Preschool & Kindergarten Education at Home
by Susan Chrisman and Sandy Fairchild
1. What is important to know about neurons in the child's brain?
100 billion - stars in the Milky Way, galaxies in the universe, neurons in a child's brain
Originally, when a child is born, all those neurons are not connected. Only experiences in life will build the connections between the various nerve beginnings and endings. The best way to start with a very small baby is with nurture, support, and predictability, and continue these on into the toddler years.
Children need: safety, love, conversation, a stimulating environment, and good nutrition (lots of fruits and veggies).
A foundation of useful nerve connections must be learned in the early years, in order for the child to have something to build on the rest of his life.
2. Brain cells grow in two ways. (Unfortunately, I somehow missed what those 2 ways are.)
3. What is required in order for connections to form in the brain of a child?
- Active interest by child
- Mental effort by the child
In other words, as parents, we can lead our children to a problem, but we can't make the connection for them. They have to do it themselves. All we can do is provide ample opportunity. The main way that children make connections is through their 5 SENSES.
4. Why can we not rush learning?
The lower half of the brain develops before the upper half. The lower half is in charge of basic motor skills. These motor skills then are used for more complex connections later in the upper half. Trying to teach a child a complex skill too early before the lower connections are well-established forces the child to use lower brain connections to perform processes that should be performed with the upper brain. But they don't have the connections necessary to do it in the upper brain yet. It is possible to use the lower systems for learning to read or do math skills, but it often leads to behavior problems, incorrect labeling for learning difficulties, and even permanent emotional damage. Parents think their child is acting out or being rebellious, when the truth is that the child's connections are just not in place for them to be able to perform the tasks being asked of them.
5. What should you know about a child's developmental timetable?
Each child has his own. No two are alike. So parents should not compare their child with others (even others of their own) thinking they are ahead or behind.
6. Gross Motor Skills:
Movement of whole body - integrates hand and eye muscles
Bilateral Coordination: Balance - using both sides of the body at the same time for the same motion or for two different motions (such as one hand holding a stamp pad and the other hand stamping).
- muscle tone & strength
- fluid movements & balance
- fine motor
- muscle development comes before "school skills"
Crossing the Midline: vertical line running down the center of the body
- using part of one side of the body in space on the other side
- pre-reading development: eyes must constantly cross the mid line in reading
- Child must cross the mid line with his body before he can cross it with his eyes for reading.
- This establishes important brain connections.
LIMIT screen time (TV, computer, video games, etc.). Outside is best for developing gross motor because there is enough space to really move.
7. Fine Motor Skills:
- require use of hands, wrists, fingers
- only develop well when gross motor skills are not neglected
8. Ocular Motor Skills:
- ability of eyes to follow and focus on objects in field of vision as required
- development of 7 eye muscles necessary before reading
- prepare eyes for close focus and working together
- Plenty of outside time is needed for far vision to reduce eye strain of close work.
9. What is the Observation Game and what skills does it help develop?
- Have child observe a landscape (backyard, lake, etc.)
- Turn away and have them tell you what he saw (also heard, smelled, etc, but focus on sight)
- Keep the spirit of a game. Don't let it get too serious. Make it fun.
- develops picturing, word recognition, future spelling, remembering, social skills, communication, vocabulary
10. What is the gateway to learning for a child?
Play!
Go outside and play! Boredom of the parent outside is the greatest hindrance to a child's outside play.
11. What mental connections can be made by the child who pretends?
- enlarges mental framework
- gets outside his own mind
- develops oral language
- metaphor
- scientific insight
- invention
- problem solving
12. What ideas are introduced to your child during manipulative play?
(She ran out of time here and started going really fast and skipping stuff, so I'll just have the bits and pieces that I was able to write down. She gave us a handout of stuff to do for toddlers that answers some of these following questions and give ideas. I'll put it in another post.)
- Blocks (use large ones first, then small, then shape blocks - put away the pattern cards for the shape blocks, they hinder creativity)
13. What is the key to intelligence?
??
14. Why is visual organization/patterning important?
math skills, as well and pre-reading
15. Why is the development of auditory organization important before teaching a child to read?
??
16. What are some specific ways to help your child build relationship patterns?
Talk about the relationships in size, length, etc.
17. How can you make motor patterning easier for your child?
??
18. How would you explain this foundational learning of your child's to a friend or family member?
(See ideas from next post.)
General notes:
Intelligence = Genetics + Experience (In other words, it is quite possible that your child can be smarter than you are if given the right experiences.)
Reading readiness is defined by sensory and movement skills. If your child cannot do the following things he/she is not ready to read. If your child can do them, that doesn't necessarily mean he/she is ready, but definitely is not if he/she can't:
- skip
- hop on one foot
- do jumping jacks
- bike with no training wheels (wow! I didn't learn that until I was like 10)
- cut with scissors, using the correct grip
- thread beads
- concentrate on close work for short periods of time
4 comments:
May I say (from my severely unqualified position of not being a mother and not being a teacher) that I disagree strongly with at least that last point?
You may say so. Which one exactly? #18 or the list of things a kid should do before learning to read?
(I would like to disagree with a long list of things there...but I'll stick with one for now.) :o)
The list of things a kid should do. Your girls are ready to read. I doubt they can do many of those things. The areas of the brain are totally different and develop differently, not just based on age, but also based on developmental methods used on the child. If you read to them all day and never let them play outside or run around, they may read well and never learn to balance or hop or whatever.
I could read anything perfectly by the time I was four. But in school I spent a good deal of time in the principles office (and was spanked!) because I couldn't (and since I didn't talk it was interpreted as wouldn't) skip, or do jumping jacks, or play hop-scotch during PE. I was four and a little behind the 5-year-olds in my motor development.
But I was used as a reading example (had to read aloud in class) for every class up through the high school.
~
I think (again, totally unqualified to think this) that your lady is making an assumption of verbal/visual/aural skills based on gross motor development. I've a few years of a Dev. Psych degree fairly recently, and currently no one is making that kind of connection as an across the board recommendation/indication of reading readiness.
If you don't mind, I'm going to start a new thread on this because I want to carry on the conversation and am getting tired of trying to find it at the end of this very long post. =)
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