Tried and true Christmas gifts for kids

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Christmas is coming, and it's easy to get sucked into our society's inclination toward consumerism at this time of year. Whether or not you can afford the latest fun toys, technology, or trinkets for kids is pretty irrelevant when you consider what is most beneficial for their development.

Incidently, this post was inspired by this great piece posted today by one of our school parents.  Thanks for posting!

A couple of ideas on Christmas gifts for your children that they will love but that will also be of extreme benefit to their development!

Two years ago, I was in a quandary as to what to stuff our children's stockings with. I was fed up with puting little junky trinkets in them that just temporarily entertain and then end up stocking the landfill.  One of our teachers gave me a brilliant idea...why not stock the boys stockings with "invention" supplies?!  We routinely use a wide variety of such supplies in our preschool, and the boys have had MUCH experience utilizing them, but why not give them their very own?!  So I did.  Their stockings were filled with electrical tape, zip ties, mini bungee cords, string, and more.  

When Christmas had come and gone, which gifts were the ones that provided weeks (even months) of entertainment for the boys?  You guessed it...the invention supplies!

There's proof!  We need not feel pressured to spend loads of money on the latest gadgets.  As a matter of fact, think of how much more brain stimulation comes from creative gifts like this!  Isn't that a better gift in the long run...the gift of experience in challenge and growth for our children?!  

I'm sure you all have many other creative ideas for inexpensive, developmentally beneficial Christmas gifts.  We'd love to hear them.  One such example is deconstruction of appliances.  Read more by Teacher Tom about what a gift that could be here.

If you've got other ideas to share, send them our way.  Perhaps they'll find their way onto our blog here!  And remember...whatever Christmas shopping you end up doing...enjoy the season!

On Halloween at our school (and other holidays)

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In general, we do not "do" holidays at our school.  Now, we may create some special activities for the children on those days that would correlate to the occasion.  However, we honor the children by not interrupting their primary goal of exploration and experimentation at the school when they attend.  We choose not to bombard them with the expectations held by adults in reference to such days.

In regards to Halloween specifically, Dan Hodgins (educator whom I'm spoken of several times in the past) posted this on his Facebook page today, 

Okay, you are all going to hate me for this one. Halloween is not appropriate for Preschool age children......They would enjoy getting "candy" just as much without the costume. They don't like their faces covered and they don't understand what happened to the individual that went behind the costume.

While I recognize that children have varying capacities for comprehending our Halloween traditions, I find that pretty much the entire holiday and its traditions are something "taught" to our children.  Yes, they are fun.  Yes, we can gauge what traditions are appropriate for each individual child.  However, at the preschool age, these traditions are not typically inspired by the child. They are typically inspired by the parent.

What that means for Halloween here tomorrow:

Costumes:  If your child requests (not due to your adult prompting or questioning) to wear a costume to school...so be it.  Note this though.  If a child is allowed to wear a costume to school on one day(Halloween), why wouldn't they be allowed to wear a costume on ANY given day?  To children at this age, costumes are something to be worn on any given day, at any given time, just because it is desired for the moment. To a preschool aged child, a costume is a tool for pretend play, which is not something that is limited to any given day or event.  Please also understand that if your child is proud of the costume and is wearing it more to gain a reaction than to take on a persona in pretend play, chances are the experience of wearing the costume to school will not be all that successful, and could potentially prove stressful.  Also keep in mind that what your child wears to school will be what your child plays in at school, paints in at school, and digs in the mud in at school.  We always ask that you keep any clothing (which would include costume) items you are concerned about out of the school experience.  Finally, any props that belong with your child's costume are almost positively going to cause them more stress at school than joy, as they are at an age developmentally that requires for them to possess things as "mine".  Please keep such things out of the school as well, out of respect for your child, the other school children, and our staff.  If your child asks to wear his or her costume the day after Halloween, so be it.  Let them enjoy the costume to its fullest.  Again, there is no need for your child to be restricted to wearing the costume for the extent of one evening!  They just want to wear a costume.  We don't need to make it into a huge deal for their school day.

Candy:  We'll not be "trick-or-treating".  I have just a little something that I will be sending each child home with, but that's the extent of our sweet-treat experience for the day.  The children will likely receive more than enough sweets this holiday.  We do not need to give them more here!

Other:  Like I said, we may provide activities for the children that seem to correlate to traditions of the holiday.  We as teachers will not attach such activities verbally or otherwise to "Halloween".  Activities would be placed in front of the children just as any other activities we put out for them on any other day, and will continue for as long as they prove to be inspiring the children's exploration.  (Examples of this: "valentines" being placed in various cubbies, by the children, for over a week around Valentine's Day and hunting for gold and setting leprechaun traps for days around St Patrick's Day.)

Please understand, what you do as a family for the holiday of Halloween is entirely up to you.  Different families have different traditions, and I encourage you to establish yours.  Our family certainly has ours.  These are simply the details on how we handle the holiday at the school.

My point...clarified

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Just happened upon another wonderful blog link to Early Play.  The first thing on there was a quote that summed up what I was saying in my last post entitled Uninterrupted Exploration.

“Every time we teach a child something, we keep him from inventing it himself. On the other hand, that which we allow him to discover for himself will remain with him visible for the rest of his life. -Piaget 

Uninterrupted Exploration

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Weeks ago, I began writing a post on our adult interactions with the children in our lives and in our program.  If you scroll down through the blog, you'll not find it!  As I wrote, I found that the topic included vastly too many categories to be contained in a single blog post.  So, I dropped it...until further and more specifically focused inspiration would arise. In time, you will find a series of posts focused on the greater concept of the way we communicate with preschoolers.

Well, today I happened (by blog-hopping) upon a blog post today that is related to one aspect of our untraditional approach at communication with children.  

Often our adult agenda of how to properly interpret a child's experience can get in the way of a genuine learning opportunity for that child. We hold in our heads ideas of what can/should be gained from a child's experience with the world and subsequently interject those ideas inappropriately.  In doing so, we interrupt the natural learning process, all in the name of a "teachable moment."  

I've got an example for you:


I have desired to introduce hot glue guns for a long time, but have been leary because of the fact that our program is school for not only preschoolers, but toddlers and even infants as well.  I did not want to pull the hot glue guns out just for the older children, and make them off-limits to the little ones.  I also (obviously) can not trust the little ones to understand the concept of a "tool", as to them EVERYTHING is an experimental piece to the THOROUGHLY explored (NOT SAFE!).  

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I went out on a limb and bought several hot glue guns (painfully low-temp ones) for the school.  I gave in to my desire to support the children's creativity in providing them an outlet for it that would provide superior functionality over "school glue".  So glad I did.  They have enjoyed experiencing and creating with the glue guns.

I pulled the hot glue guns out first when only a couple of four-year-old children were finished with nap time.  We did use the hot glue guns later with all who desired attempting them (with the help of a wonderful, very patient parent volunteer)...but I'd like to focus in on the experience of those first two children with the hot glue guns.

 Before they started gluing, I explained to the children that these glue guns are not toys.  They are tools, and must be used consciously.  I pointed out that the tip was hot and could burn them.  Then I let them get started.  They began selecting a random assortment of bits and pieces (beads, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, buttons, etc.) to apply to their base (cardboard).  

Their method of application went something like this:

-squeeze trigger to apply small dot of glue

-hunt for the perfect piece to place on the glue dot

-attempt to adhere the piece

-find that the piece would not stick

Now, in that moment I had the thought (created in my mind by the "spell" my mind battles frequently) that this was a "teachable moment".  I could explain to the two children exactly what was going on and how to ensure that the pieces would indeed stick.  Then they would "learn."  Right?  Well, I didn't fall for it.  Here was the conversation that ensued instead.

S-It's not sticking!

Me-Oh. Why not?

O-(after an additional attempt to stick a piece on a glue dot)- it's hard!

Me- Oh?

S & O tried again.

S- It's still not sticking.  It's too hard!

Me- How did it get hard?

S- (after poking a bead at the hardened glue repeatedly- cautiously touching the glue dot for as brief a moment as possible- then again a little longer- and again without caution using full finger pad)- It got too cold.

Me- Oh.  So what can we do?

O- We have to put it on fast.

Now, they both got a piece at the ready for being glued, placed a fresh dot of glue, and quickly stuck their piece in place.

Do you see folks?  I did not "teach" them.  They have the tools they need within their minds to figure out how the world works.  We only need supply them with the opportunity to experience.  Some little questions when they were looking for guidance was all that these two needed.  They simply had to be encouraged to have confidence in questioning within themselves for the answers.


At our last monthly parent meeting, we talked about something that our staff heard at our educational conference last July.  The presenters used the example of erosion.  Erosion is something that many adults would feel compelled to teach a child who is playing with sand and water as they are mucking around and eroding their sand walls with their bucket or hose of water.  That's not what preschoolers need.  They don't need to be told, "That's called erosion.  Erosion happens when...blah, blah, blah."  They just need to develop experiences.  Experiences that, when the time comes, will provide real understanding of the concepts they are learning.  Some day when they are sitting in a classroom studying  erosion, a lightbulb will go on, and they'll think, "oh yeah...erosion...I know what that is.  It's just like I used to do in the sand at my preschool."  

So, do you remember that blog-post I initially mentioned having read today.  Here it is.  It was beautifully written by what appears to be an excellent new blog-writer.  Please enjoy reading and let her know we appreciate what she wrote!

 

We run here!

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I have had the privilege of hearing Daniel J Hodgins speak on several occasions, and have so appreciated his deliberate push toward practices that are indeed beneficial for our children.  Many of the practices of which Dan speaks are found far too seldom in our early childhood settings.  

During at least two of my conference experiences, Dan's presentation was entitled Looking Through the Eyes of Boys and Girls.  It was extremely insightful to say the least.  In an effort to continue my own thought processing on the topic, I picked up a copy of Dan's book BOYS: Changing the Classroom, Not the Child at my most recent conference experience.  Now again, this is a book I highly recommend parents (and teachers) to read! 

Dan wrote the following in his book, which inspired me this afternoon:

If boys (and girls) lose the right to run- the right to spontaneous, unstructured movement- then we increase the risk that they will develop a lack of confidence in their bodies along with obesity, heart disease, joint replacements, and a long list of other horrors.

Reading this inspired me to do a bit of hunting on the topic.  I found a few articles, including one intended to educate parents on which cartoon characters are healthiest.  Throughout all the articles, running is considered to be a positive thing for young children (for obvious reasons to most of us).  I found one article of specific interest to me, and definitely worth passing on to you all.

Rae Pica has written a piece entitled Why Motor Skills Matter , which I found on a website called Moving and Learning.  As you read below, I think you'll find that Rae communicates the same sentiment as does Dan Hodgins:

And, considering the health hazards for the unfit (obesity, heart disease, and many others), this is one area where movement matters even more than language. A competent mover will gladly keep moving. A child who feels physically awkward and uncoordinated is going to avoid movement at all costs (just as a person who feels inept at public speaking will avoid a podium at all costs).

 Such a child isn’t likely to take part in an after-school game of tag, or to play jump rope or climb the monkey bars during recess. And it’s doubtful that her parents would consider taking her to the playground, on a hike, or roller skating on the weekend. There’s no mystery as to why the research shows children lacking in movement fundamentals are more sedentary than peers of the same age who are skilled movers. And since poor movement habits tend to track from childhood to adulthood, a physically inactive child is unlikely to grow up as a lifelong mover.

 In this realm, the most important thing you can do is to give children the time, space, and opportunity to move. 

Rae also discusses how we often expect children to develop gross motor skills naturally or "magically" as they mature.  He explains that this natural development can be true in regards to manh of our childrens' basic gross motor skills, but that "maturation takes care of only part of the process – the part that allows a child to execute most movement skills at an immature level."

Immature level???  

I agree with Rae, as I have seen this exact thing in my own time with preschoolers.  The children come into school with a wide variety of gross motor skill development.  It can become quickly evident to preschool teachers which children have been allowed or (even better) encouraged to run, jump, balance, climb, swing, hang, etc.  I believe that all of these gross motor skills need to be developed and specifically through (as Dan said) "spontaneous, unstructured movement."

THEREFORE, in our school you will find a list of rules for children which includes but is definitely not limited to

  • run
  • jump
  • climb

Please parents...offer your child the amazing benefit of doing these things at home as well...at their own initiation...by themselves!  If you stop them, slow them, or even "help" them, you could be depriving them of the opportunity to gain experiences and skills that are quite necessary.  

Now obviously boundaries must exist.  I'm not asking that you look away while your children run willey nilley and climb your bookshelves.  I'm asking that you first of all create a space where these things can naturally and safely occur...hallways for running...stumps and structures for climbing...landings for jumping.  I'm also asking that you pause a moment before stopping such behavior.  Just step back and ask yourself where the boundary REALLY needs to be and how you can accomodate the movements needing to be experienced.  

Do you really need "walking feet"?  Not usually!

So, like I said, we run here...and our children are the better for it!

Early Literacy

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 I am passionate about allowing children to learn through play experiences and avoiding forced academics and rote memorization of letters, sounds, phonics, etc. For many parents whose children have hit the "pre-k" age, doubt can begin to set in.  Friends' children begin reciting/performing those "skills" they've learned in their academic programs, and we begin to wonder if we should be doing more. 

Last year, I was told of a wonderful book, which I have since then read twice and so appreciated.  Reading Magic, by Mem Fox, addresses how exactly it is that children learn to read without forced academics.  The book serves as an encouragement for parents who are taking this "road less traveled" in regards to their children's education/literacy.  It is a piece that I think every parent ought to read as early in their child's life as possible.

Teacher Tom has blogged a bit about literacy in the past.  One of his posts that I particularly enjoyed can be found here.  I have passed that link as well as an encouragement to read Reading Magic on to our school parents. This past Monday, we focused our monthly parent meeting on early literacy. At the meeting, one of our local children's librarians shared a variety of fun ideas with us, I shared a bit about Reading Magic, and we held a brief of discussion on literacy as well.  

In that discussion, one of our parents (who is also a teacher) remembered a quote she had hanging on her wall.  I am so grateful she brought this quote in to us, and I would like to pass it on to you all.

A child's mind isn't a blank slate; it's more of a jungle. Each time a parent helps a toddler read, the child is walked through this jungle from one side to the other. Trip after trip, a seemingly impossible passage becomes a well-worn path. Children sent to kindergarten skipping merrily along this path to literacy fare far better than those sent to school with machetes.

Keith Mastrion, "Reading Man" and 1998 National Teacher of the Year

This same parent also brought me a copy of Mem Fox's Ten Read Aloud Commandments.  I LOVE them!  

Moral of the story...explore the links, read Reading Magic, and pass the concept on to others!  We need not feel pressured by society to force literacy on our children.  They'll begin reading in good time!

Racing goop

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Well, I heard of a fun idea, so we tried it.

First we took some corn starch and some water.


Then we mixed them together.


We hung some baskets and other containers with holes in them from the ceiling.


Then we dumped some of the ooblik (corn starch and water) into each hanging container.


Next we watched...


...and watched...

...and watched... (alright, by this time not all of us were watching)


This was supposed to be an ooblik race...one in which we watched to see which container would allow the ooblik to race to the table fastest...but as you can see...


not a lot happened...


Then I remembered...

The original idea had suggested the idea of a FLUBBER race...NOT an ooblik race. So a couple of days later, we re-hung our baskets on a mission to make a race really happen!

We concocted the recipe for flubber using borax, glue and water.  We scooped it into our various hole-y containers...


And watched the race begin...


it wasn't long before we were rewarded with sufficient racing by the flubber...


This race proved to be much more exciting than the first!


Oh how we enjoyed watching the flubber stretch...


...and stretch...


The photos ended here, but the race continued throughout most of the day.  

The children observed:

which flubber went the fastest

which flubber became the thickest

which flubber hardened after only traveling a short distance

and which flubber didn't even make it through the holes in the container at all.

My lesson learned here...

always follow the correct recipe, and when you goof...try again!

Taking Risk

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Can a child achieve optimum early childhood development without being given ample opportunities to take risks?  The ability to walk out from the other side of having taken a risk and succeeded is something that can build a child's confidence like little else can.

For months now, I have been aching to share with you all an absolutely AMAZING blog, written by Teacher Tom.  Today, I simply can not resist.  Yesterday, Teacher Tom wrote a wonderful post called Dangerous Hammers.  In this post, he refers to an article in The Times called Can a Playground Be Too Safe?.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts on his post and the article.  So give it a read, and speak up!

 

Rainbow Salt activity

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This is a simple activity you could easily recreate at home.  I'll walk you through it.

Supplies you'll need:

-tray (we used cafeteria type, but you could easily use a baking sheet without non-stick coating)

-colored chalk

-salt (large quantity)

-wide and shallow tub or bowl

-jar

-small scoops (such as measuring spoons)

-masking tape

-piece of paper (we used construction paper)

Set up:

With supplies laid out on table, pour salt into the shallow tub or bowl. Use masking tape to adhere opened jar to table (in order to avoid the jar being repeatedly picked up and dumped and refilled throughout the process). Tape the piece of paper into a funnel shape (will be used to transfer salt to jar).

Process: 

Scoop a small amount of salt onto tray. Rub chalk back and forth over the salt. Watch the salt change color!

Pour the colored salt through the paper funnel into the jar (a kitchen funnel could be used here, but we did not have one wide enough at the top to catch all the salt out of the tray well).

Repeat as many times and with as many colors as desired. When the layers of colored salt have reached the top of the jar, replace the lid and find a special place to store it.

You may need to pull out several jars and a good bit of extra salt, as this activity can tend to hold a child's interest quite well.  


As you probably well know from reading some of our other blog posts, our art projects are focused on process as opposed to product.  This activity however, naturally lent itself to providing a finished product.  There was much mixing of colors, which in turn gave us a wider variety of colors in the jars than colors of chalk provided. The children seemed to enjoy so much each step of the process that they wanted to repeat it more than they wanted to explore alternatives in the process.  I think we'll need to this activity again.  I am curious to find out whether the finished product will remain just as "finished" as the first time, or if the children will delve further into experimenting with how they can modify the activity and how that changes the outcome. Perhaps I'll even leave out the step of taping the jar to the table.  That could change things a bit.

As far as clean up.  Remember...it's just salt.  If you simply do this activity over a hard floor surface, the salt sweeps up very easily.  So, just relax and enjoy the process!

On toilet paper

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Many of you may have experienced the joy of allowing children to unroll and frolic in a roll of toilet paper.  Well, although it is not an idea original to us, we make it the habit of periodically presenting the children with OODLES of toilet paper.  What could be more fun?!  Although the pictures are blurry (children in vigorous action), and although the camera was only present for a few brief moments of the TP fun, the pictures below should give you a tiny glimpse of the joy to be had unrolling toilet paper.

PVC pipes were hung by rope from the ceiling.  Twenty rolls of toilet paper then slipped onto the PVC pipes provided much unravelling fun.

Bundles of toilet paper are carried all over the school.

Just imagine...all that can be played using toilet paper.  A blindfold  (above).  A landing pad for jumping into.  Wrap for a mummy.  As children will show you...the ideas are endless.

In our school, the toilet paper remains in use for several days.  Sometimes it is even turned into other things, such as clay.  At home, just pull out a roll or two, hand it to your child, and see what is to come.