The importance of creativity for our children

This is long, but it is sooooo powerful!

It will really make you stop and think about the way we teach our children, and how important creativity is....at least, it made me stop and think.

I hope you'll take 15 minutes to watch it.

Amazing!

http://epresence.tv/Presentation/205

~Lisa

The connection between counting and reading

Pointing and counting.

I learned an interesting thing when Analisa was in kindergarten.....there is a direct correlation between math and reading.

I wish I could tell you the exact terminology (and perhaps if there is a teacher reading this, you can fill me in!), but Analisa's kindergarten teacher explained to me at a teacher conference that Analisa was struggling with what I think she called one-on-one correlation.

In other words, if you were to place 10 pennies down on the table, and ask Analisa to point to them one at a time as she counted them, she would come up with 12 pennies, or 13 pennies, or any other number. Her counting was not in time with her pointing. She was saying the words 1-2-3-4-5 in the correct order.... and she was pointing to the pennies; however, the timing was off. She would be saying the number 3 while her finger was in the air between pennies, or the number 5 while her finger was in the air between pennies.

I thought she was just uncoordinated, but her kindergarten teacher explained to me that this ability to count and point is a basic building block in learning to read. Amazing!!

She stressed that it was VERY important that we practice this basic skill.

Analisa is now in 3rd grade, and has officially been tested and found to be "learning disabled" in both math and reading. I don't know if we didn't practice enough, or if this is just a skill that Analisa was unable to grasp.

In any event, I'm taking the information I learned from Analisa's kindergarten teacher and hoping to help 3-year old Luke become proficient at this important skill. When we read our books every day, I always ask him questions about the pictures he sees. Now that he's grasping the concept of "how many?" I ask him on many of the pages that we read "How many _______ do you see?" and then we POINT and COUNT the butterflies, or the chickens, or the apples, or whatever.

I hope this will help him later as he learns to read...in the meantime, it's just another way to make our reading time more interactive, so it's something we both enjoy anyway!

~Lisa

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We love personalized books!

Shortly before Christmas, Luke was the fortunate recipient of a personalized book from Aardvark Adventure Stories (http://www.AardvarkStories.com). This isn't your typical personalized book, where your child's name is scattered throughout the story; this is a custom-designed story book featuring your child!

I first selected a story line from the many available at the website. Since 3-year old Luke is currently torn between being a race car driver or being a baseball player when he grows up, it was a difficult choice, but we decided on Zoom Zoom Zoom! (subtitled even!!! "Let's Go Zooming with Luke John Pallardy").

In this sturdy, hardback, brightly colored book (that even includes a front page bio), Luke is personally involved in a variety of adventures involving race cars, cranes, boats, helicopters, spaceships, trains, submarines, and more!

The book is LONG! (over 30 pages!) and I think my favorite part is that I was able to submit several of my favorite photos, and the creative geniuses at Aardvark incorporated the various photos and facial expressions into the story in a way that makes them look like Luke was there for a photo shoot for this exact story!

I wish I'd received it earlier so I could have told everyone I know about it in time for Christmas shopping, but with Valentines Day and Easter approaching, this is definitely a fantastic gift idea that any child will love and cherish (and it's such superb quality, I can imagine Luke keeping this book forever, and even reading it to HIS child some day....).

You'll want to bookmark this site! http://www.AardvarkStories.com

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A custom sweatshirt featuring your child's artwork is the perfect Valentine's Day Gift for Grandma! http://www.MyLittleRembrandt.com/customtshirtsandapparel.html

L is for "Luke"

Now that the holidays are over, Luke and I are busy working on letter recognition. Naturally, we chose to start with the letter "L."

As we read books every day before nap time for the past few days, every time I see a capital "L" in a book, I point it out to Luke, and then say, "L is for Luke! and L is for Lisa!"

We were at the grocery store today, and saw lots of Ls on labels and signs (lemons and lettuce and lemonade).

While I don't think Luke quite yet understands the sound of L, he's learning what L looks like.

Our plan is to take one letter at a time, beginning with the first sound of the names of all our family members --- with 5 siblings, that will take up quite a bit of the alphabet, and keep us busy for quite a few weeks!

:)
~Lisa
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Over, Under, Beside, Behind....

No, I'm not talking about Sister Rosemary teaching us prepositions in the 5th grade!

For the past few days, Luke and I have been playing what he likes to call "The Hiding Game." I have him leave the room, and while he's gone, I hide one of his toy hot wheels cars.

My older kids like to call this the "Hot & Cold Game" and when I play with them, we use degrees of temperature to indicate how close the seeker is to finding the hidden toy. But Luke, who just turned 3, was pretty confused with the entire concept of "hot or cold," so I thought this would be a fun way to practice concepts such as "on" and "behind" and "beside" and "under."

So when Luke comes into the room, I give him clues using those words. I tell him is car is "behind" something. If he goes to the chair that is next to the couch, I tell him that his car is not behind the chair, it is behind what is NEXT TO the chair. Continuously giving him clues until he "wins!" by finding his toy car.

This is a fun game that he loves to play over and over and over.

I've just got to find more places to hide his car!

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Want a free copy of my "Ready, Set, Go" E-book? If you want a free copy of my e-book to read with your pre-schooler, just sign up to receive email notices (top right of my blog). I'll send it to you to print out and read over and over (and over, and over, and over). (If you already receive email updates, just send me an email at Lisap@MyLittleRembrandt.com and I'll send you a copy.)

Repetition, repetition, repitition...

When I was in the 5th grade, Sister Rosemary was my English teacher. On the first day of school, she handed out a list of 3 columns of words titled "Prepositions." She told us that we would be required to memorize these 20-odd words.

Every morning, after attendance was taken and morning prayers were recited, we got our preposition list out and, as a class, read the list of prepositions.

Every morning.

Every day.

About 5 or 6 weeks into the school year, Sister Rosemary told us that we could NOT take our papers out that day; she wanted to hear us recite the prepositions without looking at them that day.

Well, let me tell you.... about, above, across, after, against, among, around, at, before, behind, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except....

I remember that entire list to this day!

The routine I've adopted with Luke (3) involves lunch, then a book or two, then a song, then nap. Everyday for the past few weeks, I've been softly singing the ABC song to him as he lies down to sleep after we finish reading. Sometimes I sing it several times. But it's become our routine.

Yesterday, we were running errands in the car, when I heard a little voice in the back seat, singing, "A B C D E F G...."

I guess this repetition thing really works!

~Lisa
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Feelings. Nothing more than feelings.

We've been in need of a lesson on empathy around our home lately.

Not sure if it's because of the impending holidays, or because my businesses have been keeping me busier lately, resulting in (bad mom! bad mom! bad mom!) Luke spending more time watching television while I get work done.

Whatever the reason for the less than stellar behavior, I thought it was time I worked with Luke on how his behavior affects other people.

I made this simple print out. Basically a circle with a nose. The 2nd page has a collection of eyes and mouths. By cutting out the eyes and mouths, I was able to make a "Mr. Feelings" for Luke to play with.

Of course, he had fun making funny faces with "Mr. Feelings," but I used it as a teaching tool by showing him how his brothers and sisters felt when he broke their toys; or how mommy feels when he refuses to listen; and how Daddy felt when Luke gave him a big kiss before he left for work this morning.

I think it's so important that we teach our kids how much their behavior affects other people.

I'd love to send "Mr. Feelings" to anyone who's interested. No cost, just send me an email at Lisap@MyLittleRembrandt.com and I'll send him right to you.

~Lisa

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