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| The Whole Child, Issue #008 - Education commences at the mother's knee April 07, 2006 |
The Whole Child e-zine brings you free preschool activities each week to maximize your child's potential, build skills and parent-child relationships in just a few minutes per day. Useful tips, quotes, resources, opportunities and articles will added for extra value! If you enjoy this e-zine, please pay it forward and send it to a friend. 7 April 2006, Issue #008 CONTENTS 1. Hello from Shirley 1. Hello from ShirleyHiHi This week has been a busy one in spite of us having been on holiday…but that is life…there are always things to be done that fill our days. We just have to stop every once in a while and reflect on how we are spending our time and make sure that the people and the things that are most important to us are not being neglected. Next week, being the Easter week-end I will not be publishing an ezine. Putting this together usually takes me about 3 hours per week and I need a break! However, this week is the week where I give you all the readiness activities from the past 3 weeks, so there are plenty to choose from and repeat during these next 2 weeks. If you are not receiving this email in html format or you find white gaps where there should be images, then use this link for a much more colorful and easier-to-read version! 2. Updates at Shirley's Preschool ActivitiesThis week I added a free printable bookmark to my site – it doesn’t sound like much, but it still required uploading a whole new page. If your kids are in school, it would make a great gift for their teacher and if you are a teacher, it would make a great gift for parents. When you read the inspirational educational poem on it you will see why. Free Printable Bookmark 3. Opportunities for youIn this section of my ezine I keep sharing with you the wonderful opportunity that I have discovered which has allowed me to build this website, which is in fact a new online business and will eventually become a source of additi*nal inc*me for me. I am excited to share what I am doing as I believe it will enable more and more moms to stay at home and nurture their little ones and it will also empower those that have already made the decision to be stay-at-home-moms. Last week I wrote that it is not a question of whether a woman should work, but where she works! This is also an opportunity for you to share your knowledge about your experience, skills, hobbies, sports or other interests, instead of burying your talents in the hum-drum of everyday life. For me the challenge and the stimulation that creating and building my site and this ezine is reward in itself. However, now that I am starting to see dollars being clocked up to my credit each day for clicks on the Google Ads on my site, the months of work it took to get started will soon bring a financial reward too. If you already own a website, you should consider subscribing to Google’s Adsense program too. You can learn more here: I'll leave you with those thoughts and the usual link to Work-at-Home-Moms! 4. TipsVinegar Did you know that vinegar has about 101 household uses. You can use it diluted in water to clean floors, baths, the scale around taps, windows, inside the fridge and more...and it is eco-friendly too. 5. Quote"Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within the hearsay of little children tends towards the formation of character." Hosea Ballou (1771 - 1852) 6. Readiness ActivitiesThis week, instead of posting new activities I am going to repeat all the activities from the past 3 weeks. You need not repeat them all with your children. Here is my suggestion: This week make sure that you repeat the 2 activities or skills that your child struggled with the most these past 3 weeks and also repeat the 2 activities that she excelled at. The idea is to build her self-esteem by letting her repeat what she is good at, but also help her to improve the areas in which she is weak. Don’t just drill children in the areas in which they are weak, or else they never experience positive achievements or develop their strong points. A child needs to know not just that ‘I am not so good at …(fill in the blank) but also that I AM good at …( fill in the blank), to help her develop a healthy, balanced self-esteem! None of us should be expected to be good at everything, but if your child is pretty good all round, then just have fun repeating whichever activities you choose. Remember to adapt them for older or younger children. Most of these skills are best suited for the 4-5 age group. Copy and paste these activities into a new document, print and paste them where you will see them daily. Visual perception Play a matching game using construction toys or building blocks. You and your child should each start with identical pieces. You then add another piece and your child must copy you with her piece. Continue adding pieces and then alternate and let your child be the leader in the game. Take turns for as long as your child can concentrate. Auditory perception 1. Make up rhyming riddles for your child to complete, like these: I can think of something that rhymes with make When it’s a birthday we bake a …… (cake) I can think of something that rhymes with sky When you can’t reach up to something it is too ……..( (high) I can think of something that rhymes with boy A thing a child plays with is called a ……..( (toy) I can think of something that rhymes with fox The thing we buy cereal in is called a ……. (box) Perhaps your child might like to ask you some riddles too! 2. Tell or read your child a short story. Afterwards, ask her to tell you what happened. If she does not tell you everything, prompt her by asking questions about what happened before or after certain events. Also ask other relevant questions about the characters or events of the story. Initially your child may only tell you the parts of the story that were significant to her, like the climax or the ending. However, in time she will learn to narrate back to you with increasing accuracy. Mathematical skills 1. Let your child play with two plastic tumblers or jugs in the bath. Fill them with different amounts of water and talk about concepts like, full, fuller, empty, heavy, heavier, light, lighter, little and much heavier etc. 2. Ask your child to count one, two, three, four or five objects and hand them to you. Repeat this activity often as you go about your daily activities. 3. Play a board game that requires using dice, like ludo or snakes and ladders. You can use one, two or three dice, depending on your child’s ability. If you don’t own any children’s board games, then create your own board game on a piece of card. Draw blocks in the form of a race track or create whatever theme would delight your child! Gross motor skills 1 Play this game with your child: Tell her to lie on her back on the floor and pull her legs up to her chest and hold them with her arms, so that she is huddled in a ball. Tell her she is an egg and you are an egg-eating monster. When you come near her, she must straighten out her legs and stretch her arms out above her head and in so-doing turn herself into a stick. When you have passed by she must turn back into an egg, until you come near again! Make scary sound effects and use your imagination to make it fun! 2. Ask your child to touch and name the body parts that she uses a. to smell (nose) If your child enjoys this game, continue naming body parts, even smaller parts like elbows, wrists, neck, ankles, palms, soles etc. Fine motor skills 1. Create opportunities for your child to draw and express herself through pictures. Ask her to draw a picture for a grandparent of friend or a card for a special occasion. You could also draw messages for your child such as reminders to brush her hair, brush her teeth, pick up her toys, wash hands before meals etc. so that she discovers that messages can be communicated on paper. 2. Let your child build any puzzles that you have that are appropriate for her age. 3. Allow your child to play with play dough or modeling clay. She should be able to roll it flat with a rolling pin and use cookie cutters. Also encourage her to shape it into long snake-like shapes as well as to roll it into small balls. Playdough recipe Playdough ingredients 3 cups flour Method Mix together all the ingredients and knead into a firm dough. Store in an airtight container in the firdge when not in use, so that the dough can last for a few weeks. Language and thinking 1. Since the seasons are changing, talk to your child about how trees change from season to season. Ask her questions about her knowledge of trees at different times of the year. A lovely story to re-inforce this activity is The Little House The story is about urbanisation and how a house in the countryside becomes surrounded by development and technology before finally being 'rescued', but the theme of the changing seasons and the apple trees can't be missed. Preview The Little House on kalahari.net
Preview A New Coat for Anna on kalahari.net
“But one who tries this method on himself will find that in the act of narrating every power of his mind comes into play.” (Charlotte Mason Original Homeschooling Series, Volume 1, Home Education.) A comprehensive yet easy to read book about Charlotte Mason is A Charlotte Mason Companion 3. Ask your child questions using the words who, what, where, why and how. Ask questions which will require her to think up her own answer which will neither be wrong or right, but test her general insight: Why do we need to eat food? How do you make a bowl of cereal? Why do people drive cars? Where do fish live? Faith building 1. Teach your child some easy kids’ praise songs or listen to a kids praise CD or cassette together and learn some new ones! We have enjoyed some Bible memory verse CD’s which are part of our Sonlight curriculum, where Bible verses are set to music and sung by children in a way that aids memorisation - Sing the Word! From A-Z andSing the Word: A New Commandment. We have also enjoyed some of The Donut Man You can search on Amazon.com or Kalahari.net. Amazon offers you the option of listening to snippets of the CD before you buy. Click on these banners to begin searching. 2. Remind your child that when we pray, we are talking to the King of kings and Lord of lords, but also to a dear Friend who loves us very much. Be ready to answer questions about where He is and why we can’t see Him. |
Monday 5 March 2012
Drink to lose waight: Google+Preview The Little House on kalahari.net
Drink to lose waight: Google+Preview The Little House on kalahari.net: Google+ Back to Back Issues Page The Whole Child, Issue #007 - Easter Activities for you March 31, 2006 MAXIMISING POTENTIAL The Whole Chil...
by Viginia Lee Burton.
2. Begin a habit of reading good literature aloud to your child regularly and let her narrate back to you afterwards. As avid fans of Charlotte Mason, I believe that children who practice the skill of narration, from living books, are not only able to repeat facts, but they learn to process and assimilate information and absorb it into their memories, making it a part of their unique knowledge of the world.
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