“Practice makes perfect.”
These words couldn’t ring truer for preparing a child to become a writer. Writing isn’t an acquired skill; it is learned and practiced long before pencil is actually placed in hand. Here are some great ideas to get your preschooler ready to write - and still have a great time doing it!
As a Friday treat, I would like to point you to Nicole’s site. Nicole is the mom to four beautiful girls, and I have enjoyed reading through her site since we added her to the Wonderbrains Blogroll (see our sidebar for more blog-worthy reads!).
I spend three days a week with a class of twelve children, ages four and five years old. As one of my boys was leaving the class to go home with his mom last week, I overheard her ask her son, “How was your day today?” Her son replied, “Great! All we did was play today!”
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does that make a puzzle worth? Puzzles are wonderful learning tools without even appearing as such. Children love to piece together puzzles at almost any age, from toddlers through the teen years and into adulthood. The benefits of “puzzling” are innumerable, but here are a few areas that puzzles really shine.
Here are the latest recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Please visit their website for more details. Read more…
(aka how I got my sons to be active participants in the way our household runs)
First off, let me just state that I am NOT Supermom. My kids have tantrums, all my ideas don’t necessarily work - all the time, and I have been known to yell from time to time (like today). However, I have found ways to get my children to happily participate in the way our household runs. “Chores” is not a bad word in our house.
My nine year-old came bounding into the living room yesterday, weilding an unsharpened pencil and wearing his Harry Potter robe from last Halloween. “To your feet ye scallion and walk the plank or fix me snack…please!” I jumped to my feet, swooped into a low bow and said, “Please, my Lord, spare me the murky waters of the unknown and I shall prepare a lovely plate of apples and caramel dip to your liking…and thank you for using ‘please’ when you asked!”
To say it is never a dull moment in our house is an understatement. One moment I’m the queen of the castle, signing papers and watching magic shows. The next minute I’m the proud owner of a 3 year-old ‘puppy’ that looks strikingly like my younger son. Pretend play is probably the most important aspect of development for children at any age.
It has been a long, hard road, but we finally crossed the bridge into Big-Boy-Pantsland. My younger son is almost four, and I wasn’t sure he would live to see his next birthday at the rate we were going. While my first son was Mr. Compliant, Number Two taught me some valuable lessons in potty training.
