Remember Learning doesn’t have to take place in a classroom. It can happen right in your own living room!

Get ready, get set and learn!

September 2, 2005
Playing the “What If?” Game:

Helping your child to build their imagination will help them become a critical thinker. This activity is great for long car rides, waiting in lines or drying off after the bath. First, give your child a situation and ask them to figure out what should happen. Ask, “What if you got to day care and your new teacher was a giraffe?” Help your child find creative ways to solve problems with this fun game. A great book to get a “What If?” conversation going is Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type. What if cows could really type? What types of problems could a farmer encounter?

Book Selection
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Hardcover)
by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)

September 9, 2005
Exploring Folktales through Drama

This activity will help your child – ages 3 and up – with creative thinking and problem solving; diversity appreciation and understanding; dramatic play and creative movement; and language and literacy.

Listening to folktales from around the world can enrich your child’s understanding of many cultures. Today we’re going to help you explore folktales with your child, by helping you turn a story into a play. The first step is to locate a story that will be easy for your young child to act out. I’ve selected Why the Sky Is Far Away, a Nigerian tale by Mary-Joan Gerson. Once you’ve selected a book, find a comfy place and read the story to your child. So, what do you do after you’ve read the story together? When you’re done reading act out the story! Make sure everyone has a part. (You and your children can play multiple roles.) You may want to narrate the show. Children can ad-lib lines, or mime the action as you provide the words. It’s important to let your child know its ok to act silly and have fun. Remember, learning doesn’t have to take place in a classroom. It can happen right in your own living room! Get ready, get set and learn!

September 16, 2005
Say Hola to Spanish – and "I love you" in many languages
Introducing children to other languages

Words are essential building blocks for nearly all basic skills. They make it possible to think, to understand, to ask and find answers to questions and to communicate. The more words children know, the easier it is for them to learn most of the things teachers will try to teach them. It’s even important to know words from other languages. Each child has some very similar things in their bedroom – a bed, a closet, toys, pillows. What do these things have to do with teaching children foreign languages? You can use them to teach children multiple languages. You can introduce new words by making labels for the things in your child’s bedroom – labels written in different languages. Here are some suggestions. Talk with your child using simple phrases from other languages. Try singing songs in different languages. Talk about something as simple as the different ways to say “I love you….” Don’t forget to include sign language as an example of a different language with your child. And, this is a great book to use to introduce your children to Spanish….it’s called “Say Hola to Spanish.”

Book Selection (in both English and Spanish)
Say Hola to Spanish (Say Hola To Spanish (Paperback)
by Susan Middleton Elya, Loretta Lopez (Illustrator)

Say Hola to Spanish, otra vez (Say Hola To Spanish (Paperback)
by Susan Middleton Elya, Loretta Lopez (Illustrator)

September 23, 2005
A Paper Tower: Exploring Science and Engineering
Age Range: 5-8
Skills/Subjects:

Creative Thinking & Problem Solving
Mathematics
Science

Today we’re going to help you explore engineering with your child. One way to strengthen a newspaper is to change its shape – you can roll it into a tube, crumple it or pleat it with folds. To do this activity with your child, all you need is two sheets of newspaper and a ruler.

To get started – bend, tear, crumple and roll different parts of the newspaper. Build the tallest tower you can. Don’t be afraid to bend, tear, crumple or roll that newspaper. Try to make the tower taller. Keep redesigning it until you can’t go any higher.

Here’s a tip: If you build a wide base at the bottom, this distributes the weight over a wider area and makes your tower more stable. Use the ruler to measure the height of your tower. It must stand for at least 30 seconds without falling over.

When you’re all done, I’d recommend reading Science is Simple: Over 250 Activities for Children 3-6 by Peggy Ashbrook -- it will help you with many more creative projects at home! For more ideas on science and engineering, watch “Zoom” every weeknight at 5:30 on WQLN-TV 54. . Learning doesn’t have to take place in a classroom. It can happen right in your own living room! Get ready, get set and learn!

Book Selection
Science is Simple: Over 250 Activities for Preschoolers (Paperback)
by Peggy Ashbrook

September 30, 2005
All About Me: Helping Kids Develop Self-Esteem

Why is self esteem important? Good self-esteem is important because it helps you to hold your head high and feel proud of yourself and what you can do. It gives you the courage to try new things and the power to believe in yourself. It lets you respect yourself, even when you make mistakes. And when you respect yourself, adults and other kids usually respect you, too.

Having good self-esteem is also the ticket to making good choices about your mind and body. If you think you're important, you'll be less likely to follow the crowd if your friends are doing something dumb or dangerous. If you have good self-esteem, you know that you're smart enough to make your own decisions. You value your safety, your feelings, your health - your whole self! Good self-esteem helps you know that every part of you is worth caring for and protecting. (http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/self_esteem.html).

So, how do you build your self-esteem? Well, you first have to look at the “self” part and this activity is great to get kids to know themselves a little better.

This activity is called “All About Me,” and the easiest way to get to know yourself better is to create an “All About Me” Collage. It’s very easy to do. Just skim through magazines, newspapers, Internet articles – anything with words and pictures. Then work with your child to cut out words, pictures, colors, photos – anything that represents them: the way they look, what their family is like; what they enjoy doing. Then paste all of the artwork together to create a collage. Adults – it’s great for you to do this as well. It will help your child get to know you better and you can demonstrate that you are proud of all of the things on your own collage. Once your child has created their collage, have them share it with family and friends. Be sure that the child receives praise and accolades for being proud of who they are! Next week we’ll complete an activity called the Warm, Fuzzy Book which will help work on the “esteem” part. Learning doesn’t have to take place in a classroom. It can happen right in your own living room! Get ready, get set and learn!

Book Selection
We're Different, We're the Same
Written by Bobbi Kates Illustrated by Joe Mathieu