World Read Aloud Day--Let's Celebrate Books!

In honor of World Read Aloud Day, let's celebrate books! 

Last year, I had the opportunity to travel to a few schools in Ethiopia.  I had prepared myself for the devastation of poverty, but I had not prepared myself for the lack of literacy.  

According to Ethiopia Reads, 

Ethiopia is home to an estimated 40 million children where 99% of the schools have no books and where 58% of Ethiopians age 15 and above can’t read.--Ethiopia Reads.

How fortunate our children are, to have been born in a country that embraces literacy and immerses children with print from birth.  

LitWorld is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making early exposure to literacy a worldwide norm.  With LitWorld's development of World Read Aloud Day,  we are...

 ...raising our voices together on this day to show the world’s children that we support their future: that they have the right to read, to write, and to share their words to change the world.

 World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people.

 Across the globe nearly 171 million children could be lifted out of poverty if they left school with basic reading and writing skills. Quality literacy education is the difference between life and death, prosperity and despair. This is literacy for survival.--LitWorld

We travel back to Ethiopia in 6 days and with us we are bringing the gift of literacy to over 200 children.  Thanks to the support of people around the world, bright colorful texts in English and Amharic will be held by young hands that may have never had the opportunity to turn the pages of a book.  

That experience, has really made me reflect on how fortunate my family has been to own a personal library.  Below are some of our favorite children's books.  

Take a moment today, search your bookshelves, visit the library and treasure the gift of literacy that we have been given and share a book with your child!  

For tips on making the most of your read alouds, visit one of our previous posts, "Bringing the Spark Back To Storytime"

Expressing LOVE to our Children

Several years ago, as I was preparing to teach a class on the "Five Love Languages of Children," written by Gary Chapman, I came up with my ownway of expressing love by turning the word, "Love" into an acronym. My next four posts will cover each letter of this most-important word.

L - Listen

O - Observe

V - Validate

E - Enjoy

What is "listening?" Listening is much more than hearing; it is an active way to communicate with another person. Active listening involves validating, confirming and rephrasing.

Parents and caregivers are so accustomed to guiding children, that we sometimes forget to listen to them. Below are some examples of ways to include active listening in your relationship with your child.

Child Says:  
Active Listening Response:

"She knocked down my tower!"  
You sound angry that your tower fell. What can you do? Would you like to talk to _________ about it?

"Me First!"  
Wow, you are really anxious to be the first one to have a snack. Let's think of a way to wait; do you have any ideas?

"You like him more"  
It sounds like you are feeling neglected. Would you like to tell me about it?

"I'm not bad"  
You spilled the paint. It sounds like you are feeling sad about that. Let's get it cleaned up together. We all make messes.

Active listening is an effective stabilizer of emotions and it also validates a person's feelings. We can teach our children how to be mature communicators as we actively listen to them.

Good luck working on this skill!

"It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

I Love You To Pieces!!!

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”

-Rachel Carson

This year, spend some quality time with your preschooler and make a personalized Valentine that your loved ones will treasure forever!

Materials:

•      “I Love You to Pieces” sign
•             Camera
•       Thick paper or cardboard
•       Old Jigsaw puzzle pieces
•       Glue
•      Any other decorations that you would like

Directions:

1)  Have your child hold the sign that says “I Love You to Pieces”. 

2)  Dress them in their best smile and take their picture.

3)  Develop the picture or pictures.  Make more than one and surprise all of the grandmas and grandpas.

 

4)  Glue the picture onto a thick piece of paper or cardboard that is a little larger than the picture. (or you can purchase matte frames from your local craft store)

5)  Decorate the border with old jigsaw puzzle pieces.  These could be glued on as is or painted. 

6) Jazz it up with any other decorations that make you happy.

7) Finally, hand deliver it to that special someone!

"The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a  few minutes of their time each day."

-M. Grundler Image for "I Love You to Pieces" sign:

Sensory Awareness

Look for your child to exhibit sensory awareness.

Have your child identify hidden objects in a "feely" box by touch.

Cut the bottoms out of two empty, square tissue boxes, and tape the open ends together. Hide objects of various textures (cotton balls, rocks, sticky tape ball, sand paper, small toys, ice cube etc.) inside the box. Have your child use both hands to touch the objects and figure out what's inside the box.

For smaller items slip an object into a sock. Have your child try to identify the object from the outside of the sock and then by placing their hand inside the sock.

Give your child opportunities to experience various textures such as, mushy, slimy, rough, smooth, cold, wet, dry. Using a variety of descriptive words will help your child build their vocabulary.

Cut arm holes in a large plastic bag to make a smock. Old vinyl tablecloths or shower curtains can help protect floors and tables.

Join your child in finger painting. For variety mix sand in the paint.

Have your child guess what is in a bowl with their eyes blindfolded. Vary the texture, size, weight and temperature of the items (cold, cooked spaghetti, dried oatmeal, feathers etc.)

Staying Warm: Bring 'Snow Day' Fun Inside!!!

According to WeatherStreet.com, our area has accumulated about 6 inches of snow over the past week.  That sure doesn't sound like a lot, but to my kids, it's music to their ears.  6 inches of snow has equaled 3 extra days of sleeping in, 9 extra meals in the comfort of their own kitchen, and zero homework!

Being an educator, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to spend these treasured days at home with my children and also feel that giddy excitement at the announcement of a 'snow day'.  However, as we are in our third day of confinement, I find myself wondering how many days I can actually maintain the sanity of our household!

We have now exhausted every outdoor snow activity that we could dream up and frankly my toes can't handle another frigid moment outdoors. So we're ready to try this fun recipe and bring the 'Snow Day' fun into the warmth of our own house.  I'll let you know how it goes!

EASY SNOW ICE CREAM!!!

1.  Collect 5 cups of FRESH snow Don't pack it, you want it light and fluffy.

2.  Combine the first three ingredients until the sugar dissolves.

3.  Slowly add the snow into your mixture while stirring.

4.  Continue to add snow until the mixture is thick and creamy.

5.  Eat right away! 

 *Good vocabulary to use with your child. 

Indoor Snowball Fight

Indoor Snowball Fight

If you live in the midwest as I do, you know about cold temperatures and snow during the winter months. Children need to move their bodies throughout the year, but a park is not very accommodating during the winter. Here's an idea of a fun AND educational way to play together on a cold winter's day.

An Indoor Snowball Fight

You can make "snowballs" with various items:

* White socks that have lost their mate

* White paper

* Cotton balls or pom poms

* Panty hose stuffed with paper or fake snow or anything else lightweight (you will tie off the panty hose in a knot and cut off the extra hose to create a "ball").

Children receive developmental benefit in almost any sensory activity - enhanced even more with parental involvement. As you are having your snowball fight, think how you are preparing your young child for life as a learner:

1. Planning: Involve the child in preparing for the snowball fight. They will need to think about the needed items and plan accordingly. They mig

ht want to take out blankets or sheets to cover furniture as a fort. They will also need to make an adequate number of snowballs. You might discuss how many they think they will need.

Simply seeing a project from start to finish will help a child understand a process, and gain the perseverance and patience to see a project to completion.

2. Math Concepts: As you make your fort, the child will need to find the appropriate-sized covering for the table/furniture. Comparing pillow cases and sheets will give children an idea of area and a concept of size.

Additionally, while making snowballs, you can count the snowballs. You can also make snowballs of different sizes and categorize them in your forts - making sure that each competitor has an equal number of snowballs.

3. Fine and Gross Motor Development: Whether you are stuffing stockings or wadding up paper, children will need to use their hands to squeeze, stuff, rip, shred and cut. They will definitely use their bigger muscles as they run around the house throwing the snowballs. For an added element of fun and development of eye-hand coordination, you could have

children hit the snowballs with their hand or a racquet.

4. Creativity: The open-ended play of the snowball fight is limited only by a child's imagination. You could make igloos, plan creative forts, make different types of snowballs, etc. You will also be increasing your child's awareness of the world as you talk about eskimos, igloos and arctic habitats.

The benefits of play are immense. Enjoy making a dreary winter day into a day of fun and learning!

It's the Best Time of the Year...Right?

If you're like me at this time of year, you are bouncing from one 'festive' obligation to the next. Only to get home at the end of an exhausting day and realize that you haven't put a dent in your ever multiplying to-do list.  All you want to do is get off your feet and take those Hershey Holiday White Chocolate Candy Cane  Kisses to your warm, comfy bed.

But...the kids need dinner, probably a conflict mediator and maybe a good scrub behind the ears.
So tell me again, where does that quality time fit into this Holiday picture?

In the essence of saving time, I'll cut to the chase...

Below is a fun recipe to try with your children that will not only help prepare them for kindergarten, but also give you a much needed dose of relaxation.

Warm Vanilla Steamers

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Combine milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat.  Stir frequently until sugar has dissolved and the milk begins to simmer.
2. Remove from the burner, add the vanilla and allow it to sit for 4 minutes.
3. Whisk vigorously to form a thick layer of foam on top of the milk.  Divide into 4 servings, topped with a dollop of the foam.
4. Sprinkle with a pinch of ground cinnamon.

=Good vocabulary to use with your child.


Besides the Social/Emotional growth that your child will gain from this bonding experience, cooking with children incorporates many different domains of early childhood development:

Language & Literacy

• Encourage your child to help you read the recipe.  
• If you can find recipes with pictures (like on the backs of most brownie boxes) children can confidently help you interpret the recipe.
• Use vibrant language that describes what their senses are exploring.
• 'fragrant aroma of chocolate chips melting into the dough'
• 'the gooey, sticky marshmallows are clenching to the sides of the pan'
• Use common vocabulary in context
• spatula
• sifter
• degrees
• whisk

Mathematics

• Encourage your child to count
• Count with your child as they add ingredients
• Ask them to give the mixture 20 stirs  
• Use common vocabulary in context
• 1/2 cup
• dash of salt
• 400 degrees

Science

• Point out cause & effect
• Watch the cookies rise as they are heated in the oven.
• Predict what will happen to the liquid jello when you cool it in the refrigerator.
• Use common vocabulary in context
• liquid
• solid
• mixture
• Allow your child to explore with all of their senses

Enjoy LEARNING with your Child!

Thank you Ellen Booth Church for the fabulous recipe:

For more of her warm drink recipes visit:  http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=8063

If Santa only Knew.....

The list has been prepared and Santa is checking his bag.......just WHAT should be in Santa's sack to prepare children for the kindergarten classroom?

If a child's PLAY is his/her WORK, then we need to provide toys that offer the greatest learning opportunity.

Let's look at some important characteristics of educational toys (particularly for the birth-3 child):

1. 90% Child/10% Toy - When shopping for toys, always think about what the toy does for the child and what the child has to do to the toy. It is more beneficial for a child to have a simple toy that does very little for him/her than to have a toy that is laden with electronic appeal (lights, sounds). Toys that prepare a mind to problem-solve are toys that require the child to think. Open-ended toys allow the children to use their own creativity to bring meaning to the toy, rather than just responding to what the toy does for them.

2. Multi-Sensory - There is direct correlation
to the number of senses a

toy engages and the number of brain centers that are activated. When children see, hear, smell and
manipulate toys, they engage both hemispheres of their brain and maximize the learning.

3. Age-Appropriate - Toys teach the most when they are introduced at the appropriate age. Look for toys that engage the child's sense, require creativity and produce success in their play. For example, if a shape sorter is too difficult for a child, put the sorter away and make one that is simpler (with 1-2 shapes only). Neural connections and confidence are built through repetition and success and perseverance, not from discouragement. Children are naturally motivated and will let you know when they need more challenge from their toys.

4. Promote Interaction - Toys that promote caregiver/child interaction are the most beneficial to a child's development. Stuffed animals or dolls offer a perfect opportunity to play "picnic" or "school." With adult interaction, the child can use his/her imagination to create a scenario with toys. The adults give guidance, serve as a consultant and enrich the play with language enhancement. When the child says "cup," the caregiver can say, "Yes, rabbit wants the tall, green cup." The adult also teaches the child empathy and appropriate social interaction.

Additionally, the adult stretches the child intellectually by teaching color concepts, number concepts and other intellectual concepts throughout the play.

Below is a list of optimal toys for a baby and toddler:

Books

Blocks

Textured toys

Toys with dimension

Puzzles

Pretend play toys (pretend telephone, pretend kitchen, etc...)

Dolls/Stuffed Animals

Toys that promote movement

Good luck shopping for toys that will teach and promote learning in your child. The neural pathways that are created early in life will be the ones that prepare the child the best for learning in the kindergarten classroom.

Practices healthy behaviors through physical activity
Look for your child to...
Choose to participate in daily physical activity.

Your child may...

• Play on/with outdoor equipment (e.g., slides, balls, wheeled toys).
• Engage in active play (e.g., run, jump, chase, move to music, and play with pets).
• Go on walks with family members.
• Join in indoor or outdoor games (e.g., musical games, Tag, Drop the Handkerchief).

You can support your child…

• Create a schedule for your child that includes at least one hour of physical activity each day.
• Take your child to playgrounds frequently, and if possible, provide outdoor play equipment and riding toys in your yard. Don’t just cheer on your child from the sidelines—be a good role model and join in the fun.
• With your child, play Tag and other games that involve running and movement.
• Play music, and dance with your child. Use scarves and streamers for extra fun.
• Take walks with your child. Walk in different ways (e.g., take tiny steps, take giant steps, walk very fast, walk slowly like a turtle).
• If it’s hot outside, play games involving water (e.g., play catch with water balloons, run through a sprinkler, or “paint” each other with a bucket of water and a large paintbrush).
• If there is snow on the ground, go sledding or ice skating, play catch with snowballs, or build a snowman or igloo.

Algebra In Kindergarten? You Can't Be Serious!!

So, what does math in Kindergarten look like?  Parents should know that unlike the developmental stages of writing, math learning does not necessarily develop in a continuum.  Think of all of the concepts below as objects on the horizon that your child can reach out and grab at any given time.  Generally there are some that will occur prior to others, but essentially they all intertwine together.

According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, students exiting kindergarten should be able to do the following:

Numbers and Operations:

• rote count to 100 and recognize numbers to 31
• recognize 1/2 of a shape
• use concrete items to compose and decompose values up to 10
• connect number words (orally) and quantities they represent

Algebraic Relationships:

• recognize or repeat sequences of sounds or shapes
• create and continue patterns
• model situations that involve whole numbers, using pictures, objects or symbols

Geometric and Spatial Relations:

• identify and describe 2 & 3 dimensional shapes using physical models
• describe, name and interpret relative positions in space 
• use manipulatives to recognize from different perspectives and orientations models of slides and turns

Measurement:

• compare and order objects according to their size or weight
• describe passage of time using terms such as today, yesterday, tomorrow
• identify and know the value of a penny, nickel, dime and quarter
• measure objectives by comparison of lengths

Data and Probability:

• sort items according to their attributes
• create graphs using physical objects

So what can I do?

Math surrounds us every day in everyday situations.  Therefore, to support your child's math development there is no need to break the bank with fancy learning toys or computer games.  The most important thing to remember is that 'drill & practice' is not the answer.  Children learn best through meaningful hands on experiences that support their development.  Below are a few ideas to get you started in each mathematical strand.

Numbers and Operations:

• Children learn best through play, therefore playing games that encourage synchronic counting will give your child a meaningful reason to use sequential counting for a purpose.
• "I'll Time You"  Children love to see how fast they can complete a task.  Tell your child that you'll time them, then count aloud as they rush to beat their time.
• Remove several number cards from a deck of playing cards. Provide a small bowl of m&m's or other small objects. Take turns with your child, choosing a card, naming the numeral shown on the card, and laying the corresponding number of objects next to the card.

• If you have stairs inside or outside your home, use masking tape to number them. As you climb the steps together, count the numbers aloud.
• Point out numerals in their environment. ex.,signs, license plates, mailboxes, clocks, etc...
• Using a calendar, count down the days until a special event.  "In four days, you get to spend the night with grandma."

• Break a cookie in half and share it. "Half for you and half for me."
• Write down grandma's phone number, have your child touch the numbers on the phone as you call.

• Sing familiar songs that use numbers and counting
• Change the words of familiar counting songs to make them silly or personalized for your child.

• Read books that have counting and numerals.

Algebraic Relationships:

• •   

• Do a clap and tap rhythm pattern for your child to copy.  As her ability to copy improves, create more complicated patterns.  Let her create a pattern for you to follow.  
  • • •  

• Create a mealtime pattern.  Alternate between water, milk, juice to drink with meals. Encourage them to predict what will come next.

• Make a pattern with your child's colored fish crackers and see if they can continue it.

• Listen to and sing songs that have repeating patterns. The Chicken Dance is a fun patterning song to dance to.

• Read books that have patterns.

Geometric and Spatial Relations:

• • Set up an obstacle course for your child and talk about how he is crawling under the table, through the box, over the cushion, etc.
• Play Simon Says with your child using positional words like "on your head" or "behind your back"
• • Spread a few familiar objects on the floor in front of your child. Describe an object using positional words or shape words  “I spy something that is square behind the keys.”  See if your child can guess the object. Take turns giving clues and guessing.

• Have fun with making shapes.  Use sand or shaving cream to write in or play dough to build with and model the correct formation of shapes.
• Point out and name shapes in their environment.  Look for shapes in nature, in your home, and in pictures.

• Create edible shapes with pretzels or string cheese.

• Going on a Bear Hunt is a great song that reinforces positional words.

• Read books about shapes or positional words.

Measurement:

• Have your child roll a die and build a tower using the same number of blocks as the number shown on the cube.  Then you take a turn.  Ask your child, "Whose tower is bigger?"
• When having to take turns to do an activity, uses size comparisons to determine who goes first.  "The shortest person goes first today."  "The person with the longest arm span will go first."

• Use time words with your child. "We will go to the store after we eat lunch?"  or  "Grandma will pick you up tomorrow."

• During meal times, we often use the term more,  "Would you like more?"  Start using the word 'less' just as often.  "Do you want 3 crackers or less?" This is often a difficult concept for kindergartners to grasp.

• Read books using comparing words.

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a great story using comparison words.

Data & Probability:

• Play tic-tac-to with your child and have her tally the wins of each player.

• Take a family vote on what to eat for supper.  Have your child stack blocks to graph each person's vote and determine a winner.

• Using Trail Mix again, have your child sort the mix any way they choose and ask them to describe how they sorted them.

• Sing songs that emphasize categories, such as Old MacDonald's Farm.

Simply remember that we experience mathematical situations everyday.  

Simply share these experiences with your children and be amazed as they develop into a mathematician before your very eyes.

The Foundation of a Classroom Community

Creating Classroom Community

Today we are focusing on a how parents and providers prepare children for a school setting by meeting their social and emotional needs in infancy and toddlerhood.

Three areas will be discussed: Secure attachment; Self-Regulation; Strong Sense of Self

Secure attachment

Healthy attachment is the most important job of parents and caregivers during infancy. When a baby feels securely attached, the brain is able to grow and develop to its potential. A healthy brain means a healthy school-aged mind. Children who have not been nurtured and learned trust have more difficulty accessing the higher levels of their brain, which is the part of the brain necessary for complex thinking and problem-solving (i.e.- school success). How do we develop strong attachment? A few ideas:

1. Hold Your Baby – babies who are held more cry less. Their stress levels are lower and their heart rate is more regulated. You are developing your child’s sense of TRUST in the world

2. Make Eye Contact – Make as much face-to-face contact as the baby desires. Look in your baby’s eyes, smile to her, tell her you LOVE her

3. Feed your baby his/her bottle – do not prop the bottle and allow the child to feed him/her self

4. Appropriate Physical Touch – Infant massage is a powerful way to communicate love to your baby, as well as to promote healthy circulation, digestion and sensory integration.

5. Use Baby’s Name – Although you baby does not immediately understand her name, as you repeatedly use your child’s name, she recognizes that it is something important that SHE is something important.

Self-Regulation

Children who can wait in line, listen to a story, respect personal space and share toys have much more success in the institutional school setting. From the beginning of life, we can do things to teach a child self-regulation:

1. Respond to a Baby’s Needs – A child who feels safe, and whose needs have been met, will be able to calm more easily than a child who is insecure about his purpose/value.

2. Bedtime Routine – By 4 months of age, a baby is developing a sense of anticipation. He can anticipate when you are going to tickle him, play with him, sing to him, etc. Once a child can anticipate something, he is ready for a bedtime routine. A bedtime routine affirms the child’s need for security while also allowing the child to learn to calm himself.

3. Sing – You can teach a child to control impulses through song. Every time a child must WAIT for something in a song, he is teaching himself patience. For example, when a child has to WAIT until he “falls down” in “Ring Around a Rosey,” he is developing the skill of self-regulation. You can make up songs or use rhymes that you know, but focus on songs that teach the child to follow directions and wait.

Strong Sense of Self:

Children must know that they are unique and valuable, and that they have a significant role to play on this earth. When children are emotionally secure, they will be more successful in the social and academic setting of school. They can live more selflessly in community, can feel proud of their achievements, have intrinsic motivation to learn and can empathize with others.

1. Meet Your Baby’s Needs – As you respond to your baby’s needs, you are telling your child that she is important. A child cannot learn to respect others until the child has been respected herself. Parents and caregivers are the first ones to teach a child she is important, valuable and unique.

2. Learn Appropriate Affirmation – Affirmation and praise are different. Praise tends to focus on pleasing another party, while affirmation focuses on the pride and accomplishment of the individual. Learn to AFFIRM your child. Say things such as: “You are proud of yourself,” “You tried so hard at…..” “Look how you climbed the ladder all by yourself!”

3. Give Choices – As soon as a baby can comprehend a choice, allow him to make his own choices. The choices can be simple, such as if he wants to eat puffs or pears, or if he wants to read one book or the other, or if he wants to wear the blue shirt of the red shirt. As the child becomes confident making choices, he builds his sense of self.

Good luck! These ideas only represent the tip of the iceberg, but hopefully reminded you of the importance of social-emotional development to school readiness.

Sometimes We Just Need To Focus Our Lens!

I overheard a conversation today that I can't resist the temptation to reflect on.  Now I wasn't eavesdropping...okay maybe I was, but their conversation truly intrigued me.  I was first drawn in by the statement, "I went to preschool with [insert child's name] today."  Now I don't know if this was a mother, a grandmother, or an aunt for that matter, but her next comment hit me in the gut.
She looked at her eager listener [not me] and said...

"I'm not sure they ever teach at that school! Every time I visit, the children are ONLY playing."

Whoa!  From that point on, every other sound in the room was tuned out so that I could, for research purposes only, listen intently just in case the conversation might let me in on what key aspects of learning she was looking for.

To summarize, here is what she saw during her visit to her son's pre-kindergarten classroom...

• "He was digging through spaghetti noodles to find grapes."
• "He was running around the carpet playing 'Monster Mash' freeze."
• "He was wandering around the room wearing 'monster goggles' with colored lenses."

After hearing her description of the day, and thinking to myself, 'I hope she's talking about one of my classrooms because those are great lessons', I forced myself to take a moment of reflection and take off my teacher lenses.  

The words that she used did not exactly paint a conventional picture of learning, learning the way that she was probably taught.  I found myself wondering...'Did the teacher offer any kind of explanation for the learning that was embedded within those activities?'  

I truly believe that it is our role as educators to support the parents' role as the primary influence on their child's education.  In order to do this, we must communicate with parent's regarding how young children learn!

Post reflection, my gut was telling me to do something that I was not completely comfortable with.  I knew that I had to take this opportunity to 'let this lady borrow my teacher lenses.'  Somehow, I weaseled my way into the conversation and together, we began a conversation about children's learning that I wish I could have recorded and mass produced to all our parents.

As our conversation drew on, I realized that this woman did not need 'teacher lenses', she just needed to learn how to focus her own lens!!!  I explained that childhood is a time of learning and children learn from all they do, see and hear.  I helped her to see the importance of early childhood teachers providing activities that encourage active engagement that is essential for learning.  

A 15 minute conversation made all the difference to how she now viewed her child's learning experiences.  As we discussed the activities that she had observed, Sheila [I now knew her name] was immediately going home to tell her husband all that her son had learned at school today and her lens was focused and ready to watch for teachable moments with play!  Because she now knew that...

  

• He wasn't just "digging through spaghetti noodles to find grapes."

This activity not only reinforced his tactile perception and manual dexterity by sorting the grapes from the spaghetti without any visual cues, he was also participating in a sensory activity that would engage his senses in a learning experience that would stimulate brain development.  From the instant that he was born, he has been exploring his new world through his senses.  As he experiences new and different textures, smells, sights, sounds, and textures, more neural connections are made in his brain, and his brain becomes a rich network of connections that will help his development for the rest of his life.

• He wasn't just  "running around the carpet playing 'Monster Mash' freeze."

He was learning self regulation by using his auditory processing skills to determine when it was appropriate to run and when he had to stop.  Self regulation is a skill that will greatly influence his success in kindergarten.   He was doing all this while, using his spatial relational reasoning to manipulate his body in space and not run into any of his friends.

• He wasn't just  "wandering around the room wearing 'monster goggles' with colored lenses."

By wearing the colored lens goggles, he was encouraged to 'focus his lens' on the task at hand.  The teacher was asking them to find shapes in the environment.  By removing the added distraction of multi-colored items, the students were able to focus on the physical attributes of the shapes that surround their everyday environment.  Finding shapes in our environment, creates concrete examples for a task that can be quite an abstract concept.

So parents...I challenge you today to 'focus your lens' and discover what learning is occurring during your child's favorite activities.  

Please share your discoveries, we can learn a great deal from each other!