Pucker Up, We're Counting Kisses

Pucker up, Buttercup!  Valentine's Day may have come and gone (I think many of us may be a little thrilled by that), but 'tis always the season for kisses! A simple, fun and loving way to practice counting with your little ones is with kisses.  I tell Katie that she is going to 5 kisses and then we count each one as I give them to her.  Other times, she gets 10 kisses.  She loves getting the kisses and tries to "top" the number that I gave her by giving me one ore kiss.  So simple, and yet so effective!
For older kids, try counting your kisses by 2s, 3s, 5s, or ask your child to figure out how many kisses he will get by solving the expression you give him (I'm going to give you 4 kisses plus 2 kisses...how many kisses is that?)

Offering Choices to Kiddos...Is it Smart, or is it Not Unwise?

Funny mom, Sarah Maizes, just posted a blog pondering, "Is Yelling the New Spanking?"  http://www.mommyliteonline.com/2012/02/is-yelling-new-spanking.html I think most moms (and dads) can relate to her frustrations related to getting kids out the door on time, with homework and lunches complete.  I've copied my response to her below because I think it's applicable to all parents out there! What do you think?

Great post because every parent struggles with this -- getting kids to do exactly what we want when we want them to and not freaking out when they don't, that is. I learned very quickly that so much of what worked when I was teaching kids works on my own kids, which is so weird because I thought my students were such little aliens. Anyway, one key takeaway was offering choices, one of which is a miserable choice and the other of which is the one you want the kid to choose. (i.e. do you want this peanut butter sandwich that I just made or do you want to make your own lunch with the leftover Brussels sprouts?) Kids like to feel empowered no matter what age so giving them the choice is a true win-win! Hope this helps! 

Sing (and Type) the ABCs

If you're reading this blog, chances are you've got a computer.  Great!  Have you thought about using it to help your child learn her ABCs?  I'm not talking about video games or YouTube videos (though there are some really great, albeit additive, ones out there), I'm suggesting a more interactive "game" between you and your child (and your keyboard.

Simply open up a blank Word doc, enlarge the font and start asking your child to type the different letters.  Katie, my 2-year-old, absolutely LOVES this "game".  She sees me typing away and this gives her the feeling that she's doing the same thing.  I have her sit on my lap with my laptop on a lap board on top and ask her to type "B, for baby" or "C, for Charlie".  She really gets a kick out of seeing the letters she's typed appear on the screen and again, she's having so much fun that she has no idea that she's learning.  We stick with "caps lock" on as she's just beginning to identify letters, but soon enough I'll have her type in lowercase letters as well.

We play this splendid game with numbers, too.  Again, there's no reason you couldn't extend this activity to include spelling practice (type in the word, "bat") rhyming words (type in a word that rhymes with "bat", sums (type in the sum of 3 and 9) and differences (type in the answer to 10 minus 8), and so on.

Keep kids laughing and enjoying themselves, and you'll keep them open to learning endless amounts of things!

Math? Hop to It!

This "winter" has been incredibly warm of late so my 2-year-old and I were outside yesterday playing with sidewalk chalk.  After we had drawn our umpteenth star, flower and family portrait, I decided to make things a little more educational.  So, I took a second to write various letters and numbers all over the sidewalk in no particular order or spacing.  Then, her job was to run and jump on whatever letter or number I called out.  Simple as it may sound, she absolutely loved this "game".  She couldn't get enough of scouting out the 3 or the K or the M.  I made sure to only write the letters and numbers that she is familiar with, so it wasn't overwhelming, but rather good practice.
I got to thinking that this could easily be extended to kids of all ages.  The youngest kiddos, like mine, should just stick to basic identification.  Kids who need a bit more of a challenge, though, could be asked to find sums or differences, or products and quotients.  For instance, if you wrote a 6, 10, 12, 16, 18, and 20, you could ask your child to find and jump on:
- the sum of 4 and 2
- the difference between 12 and 2
- the product of 3 times 4
- the quotient of 40 divided by 2, and so on.

You can cater this to kids of all ages and abilities.  Again, the possibilities are endless, and kids have a blast because they think it's a game more than anything else.  The physical part of running and jumping on the letters and numbers make it more fun than seeing the numbers written on paper and chalkboards.  What do you think?

Homemade Number Cards

I was at Target earlier this morning and was so close to buying a pack of "Number Cards" for my 2 year old, since she is really getting into number identification and counting.  Luckily, before I checked out, I realized that I could save myself a few bucks and make math so much more meaningful just by making my own.  Do I really think she is going to know/care about the difference between factory-made and mom-made? I think not.  Rather than spend the $4.99 on the pre-made cards, I got a pack of blank 3 x 5" index cards.  All I need now is a Sharpie.  The nice thing about making these homemade cards is that I can:

1. go up to whatever value I want (we're at 30 right now),
2. decide if I want to write only numerals, or words and numerals, or even add pictures (see #3)
3. draw pictures of things that I know she will love! (right now she's in love with Max and Ruby, so I can draw 10 bunnies or 15 carrots or whatever)  The fact that the pictures will relate to something she loves will make the cards a positive thing that she really enjoys, as opposed to an isolated math threat.

The possibilities of these cards are truly endless.  We'll start with identifying and ordering from least to greatest, but from there, we could do so many different FUN (and educational) things with these cards -- all for the cost of a pack of index cards!

Remember, kids need to make connections to really make learning meaningful.  What does your child love? Find out and use that as the base for any learning opportunity!

Happy Educating!

House of Cards - Fun, cheap, easy way to learn more about your kids

Here's a fun/easy/cheap/educational activity for all you parents, caregivers and teachers out there!  Give your kiddos a stack of playing cards and a roll of masking tape and tell them that the "best" castle wins.  That's it.  They can't use anything other than the cards and the tape and they have to build a castle. "Best", of course, is relative, so you can judge the winners based on cooperation, design, strength, aesthetics, or give a prize in each category.  Gauge your kids to see what will be best for them.

If you're a teacher, use this as a team-building activity for your cooperative groups.  If you're a parent, use it at a birthday party to keep the kids engaged, or just use it with your own kids and see how creative they can truly be.  The kids can work independently, in small groups, or in large groups.  You'll be amazed what life skills start shining through during this oh-so-simple activity.  If the kids are working in a group, you'll immediately be able to pinpoint "the leaders".  They're the ones who take the masking tape and the stack of cards and demand their teammates listen to their plan before anyone does anything. You'll soon find your creative cats, too.  They're the ones who quietly and artfully create a architectural masterpiece that has multiple levels, staircases, spindles. and use alternating diamond/spade patterns  The peace-makers will emerge, well, as the ones who keep the peace and keep everyone involved.

The great thing is that clean up is easy, the cards can be re-used and this activity can be done repeatedly since no two castles will be the same.

Try it out and share what you find -- we'd love to hear what you discovered about your Aces!