WONDERWALK

Oct 162009
 

by Esther Jantzen, guest poster

This activity is easy and energizing! It helps children learn to look closely at the ordinary and amazing things in the world around them. The thing to do is to keep asking “I wonder” questions. It’s fun to hear what children say while you do this. Their answers may be surprising and unusual, and it’s okay if they don’t make total sense.

Here is one way to do it:

1) With a paper bag in hand, take a walk outside your house with your child. Together collect as many different kinds of leaves as you can, picking up only one of each kind. Ask, “What do you notice?” or “What do you see?” 

2) When you get home, sort the leaves (or stones) into groups. For instance, you could put all the pointy leaves into one group and all the leaves with round edges in another group. Ask, “I wonder why some leaves have points and some are round?” and see what your child answers.

3) Then sort those leaves by some other category like by color, size, texture, or some other characteristic. Let the child choose another way to sort the leaves and say, “Tell me about how you sorted those.”

Ask “I wonder” questions often, such as, “I wonder how plants take water and brown earth and make colorful flowers?”  We may not know all the answers to these questions, but it encourages thinking and creativity in children. 

Esther Jantzen, Ed.D, is a mother, an educator and the author of Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids available at www.plusitbook.com and the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal available through www.jantzenbooks.com

RHYME TIME

Oct 022009
 

 by Esther Jantzen, guest poster

Kids and adults love rhyming words. Rhymes are in songs, in raps, in poems, in ads, in jump-rope games, and just about everywhere. This activity can be done any time, anywhere, and especially when you’re in a silly mood! It helps children learn that it is fun any time to play with words, sounds, and rhythms. It develops their attentiveness and their ability to hear sounds. It develops their vocabulary. Here are some ways to do this:

1) Think of a simple sentence that you say to your children frequently. Then make up a rhyme to match it. For example, with “It’s time to go to bed!” add, “So lay down your pretty head!” Or with “Sit down and eat your dinner,” add, “We don’t want you any thinner!” OR

 2) Think of a word or a simple statement such as, “I saw a puppy dog.” Then ask your child to tell you a word that rhymes with dog and like log, hog, fog, frog, bog. See how many you and your child can come up with. (For older children, try picking words that are more unusual.)

Then see if you and your child can put these words together in an easy little poem with several rhyming words. For example, “I saw a dog who sat on a log. He sniffed at a frog and then jumped in the bog.” If your child offers a nonsense word, that’s just fine. See who can come up with the silliest lines. Go for giggles here and for the fun of sounds. OR

3) Try for a question rhyme: Did you ever try to tickle a pickle? Did you ever try to hug a bug? Did you ever try to eat your feet? You might want to give a reward, like staying up an extra 20 minutes to read, for the special question rhymes. If you come up with rhymes or poems you like, write them down and save them.  That way you’ll get to enjoy them again.

 

Esther Jantzen, Ed.D, is a mother, an educator and the author of Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids available at www.plusitbook.com and the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal available through www.jantzenbooks.com

TREASURE HUNT

Sep 182009
 

1950s Children Playing Sign

Photo credits: www.roadtrafficsigns.com

by Esther Jantzen, guest poster

One great place in every community is the Children’s Section of the public library. Whether you have been to the library many times or are making your first visit, you can find treasures there!  Take a bag to carry home those treasures, the books you want to borrow.  If you or your children don’t have library cards, stop at the Information Desk and get a card.

Here’s what to look for.  Choose the ones that fit the age and interests of your child:

1) Look at the library walls for posters and pictures. Let your child find all those with animals.

2) Look at the book displays or showcases together. Find one thing that surprises you.

3) Find the section with picture books. Can you find a book by Richard Scarry there? Clue: Using the alphabet to guide you, find the section where the authors’ names begin with “S.”

4) Find the section with Easy Readers. Pick a book that you would like to read together with your family. Take it with you to the check out desk. Or sit right there and read it together.

5) Find the Junior Fiction section. See if you can find a book by Beverly Cleary, E. B. White, or Lulu Delacre. Or find one by a favorite author of yours.

6) Look for the section with Foreign Language books. How many languages do you see represented there? Do you know anyone who speaks those languages?

7) With your child, find out if your library has a story hour when someone reads to kids .

8) Go to the computer table and see if you can find out how many books by Dr. Seuss the library has. Ask the librarian if you need help to do this.

9) Find the non-fiction section. Can you find a book about something that interests you?

10) Ask the librarian for the library schedule or calendar of special events.

Look at all the things you can do before you even check out the books!

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Esther Jantzen, Ed.D, is a mother, an educator and the author of Plus It! How to Easily Turn Everyday Activities into Learning Adventures for Kids available at www.plusitbook.com and the Way to Go! Family Learning Journal available through www.jantzenbooks.com

 

 

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