Going With the Program

Transitions, simply put in the preschool world, is moving from one place or activity to another.  Should be easy, right? Well, not so much for many young children.  The importance of learning to go with the program and follow the classroom routine is paramount to your child’s success as your child goes through school.  A child need to be “flexible” and “adaptive” to be ready to listen, learn, and follow the directions of the teacher.   

Try these simple steps to help keep your child “on track”:

1.       Create a “personal schedule” just for him.  The schedule can have picture cards or photos and be tailored to include his most challenging time of day.  For example, a child that is having trouble getting ready in the morning could have cards that show:  brushing teeth, getting dressed, and eating breakfast.   Downloading clip art can make this quick and easy.   You can use a poster board from a craft store for the board.

2.       If you child is under age 5, place the pictures in a vertical direction, as it will be easier for their eyes to scan in this direction.  For older children pictures placed horizontally are fine.

3.       Talk to your child before bed about “what will be happening tomorrow”.  Engage him in the conversation and have him place the pictures or cards in order on his schedule board.

4.       In the morning, ask him to check his schedule, do his job,re-check the schedule , remove or check off the job,  and move the next job up on the chart.

Children love completing their schedules.  It gives them a feeling of success when they are able to do all the jobs on the schedule.  Satisfaction in completing the schedule provides a natural reward that offers pride and a sense of achievement.  Rewards that boost self-esteem trump tangible prizes any day.

And, if you’re a busy mom or who doesn’t have the time to make the schedule board-here’s a website that sell them pre-made

http://www.pecsproducts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=53&osCsid=4f70efbd41ffeaff780e9ff74c3541c9

Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?

Happy New Year, everyone!
Back in the day, we used to refer to January as "Planuary".  It is a  time to start thinking forward.   If your child is turning 5, you may be thinking forward to next year, and thinking:   

"Is My Child On Track for School Success?"  Our Learning Boxes focus on targeting skills sets needed for Kindergarten.  We have six installments which gives your child just the right time to complete the full program.  Check us out at: 

 www.tipsandtoys.com

 Here are some guidelines for you to think about when deciding if your child is ready to move forward:

• Social/Emotional:  Studies have shown that social/emotional maturity is an important predictor for academic success. Make sure to consider your whole child, both academic and social maturity, when making your decision.
• Independent Learning: Your child should be ready to carry out a directed activity by himself.  
• Attention:  A 5 year old should be able to sit and pay attention to a task, not of their choosing. for 12 to 15 minutes.
• Play: At this age, your child should be able to incorporate other children's ideas and desires into their play schemes.  It is a time when children develop skills to work together.  
• Ability to Multi-Step:  Can your child complete a two to three step activity on their own? 
• Fine Motor Skills:  Getting ready to write requires good hand use and appropriate pencil grasp and beginning knowledge of letter formation.  This is a good time to have your child practice writing his name.
• Letter and Number Recognition:  Your child should be able to recognize many letters and numbers. 

If you are questioning your child's kindergarten readiness, here are a few tips:

1.  Preschool teachers are a wonderful resource.  They have been there and done that.  Many will  recommend that children with summer birthdays, who seem to be late bloomers, receive the "gift of time" and delay beginning Kindergarten for a year.
2.  Pediatricians are another great resource.  They can help advise you of steps you can take to guide you in your decision.
3.  Our Tips and Toys learning boxes are the perfect mix of fun and learning to give you the confidence that you are helping your child toward Kindergarten Readiness.
Check us out at:  www.tipsandtoys.com

Here's a tip to get your preschooler ready to listen, learn and follow directions! 

Did you know that "heavy work" activities such as pushing, pulling and carrying can help get your child ready to attend?

A child should be able to pay attention to a rote task, or a task not of his own choosing, for 3-5 minutes for every year of age. So, if he is 4 years old, he should be able to attend for 12-15 minutes. 

Why not have your child do some "heavy work" like helping to put away the groceries, before doing a seated activity.

Perspective

It’s another sleep deprived morning.  I am still not used to the early morning wake up call to get my ninth grader to the bus leaving the house at an ungodly hour.  It’s only week three,  I’m still hoping for a carpool or just maybe, I can get used to this routine…we’ll see….I can’t complain to my daughter who feels her job as a student is far tougher than my cushy job “playing” with kids all day as a therapist.  Maybe she’s right.  I do have probably the best job in the world.  But, we can talk therapy on another  day.

Today I am thinking about perspective.  What do we really want for our kids?  Raising toddlers and preschoolers is one thing, but having a teen never ceases to be a humbling experience.  This teen stuff is completely uncharted territory for me.  As parents of young children we focus so much on the skills our children need to succeed in school.  Parents of teens still care about school success, but the stakes keep getting higher as we try to guide them for success in life.  Did I say guide?  That term may be a stretch, because teens don’t really like to be guided, because after all they know better.  At least I think this is true, it couldn’t just be me, could it?  Make that self-doubt with a little paranoia thrown in…

So, I worry.  Not really for any good reason.  But, because that is something I am really good at.

And, then a baby comes over the house for a visit.  My daughter goes over to the baby and is just so sweet with her.  That’s the daughter I know, sweet and loving.  The baby proves that sweetness and loving is still there.

And then, never being one to not have a sense of humor, she says to me, repeating a website she had recently seen:

“No Matter how old your are, no matter how badass you are, if a toddler hands you their ringing toy phone, you answer it”.

Yup, that’s what it’s about.  

Going Beyond the ABC's for School Readiness

I had a few extra minutes this morning (thank goodness!) and sat down to drink my coffee in front of the TV. What a luxury! I'm usually one to go straight to my recordings, my ADD kicks in with all those commercials, but today I decided to watch Good Morning America. Cookie monster was on the screen and they were talking about the next season of "Sesame Street". At first, I was attracted to the familiarity of cookie monster, but then the content was really interesting and like always, it brought me back to Tips and Toys.

As per usual, I tuned in just as the segment was coming to an end. The spokeswoman was talking about how important the skills gained from watching "Sesame Street" are for school readiness. So what do we need for school readiness? If my child knows his ABC's, is he ready? Should she be able to count to 10? I heard my friends kid was already reading some words, is my kid behind because he's not doing that? He doesn't hold his pencil right. Should he be able to write his name? All these and so many more questions run through parents minds every day. And yes, these questions are very important and ones that I will talk about at a different time. But today, I want to mention the ones that were brought up by the spokeswoman from "Sesame Street". The very important skills like:

1. Attention
2. Cooperation
3. Being part of a group-- sharing, telling the truth and keeping our hands to ourselves.
4. Self Control
5. The importance of being a good friend and accepting differences in others
6. Turn taking
And so many more....

We sometimes focus so much on the "educational skills" that we forget how important all these other skills are for forming the foundation for higher level learning and executive functioning. The next time you're picking out an activity with your child, perhaps pick one where cooperation and working together matters. Something as simple as saving a large box and inviting a friend over to turn it into a castle, house or dinosaur cave can work on so many skills that get your child ready for leadership and success. They'll have to work together to decide on colors and how they want it to look. They'll have to listen to their friends ideas and learn about compromise and respecting others. And in the end, they'll see that having many ideas helps create something very special.

Have fun and enjoy your weekend! It's supposed to be beautiful here so I'm heading out to walk my dog!

What’s the best way to help my child develop her play skills?

The best way to help your child develop play skills is to play with her every day and introduce a variety of toys that tap into all areas of development. She won’t like them all equally, but with your help, she’ll be more likely to try just one more time. If you keep play-time short and fun, you can bet she will learn more skills playing with you than she ever would on her own.

Why can my daughter can sit and watch tv or play on a tablet for hours but is bored as soon as she’s unplugged?

You are not alone. All the bells and whistles on a tablet or computer capture a child’s attention. She just has to sit passively and the tv or computer game will do most of the work.

Old-fashioned, battery-free play requires different skills. For example, building with blocks, playing dress-up, and fingerpainting are help children use their imagination, build make-believe worlds, and create something original