I am sure most of us have heard questions such as “How Well Do You Know Your Child?” and it’s a question all parents must be able to answer. We cannot effectively reach out to children (or anyone, to say the least) if we cannot understand them or place ourselves in their shoes for a moment. Life goes by so fast that we sometimes get caught up with what seems to be the priorities on our minds that we forget about the basics.
As parents (guardians and/or caregivers), we wake up in the morning, get breakfast ready, get the children ready, drive them to school and get on with our own work. Then it’s time to pick the children up from school, ask about their day, have diner, help out with their homework and get them ready for bed. We wake up in the morning and do the same thing over and over again.
Those things create a bond between the child and the parent (priceless). As much as we enjoy doing these things for our children and while we adjust/embrace these changes, are we really paying attention to the most important details in their lives? Are we listening to them, understanding what they are saying and responding appropriately? Or are we simply ‘going with the flow’ like some would say? I am sure you’ve all heard the saying and hopefully read the Poem by Dorothy Law Nolte, Children Live What They Learn. We are our children’s heroes from the start and they mimic our every move even though we don’t seem to notice it. If someone was to ask you today how well you know your child, can you say for sure that you will represent your child well? Click here for a fun survey and share the results with your child to see how well you did.
How about your child? How Well Does Your Child Know You? This question is as important as the first one (how well do you know your child?). How do you project yourself to your children? How do you nurture them? What do they think of you? Is their perception of you accurate? As parents we are more concern about our children’s well-being that we forget to share a little bit about ourselves with them. Living under the same roof does not mean that they know and/or understand us and what we do. We have to share some information which may come handy in time (in extreme cases for instance, being able to identify us just by simple, yet detailed questions). Our children may not answer all questions about us accurately, but they should not be guessing when we can educate them and we should not be guessing either and start asking questions.
All About Mom.
One of the activities of the month of May in my Son’s class was a description/presentation about their Mothers. Sometimes we think such little details are not so important for our children to know, but they really are and my boy made me proud today. As you can see on the document above, he remembered everything except my age.
“Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.”― George Bernard Shaw
So, my dear readers, on a scale of 1 to 10, how well would you say your child (or children) know you? How well do you know them? I’d love to hear back from you.
This afternoon we had another opportunity to work on a Family Decorative Project for my Son’s class. We had so much fun coloring the Easter Egg Canvas below. He was very specific on what he wanted and I think it turned out just wonderful. My kids are looking forward to decorating some Eggs for Easter.
Easter Egg Decorating Project.
Tomorrow, along with the other kids, they will be decorating some Eggs. He’s quite excited!
Tonight we worked on a Family Decorating Project. As with the other projects, we were asked to decorate a Shamrock which will be displayed for viewing on St. Patrick’s Day. This time too, we kept it simple while making it unique and interesting. For this project, we decorated this Shamrock by drawing a maze pattern within the leaf clovers and adding the kids favorite things: Robot, Car and Cupcake with a cannon behind it.
Shamrock Decorating Project.
My Kindergartener received another Pizza Hut® Book It!® Reading Program Certificate. He has been wanting to eat some Pizza and now he’ll be having one for free (not free since he worked really hard for it).
Book It!® Reading Program Certificate.
Today is such a bright and beautiful day; too bad we have to stay indoors due to the high gusty winds. I was really looking forward to gardening and tending to my plants. All the tasks have been completed. We will be watching fun movies for the next couple of hours (while having some healthy and nutritious snacks) and then we will do some reading and other challenging activities before calling it a night.
A few years ago, my Son then 2, asked me why I enjoyed reading and having so many books? I told him that I read to be knowledgeable because knowledge doesn’t update itself and we must keep our minds active.
At my House, we love to read. My husband is a huge Mechwarrior/Battletech fan and has all the Books (and a large selection of action figures). I love reading Inspirational, Educational and Christian books and I have a bunch around the house. It only made sense for us to give our kids a good start in reading and learning. We visit the Libraries, Bookstores, we use the computer to read stories, play challenging games and much more.
I have been reading to my children since they were infants. At 5 months we started using the Laugh, Smile & Learn™ Computer Learning Systemand Amazing Animals™ Sing & Go Choo-Choo™ by Fisher-Price®. VTech® Baby’s Learning Laptop and Explore & Learn Helicopter. We used Magnetic Letters Set as well as Learning Blocks to identify numbers, letters, words and pictures.
Within a few weeks of owning this cool bilingual robot, my Son was able to recognized all the letters of the Alphabets as well as the numbers. I am sure this little robot triggered his love for reading. My Daughter used it to learn her ABCs too and loved it as much. She has long outgrown it.
Hear him speak letters, numbers and nursery rhymes in two languages (English & Spanish)
A great teacher for preschoolers, robot’s LED displays letters and numbers
Musical Choo-Choo train with baby animals lights up and plays catchy songs
Animals have movable joints, textured feet, and teethable ears
Train lights up and each car has unique feature to keep little ones busy
Choose between sitting mode for youngest baby and motion-activated as they grow
Includes 3 animal friends
The Fisher-Price Amazing Animals Sing and Go Choo-Choo is such an adorable interactive toy for kids. It remains one of my children favorite toys. It teaches them about animals through songs and play. You can add to the fun with even more Animals.
Fisher Price Amazing Animals™ Sing and Go Choo-Choo™.
These blocks are very educational; however, the size of the blocks will vary depending on the brand. It’s always a good habit to be around your children when they are playing with blocks to insure that nothing goes in their mouths and also to help them identify the objects.
I purchased one for my Son (as pictured below) when he was just one year old and he loved it. He enjoyed dragging the wagon around and learned so much from the blocks. Although Collections Etc. no longer carries the toy, you can get something similar such as Melissa & Doug Classic ABC Block Cart or Uncle Goose Classic Embossed Alphabet Blocks ABC.
VTech® Touch & Learn Storytime (with four interchangeable story books).
With four interchangeable story books, story time takes on new meaning with Baby’s First Storybooks! This interactive storybook has touch sensors and a magic pointer to encourage your baby to play and explore words, pictures and sounds! Touch sensors on each page for easy learning.
Though the recommended age: 3 – 7 years, my Son had his at 2 and he’s loved it since then. In addition to their storybook cartridges, they each have over 50 downloaded eBooks in each V.Reader. Get the pink one here.
VTech V.Reader Animated E-Book System.
The VTech® V.Reader Interactive E-Reading System features:
Color touch screen
Plays fully animated stories with story narration, character voices, vivid graphics, and exciting sounds and music!
Storybook Cartridges have 3 ways to play: Watch the Story, Reading Games, and Story Dictionary
USB port and SD memory card slot for expansion
Multimedia Capabilities: Photo Viewer, Video Player, Art and Writing Programs
Durable, kid-friendly design
Download additional e-books and track your child’s progress at VTech’s Learning Lodge
My Son has had his for almost a year now and we got one for my Daughter a couple of months ago because she was fighting to use her brothers’. They love it, they use it daily and they are learning tremendously.
Both notebooks feature an LCD color screen and educates your child in a fun and colorful way through learning activities that focus on creativity, letters, vocabulary, counting, matching and more! A working cursor mouse is included with this electronic learning toy for added interactivity.
VTech® Brilliant Creations Advanced Notebook recommended age: 5 – 8 years
VTech® Brilliant Creations Beginners Laptop recommended age: 4-6 years.
When it comes to my super active Son, the Fisher Smart Cycle Extreme is a life saver for me. Given that my kids fight a lot over toys and because of the size of the Smart Cycle, I cannot purchase a second one. So, I only have them use it during Summer, when days are longer and sleep remains elusive most of the time.
I let them pedal until they can’t pedal no more and all they want is a good night sleep. The Fisher Smart Cycle Extreme is a great source of exercise while learning and my kids love it so much.
Fisher-Price Smart Cycle Extreme.
The recommended age: 3 – 6 years
It’s a stationary bike, a learning center, and an arcade game system-all rolled into one
Cool rumble feature in the handle bar
Drive, Pedal, steer and learn at your own pace
Reinforces important preschool concepts like letters, numbers, shapes and colors
It teaches beginning math, language, and logic skills (Botley talks, lights up and moves his head from side to side while explaining games)
The Robot Requires 4 “AA” batteries and remote control requires 3 “AAA” batteries
Paper, Crayons, Chalk & Chalkboard
One of the best things you can do for your child is put a paper and pencil in their hands to get them started on their writing skills. With a little luck, they can turn into great artists. Depending on the age of your child, some supervision may be required (to see that nothing goes in the mouth and or on the walls).
Paper, Pencils, Crayons, Eraser.
Lots of Communication, Crafting, Play and Outdoor Exploration/Experiments.
I am ending this post with links to three sites I absolutely love:
Wonderopolis® – A place where wonder and learning are nurtured through the power of discovery, creativity and imagination.
Poptropica® – A virtual world for kids to travel, play games, compete in head-to-head competition, and communicate safely.
Starfall® – A free website to teach children to read with phonics (for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first graders).
It’s been very quiet around here lately. The Flu has made its last round in the house and just as everyone is finally recovering and looking forward to an adventurous weekend of Treasure Hunting, the weather has a different opinion. Unless you are a ‘go getter, rain or shine’; the weather is a major factor to take into consideration when living in the High Desert (followed by weeds). We spend most of our time reading and watching movies.
My Kindergartener has been doing really well at school. He has received another Pizza Hut® Book It!® Reading Program Certificate and this afternoon he wrote me a heartfelt story using a heart shape note pad he received from school. He has a way of melting my overjoyed heart and making me such a proud Mother.
Heart Decorating Project.
Tonight we worked on a Family Decorating Project. We were asked to decorate a Heart which will be displayed for viewing on Valentine’s Day. Like with the other projects, we try to keep it simple while making it unique. For this project, we decorated this Heart using scrapbook papers (the kids favorite colors). We cut the paper into small pieces and randomly glued them inside the heart and added two silhouettes in a heart shaped frame.
By JM Perez
and Amazing Animals™ Sing & Go Choo-Choo™ by Fisher-Price®. VTech® Baby’s Learning Laptop and Explore & Learn Helicopter. We used Magnetic Letters Set as well as Learning Blocks to identify numbers, letters, words and pictures.
or Uncle Goose Classic Embossed Alphabet Blocks ABC
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(with four interchangeable story books).
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