Month: November 2023

by Nancy D. Sivilai Language Development for Toddlers by Nancy D. Sivilai It is important to have an idea of how language develops in children.  Language is developing since before birth as the baby hears his/her mother’s voice.  After birth, the family will be teaching language to their child by being language models and by trying to understand when the child tries to communicate.  At first, the baby’s language is through crying.    It is through crying that the baby is saying, I am hungry or I need to be picked up or I feel tired, etc.  As the family responds, the child is learning to communicate. As you respond to your child with vocabulary, repeated words and adjust to accommodate your child’s emerging language ability you are promoting language development clearly to your child.  Language development begins with babbling and cooing to first words, native language sounds, telegraph sentences, creative grammar and adult speech. By age 2, your toddler will be able to say about 50 words and begin to put 2 word sentences.  In my class, toddlers enjoy pointing to body parts and are able to point to their nose, eyes, mouth, and so forth and they have started to say each body part, however, many children can point well before they can verbalize it.   Our toddler class also enjoys pointing to pictures on storybooks when asked “Where is the yellow duck?”   We now realize that oral and written language are intertwined.  Children actually are learning about reading and writing at the same time they are learning to talk.   Learning to read and talk happens at the same time.  Babies/toddlers begin to read as soon as books/print become part of their lives.  To help your child in his/her language development I would encourage parents to read to your toddler.  Read books, sing nursery rhymes, sing songs and talk about what you are doing, what might happen, identify words, name characters, read for information, or speculate excitedly. Another way is through play.  Play is an important part of language development because as toddlers play and explore they learn to name block shapes, cooking toys, puzzle pieces or toy cars.  They also learn to share and take turns and the importance of using words to interact with friends.   At home toddlers expand their experiences beyond toys by helping with chores.  A toddler can put away toys, or explore the family garden.   You may also take your toddler to the grocery store, pizza restaurant or zoo.  These places will enrich your child’s vocabulary as well as later help him/her be able to talk about real experiences.  May you enjoy watching your child’s language development expand daily.

Spending quality time with your children is important, but should you feel that you need to keep your child entertained all day long? The answer may surprise you… it can be good for kids to experience boredom sometimes, and providing the conditions for quality free play is more important than organising a string of activities. What are the potential benefits allowing your child to experience boredom? So, while you may have to step in sometimes, don’t feel the need to rush in with activity ideas at the first sign of boredom, rather treat it as a positive experience. The next time your child says, “I’m bored,” respond with, “Excellent news!  I can’t wait to see what you’ll do!”

By Teacher Shannon Children at a young age have an incredible amount of curiosity and learn mostly through discovery. Providing young children with the opportunity to explore through play can benefit them tremendously. Sensory Play is anything that engages use of their senses including sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, balance, and movement. Allowing children the opportunity to get messy with different materials while moving their bodies incorporates both their cognitive and physical development. This can include things such as scooping, tearing, pouring, stamping, throwing, wiping, etc. While messy play can be fun and exciting some families may shy away from this because of the hassle of cleaning up.  A couple tips to help including messy play at home… The physical benefits of children playing in sensory areas include moving their bodies and strengthening the small muscles in their hands which will help to prepare them for writing. The cognitive benefits of sensory areas include but are not limited to developing their creative thinking and imagination skills, discovering different senses, exploring their environment and different materials, and developing the ability to explore various solutions while developing problem solving skills. When playing with family, friends, and classmates children are able to work collaboratively and practice taking turns, sharing the different materials.  Start easy and small. The benefits of sensory integration into your childs play are important but at home with so many other things going on it is important to not overthink it to the point of not doing it. Anything is better than nothing. Here are a few ideas in order to get your child started. Use items you already have in your house such as water or rice. Both of these materials are easy and children love exploring them. Add a couple instruments such as cups, spoons, pots, pans, recycled bottles etc. for children to start experimenting with. Start to incorporate more things as your child grows. Good luck and happy exploring!

Witches, wizards, zombies or ghosts? Days in advance, we have been speculating in K1 about which Halloween costumes we will see on 31 October when it’s trick or treat time at school!  With bags full of sweets and dressed up as scary characters, the children then came to school on Halloween for a day full of fun and spooky activities. What does this have to do with maths? And how can you connect Halloween with mathematical learning? Children acquire their early math skills through daily routines and interactions. For example, every morning we count how many students are in school and how many classmates are absent that day. On Halloween morning, things got a bit more exciting and the pupils counted enthusiastically when we asked ‘How many witches flew into the classroom today?’ ‘One, two, three, four!!!’ The use of number words and counting objects is one of the mathematical precursor skills that children acquire in kindergarten and can be integrated playfully into the school day. And that’s exactly what we practised when our maths lesson turned into a ghost hour on Halloween. In the morning we made little ghost crafts out of recycled paper, wool strings and white tissue paper, which we used in the afternoon for a number recognition game – the Ghost Bucket Toss! For this game, we provided different sized containers equipped with number flashcards that the students had to hit by throwing the ghost figures.  Swiftly the paper ghosts sailed through the air on our veranda and the children cheered enthusiastically at each score or shouted the number they hit ‘Five! Six! Three!’ With our Ghost Bucket Toss, K1 did not only practise number recognition or the use of number words. Spatial awareness and the perception of distances and sizes are also practised. For example, the children learn to instinctively estimate their own distance to an object while aiming with the ghost crafts at containers of different sizes at different distances. Before each throw, we asked ‘Which number are you aiming at?’ to activate this perception. Mathematical learning through play – when could it be more fun than trick or treating at the end of the day? Numbers and counting are naturally integrated here when the children decide how many treats they want to give away or we count together whose turn it is next. And finally? Of course, the sugary booty can be counted as well!