Developing a Pencil Grip the Fun Way!

As we approach the start of a new school year, we wanted to share with you a few ideas to help children with fine motor control. Remember that establishing a proper pencil grip early on is important. One good way to do this is to first build hand muscles. You can do this by having children play with the following:

·      use a hole punch

·      build with small blocks

·      play with spray bottles

·      use squeeze toys like small squishy balls

·      string beads

·      pick up cotton balls with tweezers

·      pop bubble wrap

·      paint

·      squeeze glue onto paper

·      play with pay-doh (you can hide small objects in a clay ball and have children find them)

These activities can be games at home and school. Share one activity each week with families. Explain that using a pencil for a prolonged time too soon can result in a poor pencil grip. These “games” are more helpful than putting a pencil into a child’s hand too early. Undeveloped hand muscles may result in a bad habit.

We always suggest that pencil grips be used with preschoolers when writing is necessary. These help develop proper grips.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.C.03, 2.E.05.

Head Start – I.D. 1-4, VII.E.1.

Air Is Strong: A Science Inquiry Lesson

Anything can be a lesson, even the invisible air that surrounds us. We like to begin by asking children what they already know about a topic. While the new trend in education is to avoid too much “frontloading” (a term for discussing a topic, often for an extended period of time, with children), we still like to have children think about a lesson topic. This helps preschoolers listen to one another and also guides our English Language Learners to hear and begin to understand important vocabulary. You may want to make a list of children’s ideas about air or simply listen as children share thoughts.

Invite children to consider what air does. Thoughts such as air blows tree leaves, it moves clouds, or can dry puddles may be shared. Children can draw a picture of something air can do. Ask children to hold up their pictures and explain their art. This gives them valuable experience in talking in front of the class as they explain their work. There is not a right or wrong answer so this should be a relaxed session, allowing children to explore oral language.

Finally ask children if they think air is strong. You may want to vote and make a chart showing responses. We like to say things like, “I wonder how in the world I am going to figure this out.” Accept children’s ideas but you can guide them to participating in an experiment. Here is what you will need:

• A clear glass
• Tissues (like Kleenex)
• A large bowl
• Water

We like to show children these materials and ask if they can think of a way these four things can show if air is strong. You may be surprised!

We illustrate the strength of air by putting a tissue into the bottom of the glass. 

We turn the glass over and put it straight down into the large bowl of water. 

Ask children if they think the tissue will be wet or dry. Most of them will say wet. Then pull the glass straight up, carefully take out the tissue, and voila – the tissue is dry! Ask children to explain. 

If children have a difficult time with an explanation, do the experiment again but this time tilt the glass. As you do this, tell children this lets air out of the glass. The tissue will be wet.

Even though children can't feel the power of air, it is strong. Let them feel the dry tissue to show the strength of air!

Most children can then understand the power of air – when trapped in the glass as it is placed straight down in the water, it will keep the water from soaking the tissue!

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC –2.D.02, 2.D.06, 2.G.02-08.

Head Start -VIII.B.1-7,XI.A.1-5, XI.B.1&2.

Riddle Me This!

Young children delight in sharing riddles. We can use this love of word play to help children develop oral language, an understanding of sentences, and how details work. Your use of language doesn’t need to follow the true riddle format that older children may enjoy. As children become more familiar with language they see the humor in little ditties such as, “Why do birds fly south for the winter?” Answer – “Because it’s too far to walk.” These joke-type riddles will be popular as children grow. For now, think of riddles as brain exercise.

Ask your child to play a game with you. Say, “I am going to give you clues. See if you can solve the riddle.” The following is a good sequence:

What animal is black and white?

This animal raises its tail as a warning.

This animal gives off a bad smell?

What animal is it?

Answer: Skunk

You can give many clues like this. More examples include:

What animal lives in cold places?

This animal is a bird but cannot fly.

This animal waddles on ice and swims to catch fish.

What animal is it?

Answer: Penguin

What animal is large and gray?

This animal likes to eat grass and bananas.

This animal has a long trunk.

What animal is it?

Answer: Elephant

Children will hear clear sentence structure and vocabulary about the natural world. They may learn new details about animals.

Then ask children to come up with their own “riddles.” See if they can match your sentence structure and use vocabulary about the animal world. Go outside and have children look around for ideas. They can give clues about what they see: squirrels, dogs, ants, etc. You may easily know what animal is being described but let children speak a series of clues. This gives valuable vocabulary practice - - - in any language!

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC: 2.D,.03,  2.D,.06,  2.D,.07,  2.G.08,

Head Start: IV.A.3, VIII.A. & B, IX.C.

Fingers and Numbers

We know how important it is for numbers to be meaningful. A child can't just say, "three," as there needs to be meaning attached to the number word. A child should have a concrete picture of what 3 means. Many years ago, we discouraged children from using their fingers to "do" math. Now, we recognize the importance of fingers to help children attach meaning to numbers. Children can and should count on their fingers. But you can take this a step further.

Trace a child's hands. Cut them out. You will likely need to do this as most preschoolers do not have the fine motor abilities to cut out more than a line or a simple curve. Once the child's hands are cut out, put them down.

Together, turn over each finger and count. Be sure to do this from left to right as we want to train a child's eyes to move in this direction.

Label the fingers and have children count and look at each numeral. This gives meaning to numerals/numbers.

Invite children to explore and count out loud by turning over the fingers. You can even play a game where children respond to questions like, "How many pets do you have? How many noses do you have?" This question and answer "game" allows children to see the correspondence between number and numeral. Math has meaning!

Family Connection:
As a follow-up, encourage families to walk around their communities. Count the number of fences, blue cars, or people they see. Children can use their own fingers to show the number of objects they spot.

Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.F.02, 2.F.04, 2.F.11
Head Start - X.A.1, X.A.3, X.A.5.

Easy Literacy Ideas from the International Literacy Conference!

Hello from the International Literacy Conference in beautiful St. Louis, Missouri. We are brimming with energy and new ideas to share with you during the next year. Stay tuned for lots of information over the next few months as we bring you the latest and greatest to help you develop literacy, in all its forms, with your preschoolers.

Here are just a few tidbits to try this summer:

Prior to reading a book, most children look at the cover and may talk about its contents. Help children to look at the back of the book, too. Often picture books contain key details about the story or characters on the back.

You can create the atmosphere of a book in the room. If reading about a storm, have children clap their hands to mimic thunder.  Is the book set on a farm? Encourage them to bleat like sheep. Interact with books to help children understand setting.

To further develop vocabulary, children can act out words. Crackle? Roar? Shiver? Act these words out. Children can be encouraged to remember their favorite new word each day by calling it a “Million Dollar Word.” Remind families to ask children about the “Million Dollar Word” of the day.

After reading a book to children, close it. Ask children to share their summaries by starting them with the sentence, “I remember…” This encourages them to put information in their own words.

Remember to do and encourage lots of singing in your classroom. This not only promotes an understanding of rhyming words, key to phonemic awareness, but also allows children to hear fluency “in action.”

All of these easy suggestions are helpful for English language learners too!

Stay tuned for more literacy ideas…

Nature Helps Develop a Speaking and Listening Vocabulary

We all know the wonders of nature and how exciting these can be for children. We can encourage and support this love for Planet Earth by taking children on neighborhood walks and playing “I Spy.”  You can begin by saying, “I spy with my little eye something that is green.” Continue by describing the object you see. Children are sure to have fun playing this game. But it is more than a game as it also gives children valuable practice with listening and speaking skills. When it is the child’s turn to guess, important practice in listening to details results. When it is the child’s turn to give clues by saying, “I spy with my little eye…” he or she must find appropriate vocabulary to describe a chosen object.

You can extend this game by encouraging children to look for the most unusual environmental object around. If you feel comfortable, let the child take a photo of the “treasure.” When the walk is over, your child can look at the photo and use the visual to remember details about frogs, eggs, or beehives, etc. They can point out features in their photo and share with other family members or friends. The photos below, taken on nature walks with young children, show how vocabulary can be developed as you remember these “finds” and discuss them.

This child found part of an eggshell from a hatched bird. He asked for his photo to be taken and used the picture to describe his treasure. He described the color of the shell, the size, and repeated the word half when retelling the story of his "find." This made math vocabulary concrete. 

This section of a hive was found. It resulted in guesses about what the cells were made from and ideas about how it was constructed.

As you can guess, this creature ended up teaching the word, camouflage. Ideas about how animals use camouflage were discussed.

You can also encourage children to look at websites such as those offered by Explore. Their cams show a variety of wildlife and children enjoy watching and can even snap a photo using the camera icon. These photos can be printed and shared with others. See their many offerings that allow a window into nature here.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC - 2.D.04, 2.D. 06, 2.G.07.

Head Start - IV.A., VIII.A., VIII.B.

Helping a Child Overcome a Fear of the Dentist

Many children have a fear of visiting the dentist. What can you do to make this visit less stressful and even enjoyable for your child? Following are some steps that we have found worked for children, even those who seemed terrified at the prospect of walking into a dental office.

We suggest a family member visit a children’s dental office to talk with the office staff about their child’s fears. Often the receptionist is happy to greet the child by name when he or she takes a tour. This puts many children at ease.  Take note of the waiting room for items that will catch your child’s attention. Are there special books, trucks, games, or stuffed animals that will appeal to your child? These can be discussed when you describe the office to your child. Often pediatric dentists will offer small prizes, balloons, etc. This will often be an incentive for your child.

Next, make plans with the office staff for your child to simply tour the facility. Your child can play for a bit in the waiting room, see the special chairs, and hopefully note that other children seem happy.  Often just experiencing the office, without the stress of having to open their mouth, will help many children. 

Playing with an oversize toothbrush to clean a stuffed animal's teeth is a fun experience!

For those children who are exhibiting extreme fear, begin by scheduling an appointment where a hygienist simply brushes their teeth. Your child can understand what it feels like to sit back in the chair, perhaps wear silly sunglasses as the light shines in their eyes, and hopefully gets a choice in toothpaste flavors.   Letting children have choices makes them feel empowered and helps lessen fear. 

Although scared, this child agreed to sit in the chair because he could put on silly sunglasses.

When the appointment is over, play dentist with your child at home. You can be the patient and your child role-plays as the dentist or hygienist. You can set up a pretend dental office with stuffed animals as patients.

We have seen these simple suggestions turn a terrified child into one who asks, “When can I go the dentist next?” And that is what we want!

We encourage preschools, daycare centers, camps, etc. to share this post with families.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.K.01, 2.K.05

Head Start – I.A.1, I.B.1