want every parent out there to know how FABULOUS this economic situation really is for our children. It offers us a chance to step back from the “things” in life and focus on the “people.” It offers us the chance to reduce the overbooked lifestyles of our children and allow them more free play time with less stress over being  at three extracurricular classes a week that offer structured activities instead of what children need most – free play!

This economy will force us to talk about wants vs. needs with our children and we will get back to taking the time to instill the most important value of all – patience. Our children will begin to be able to set goals for things they want and create plans to achieve those goals. They will be able to give more than they receive. They will see the value in small things, like leaves changing colors or how bicycle wheels work.

Less focus will be on the marketing messages sent out by large toy companies and more focus will be on your family’s self-marketing of less expensive, fun times with the family. Families will begin to spend more time together and the effect – priceless!

Toys that teach

Don’t forget about the toys that make a real learning difference for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. They may not seem as “cute, cool or fun” but they sure develop your little one’s brain power because she is working the toy and the toy isn’t working for her. Here are my favorites and how they help your child.

Nesting blocks or cups
Nesting blocks or cups are a way to develop problem solving skills and the beginning of learning math concepts like size and shape. Best of all, they last for years of fun as your baby will love them well into kindergarten.

 

 

Blocks for babies and toddlers Blocks can be the best teaching toy you provide your little one. Children learn about cause and effect, measurement, problem solving, trial and error, taking turns, language skills and so much more from building blocks. Make sure your baby, toddler and preschooler has blocks on his/her shelf more real learning play.

 

 

Shape sorter Develop your child’s problem solving abilities, fine motor muscle control and shape identification skills for years with this fun toy. Learning has never lasted for so long.

 

 

Rainbow stacker Let baby discover how fun measurement and math can be with a rainbow tower fun stacker. Toys don’t have to cost a lot of money to be fun and educational. We love real wood toys and this is a great pick.

Teaching young children how to write letters of the alphabet

The very best way I have found to teach children to write the letters in by dividing them into two groups. The stick family and the curved family.  The stick letters are made with straight lines.  These letters are easier and help your child feel successful in the writing process.

This is what I have always done as a kindergarten teacher:

1.  Help the child learn the correct grip with a pencil first.  They make pencil wedges (little triangle rubber pieces that slip on the end of the pencil) which help your child know where to place their fingers.

2.  Place games with making lines that go from top to bottom, lines that go from bottom to top and lines that go from side to side.

3.  Then I introduce the STICK family of letters.  We talk about how they can all be made with straight lines (or sticks).  We then begin working on one stick letter a day until mastery.  We use small popsicle sticks to model the letter before beginning to write.  We glue the popsicle sticks together and trace over the letter.  We write the letter in the air with our fingers and we use dot to dot replicas of the letter for even more practice.  Make sure to use unlined paper until your child has mastered the strokes needed for each letter.

*** The stick family consists of:  A, E, F, H, I, i, K,k, L,l, M, N, T,t,V,v, W,w, X,x, Y,y, Z,z

4. Once your child is feeling successful with the stick letters you can begin practicing curved movements on the paper and in the air.  Pretend to draw waves, mountains and curly Q’s and let them copy you.  Praise their efforts for making curves that are much harder to control than sticks.

5.  Begin learning to write the curved family of letters which consist of a, B,b,C,c,D,d,f,G,g,h,J,j,m,n,O,o,P,p,Q,q,R,r,S,s,U,u

Don’t get caught up in having to learn the capital letter with the lowercase or learn to write them in order.  Think about reading, do letters in a word always stay in alphabetical order?  Do you always write an uppercase letter beside a lowercase letter?  No… this exercise will help your child apply letter knowledge at a deeper level in the long run.

Also, make sure to introduce and say the letters sounds while you are making each letter.  Just like your child associates a certain sound with a pig, cow, goat and horse.  They will begin to associate a different voice with each letter.  It makes reading so much easier in the future.

Head2Toe needs your vote… support special needs children

As many of you know, Wiggle Giggle Learn was a potential finalist for the Yahoo! Seeds for Success empowering woman entrepreneurs grant in April 2008.  Although we weren’t named one of the three finalists we have been watching them closely.  Now the contest is coming to an end and you can support your favorite entrepreneur.

Wiggle Giggle Learn supports Karla Duncan of Head2Toe Publications.  Head2Toe offers language development products for children with developmental delays in speech and language.  Her first product is a great learning and teaching tool for parents, caregivers and teachers.  I hope you all will check out her website and vote for Head2Toe to win the Yahoo! Seeds for Success contest that ends very soon.  You can vote once a day and make sure to tell all of your friends.