Block Play

Was introduced to this blog and tmblr and I LOVED the videos and ideas on it for using blocks in your play.  Check them out!

http://theblockroom.blogspot.com/

http://k1classroom.tumblr.com/tagged/block-building

Living with Autism

For those of you who may have just had a child diagnosed with autism or with any other challenge, or for those who know someone with a child with a disability - I recommend you watch this beautiful video.  This is compiled by Clear Horizons Academy - a school for children with ASD and other learning difference in Orem, Utah - as well as the Autism Resources of Utah County Group and the Autism Council of Utah.  I know many of these families and have seen their battles.  They are strong and lovely and I gain such courage and strength from simply interacting with them.  I think we would all be well to follow their advice and take their words to heart.  Enjoy!

If you would like to know more about Clear Horizons Academy or have access to their free training and resources, please visit: clearhorizonsacademy.org.

Einstein Never Used Flashcards: Play!

I was reading this chapter from the book "Einstein Never Used Flash Cards" by Kathy Kirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff.  I was delving in to Chapter 9: Play: The Crucible of Learning.  It was AMAZING!  It went all through play and how it develops and how it can help kids.  

Sometimes we don't think about play as the crucial component to development that it is.  And, we REALLY don't think about play in the tiny, development steps that seem to come so quickly and naturally to kids.  I really liked the way this book laid out the specifics of play - how it's important from the tiniest glimmers of play to the two hour long dramas our preschoolers put together.  

I was excited to read about the steps in pretend play as it made me think more specifically about the kiddos I work with.  Are they playing?  Are they playing as complexly as I expect for their age?  How can I better support more complex play and spontaneous ideas?  

Anyway, check this out (and for more details and rich examples, I recommend you check out the book from your library and read away!) :

Pretend Play Development (and how Language Development Coincides):

1.  Child pretends by copying the real life function of the toy (i.e. drinking from a cup)

2.  Child adds drama and "self-pretends" (i.e. drinks from the cup with big slurpy sounds and mmmmm sounds after)

3.  Pretend play can include others (i.e. child drinks from cup and then helps Elmo to take a sip).

4.  Child uses play gestures in combination (i.e. child takes a drink from the cup and then eats a slice of bread)

5.  "Hierarchical Pretend" - child has an organized, hierarchically sound plans and followed through with logical steps to execute the plan.

The cool thing about this, was that they found all these steps developed along with the language.  So, for steps 1 and 2, kids were only speaking in one word phrases.  For step 3, the child was starting to direct language. Step 4, child was combining language (i.e. "eat cookie") and for Step 5, child was taking in 2-4 word sentences.  Neat.

Then they also went through social play.  They found:

1.  Kids treat each other like objects - parallel play - end of first year

2.  Cooperative play (13-14 months)

3.  Kids start to take on roles (age 2)

4.  Kids establish play routines with their roles and themes (3-4 years old).

Anyway, so cool, right?  Just thought I'd share these cool little steps and encourage you to go read chapter 9 and learn more details about the importance of play in development :)

Success

I was reading this great book about learning. It's called "The Growth of the Mind." I came across this quote in reference to how we teach, considering individual difference and motivating, developmentally appropriate lessons, as well as our measurement of a child's skills. Thought it was lovely.

"A child's success is not accurately measured by how quickly she learns, or whether her method resembles that of others, but by how well she learns when taught in a manner suited to her needs. Our school's failure to educate masses of children fully capable of learning is not the result of over emphasis on unearned self-esteem or touchy-feely frills but from reliance on a model that ignores the nature of the learning process." -Stanley Greenspan, The Growth of the Mind, p.213.

Parenting from the Inside Out

If you're looking for a good book to read, I just finished "Parenting from the Inside Out" by Dan Siegle.  What an AMAZING book to help you better understand the way we as a parents and caregivers may be affecting our children both positively and negatively.  I really appreciated the gentle way Dan helps us learn to be self-reflective and change ourselves in order to be better for our children.  LOVED it.  A few gems from the book?

"Children don't need us to be fully available all the time, but they do need our presence during connecting interaction.  Being mindful as a parent means having intention in your actions.  With intention, you purposefully choose your behavior with your child's emotional well-being in mind.  Children can readily detect intention and thrive when there is purposeful interaction with their parents."  -p. 7-8

"Communication that involves an awareness of our own emotions, an ability to respectfully share our emotions, and an emphatic understanding of our children's emotions lays a foundation that supports the building of lifelong relationships with our children." -p.57

"When parents have conversations with their children in which they reflect on the internal processes of people's minds, children begin to develop mindsight.  If parents focus only on their children's behavior and do not consider the mental processes that motivate that behavior, they often end up parenting for short-term results and do not help their children learn about themselves." -p.231

Anyway, hope you grab it from the library and eat it up!  It's just lovely :)