or like this...
or like this...
Miss M is as bright as they come (this is my professional and motherly opinion), but she has had her learning struggles like many children do. Reading has been a frustrating challenge for her. Timed fact tests in math send her into a frozen state of fear. Handwriting has also been a struggle. So, I try to find the learning potential in any situation to help her as much as possible. And it's so enjoyable to watch her improve in all areas. Her reading and handwriting are improving, mostly due to the extra help she's received from a dear friend and learning expert, Mr. D. He's encouraged her to use learning strategies to help her stay focused and better track the words on the page. I don't time her fact tests every time. I let her lie on the floor to finish her math. She sits on the futon to practice her reading or spelling. We dance around and sing a lot. If she wants to play with toothpicks in the kitchen with her brother, that's fine with me. On her own she practiced counting out a hundred toothpicks...for fun!
Miss M is as bright as they come (this is my professional and motherly opinion), but she has had her learning struggles like many children do. Reading has been a frustrating challenge for her. Timed fact tests in math send her into a frozen state of fear. Handwriting has also been a struggle. So, I try to find the learning potential in any situation to help her as much as possible. And it's so enjoyable to watch her improve in all areas. Her reading and handwriting are improving, mostly due to the extra help she's received from a dear friend and learning expert, Mr. D. He's encouraged her to use learning strategies to help her stay focused and better track the words on the page. I don't time her fact tests every time. I let her lie on the floor to finish her math. She sits on the futon to practice her reading or spelling. We dance around and sing a lot. If she wants to play with toothpicks in the kitchen with her brother, that's fine with me. On her own she practiced counting out a hundred toothpicks...for fun!
I have noticed that when the television and the computer are off, the kids can easily find constructive and educational things to do. (Of course they fight and drive each other crazy, but that's educational, too.) I am as guilty as any other parent of using electronic devices as free baby-sitting, but I'm trying more and more to encourage unplugged time. Their play is fascinating to watch. They can be different cartoon characters, act out stories with cars and trains, pretend to be a vet or a policeman (or woman!), act like animals, or pretend to be hurt or unhappy and have things "fixed" again. I want my kids to stay kids as long as possible. And I truly feel that constructive and creative play is one of the best ways to help my kids wade through the more difficult (and sometimes frustrating) educational "stuff" they need to know in life (math facts, what an adverb modifies, how a silent final e works, etc.) So, at our house, sometimes we're working, and sometimes we're playing. But we're always learning.
Play is often talked about as if it were relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. ~Fred Rogers
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