CHALK TALK: preparing your child for kindergarten, part 3 - developing fine motor skills

The foundation of learning is rooted in fine motor skills. This includes being able to write, use scissors, and manipulate small objects. You can aid in this development by having simple items on hand such as dry pasta, tissue paper, playdough, buttons, and rice that will keep your preschooler’s mind and fingers working together! Try some of these simple activities at home:

• Involve your child in the kitchen and task them with measuring and stirring. Children will learn to scoop, pour, and stir using spoons and measuring cups. Not only does this boost motor skills, but fosters confidence in your child as he or she discovers that you value their help.
• Create a sensory bin by partially filling a container with rice or sand, then burying small items such as buttons, coins, small toys, and macaroni. Encourage your child to dig for the items with a spoon and remove them from the bin with a clothespin.
• Purchase safety scissors and allow your child to practice cutting different kinds of paper. Supply him or her with newspaper, recycled printer paper, and tissue paper. The different materials will help your child determine a sense of pressure and cutting strength when using different types of paper.  Also, be sure to help your child focus on gripping the scissors correctly.

• Draw large, simple shapes on recycled paper and have your child tear the paper along the shape’s edges. This will also foster fine motor skills, concentration, and shape identification.
• Find some string and large beads for your preschooler to thread. This will not only help boost their fine motor skills, but provides a great teaching moment for identifying colors, shapes, and patterns. An alternative to this exercise is to punch holes into a paper plate and number the holes with a marker. Have your child numerically thread a long piece of string through the corresponding holes.
• Create a sensory board to help your child learn to open and close specific items. Incorporating shoelaces, velcro strips, clothing zippers, and other materials will help him or her acclimate to getting dressed and tying shoes by themselves.
• Encourage your child to draw and color. The more exposure to holding a writing utensil, the more prepared your child will be for learning to write with a pencil. As with scissors, ensure that your child is gripping the writing utensils correctly.

When focusing on fine motor skills, your child is not only preparing his or herself to write in the classroom, but is also engaging creatively with different shapes and colors. For more fine motor tips, reference THE FAIRMONT FIVE: Developing Fine Motor Skills or visit the Fairmont Early Childhood Education Pinterest board!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Images by Occupational Therapy Consulting LLC, Joy Anderson, Lipstick Alley, How We Montessori, and Vicki Clinebell

CHALK TALK: preparing your child for kindergarten, part 2 - following directions

As discussed in the previous blog, a preschooler’s ability to actively listen and carry out instructions is one of the key indicators that the student is ready to progress to kindergarten. While it’s not uncommon for preschoolers to occasionally struggle with carrying out instructions, here are some great tips to prepare your child: 

• Use Keywords - If you find you’re having to repeat instructions, try using just one or two words to direct your child. Instead of saying “Please take your plate to the sink when you’re done,” try saying “Plate to the sink” in an encouraging tone when your child has almost finished eating. You may find that a one-word reminder will get your child’s attention quicker than repeating directions over and over. 
• Helping Hands - Ask your child for help in the kitchen or while doing other light chores. Giving your child simple directions about making a sandwich or sorting laundry will help foster confidence and knowledge, as well as encourage him or her to follow directions. It’s advisable to give your child no more than three steps to complete a task. 
• Treasure Hunt - Ask you child to retrieve specific items from around the house such as a yellow sponge or two blue shoes. The child will have to concentrate on the task for at least a minute, encouraging him or her to focus. For an added challenge, create a small obstacle course that your child must complete before bringing the item to you. This might include running three circles around the tree, hopping over the garden hose, then somersaulting. If you have more than one child, this treasure hunt can be turned into a fun race!

Helping your child learn to follow directions will help ensure a rewarding classroom experience. Following directions directly correlates with fostering independence. Once a child has mastered a set of directions, they can be trusted to complete the task on their own. This builds self-reliance and self-confidence, both of which are important as children grow and develop. Visit Fairmont’s Early Childhood Education Pinterest board for more great ideas and tips!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

 Image Contributed by Everyday Life

CHALK TALK: helping your child prepare for kindergarten, part 1 - developing good listening skills

How will you know when your child is ready for kindergarten? What skills are essential for succeeding in the classroom? This six-part series will help prepare your preschool student for kindergarten. Buckle your seatbelt and prepare for the rewarding road to elementary school!

Early childhood education teachers have observed six main skill sets that are common in children who have successfully transitioned to kindergarten. The first of these is the ability to be a good listener. Good listening skills are vital, and children who have developed this skill are more apt to follow directions, interact respectfully with adults and peers, and contribute to a positive learning environment. The good news is that listening is a skill that can be developed over time. Here are some activities to do at home:

• Play games such as “Simon Says,” “Red Light, Green Light,” and “I Spy” to help your child focus on listening and responding appropriately.
• Interactive reading will encourage critical thinking and gauge how much information your child is retaining. While reading aloud, pause and ask questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” or “Do you think that was a good idea?”
• Sit quietly outside with your child to identify sounds. This is a great way to teach children to be still and concentrate in order to listen properly.   

Another key to creating a good listener is by setting a positive example. Demonstrating active listening while your child talks will model what their response should be when adults or peers are speaking. Using proper eye contact, body language, and voice tone while conversing will help your child understand how to engage properly in a social setting.  

Incorporating games that encourage children to react with words or actions will help them develop a sense of what it means to be an active listener and encourage appropriate behavior in the classroom. Tune in next Monday to learn some handy tips for teaching your child to follow directions!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Image by Sharon Skelton

THE FAIRMONT FIVE: developing fine motor skills

Fine motor skills are essential to human growth and success. Providing your toddler as many resources as possible to train their bodies is incredibly beneficial for kindergarten preparation. In the classroom, children need to hold scissors and writing utensils properly. Creating simple activities and devices for your child to play with at home will aid dramatically in speeding your child’s hand-eye coordination and developing fine motor skills.

1. Playdough - A simple ball of playdough can provide hours of entertainment as toddlers squish, twist, and mold different shapes. An inherently creative medium, children will automatically use their imagination to build a variety of structures. As a bonus, incorporate dry pasta, pebbles, buttons, etc. for added creativity and motor function!
2. Sensory Bins - Create a simple sensory bin for your child using a plastic storage container and layer of sand, rice, oatmeal, or other malleable elements. Mix small toys, shells, pebbles, legos, etc. into the element and encourage your child hunt for the buried items. When your toddler is ready to advance, have them dig for items and pick them up using a spoon.
3. Sensory Boards - Secure a variety of open-close items to a pegboard for your toddler to practice opening and closing. Items such as latches, zippers, door knobs, and wheels help aid critical thinking and strengthen motor skills.
4. Hole in One - Using empty water bottles and small pebbles or craft pompoms, encourage your child to practice picking up small items and placing them through small holes. Another version of this exercise is to provide your toddler with a colander and pipe cleaner to see how many pieces they can thread into the colander.
5. Threading - Develop your child’s concentration and coordination by give them some large beads and string to thread. As a bonus, get them used to seeing patterns by showing them how to thread beads by color or shape.  

Making activities more challenging by using clothespins or tweezers to move small objects will greatly aid in your child’s progression towards kindergarten. Early exposure to writing utensils, safety scissors, and shoe laces will also help to give your toddler a boost in classroom readiness!    

Visit the Fairmont Preschool Pinterest board for more developmental ideas and classroom preparation for your young child!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Image by Hands On As We Grow

A to Z: in support of the student athlete

In the pursuit of academic success, children sometimes need a break from the classroom and an opportunity to release pent-up energy. While academic success is no small feat, students who participate in at least one extracurricular physical activity are proven to reap more benefits than those who do not exercise regularly.

Engaging in sports activities each week helps improve students’ focus on school work, as well as help them lead happier, healthier lives. Here are four reasons why students should be involved in structured, after-school physical activities.

1. Academic Performance - Studies show that students involved in athletic programs maintain a higher GPA and achieve higher test scores. SPARKpe.org provides a list of recent studies proving the correlation between academic success and physical fitness.
2. Fitness Habits - Sports help students develop coordination and teaches them how to care for their bodies through proper stretching and the development of fundamental mechanics. Participating in athletics at an early age instills physical fitness habits that carry over into adulthood, helping to avoid health problems.
3. Mental and Emotional Benefits - Athletics have great physical benefits, but also help children to improve mentally and emotionally. While the body exercises, the brain releases endorphines. From a biological standpoint alone, students who are physically active are happier and have a constructive outlet through which to relieve stress.
4. Development of Specific Skills - Through athletics, students are able to accumulate a whole host of skills and abilities. Leadership, teamwork, confidence, and self-reliance are the big character focuses. Critical thinking is developed on the playing field as athletes need to quickly solve problems created by their opponents. Time management, a skill necessary in adulthood, is also brought into play as children learn to balance their time between schoolwork, sports, and family life.

Even if your child is not interested in team sports, there are plenty of less intense, solitary options. Activities such as swimming, gymnastics, track, martial arts, yoga, and golf provide physical benefits and allow students to engage in an extracurricular activity where they can advance at their own pace.

For more student athlete information, as well as great drills and exercises, visit the Fairmont Pinterest board Student Athletes!

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Image by Popsugar

CHALK TALK: helping young children be aware of the purpose of advertising

As with television and the internet, young children may innocently embrace advertisements on kid-friendly apps, such as the recently launched YouTube Kids app, as a resource of viable, unbiased information. While adults and older children have a better understanding of the intention of advertising, children eight years and younger are particularly susceptible to the persuasion of ads sharing the screen with educational content and kid-appropriate entertainment.

Children advocacy groups express concerns about the negative influences of advertisements on these age-appropriate apps. They worry that the ads, specifically those targeting vulnerable young children, contribute to reinforcing children’s fixation on soft drinks, junk food, and other unhealthy habits. The issue matches concerns raised in a report published in 2004 by the American Psychological Association entitled “Television Advertising Leads to Unhealthy Habits in Children.”

Dr. Rebecca Osborne, Technology Enhanced Curriculum Specialist for Fairmont Private Schools, encourages parents to monitor what their children are watching and to be vigilant about the kind of advertising that accompanies the programs.  Parents may want to consider streaming programming such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, which do not include ads, as an alternative to broadcast television or ad-supported apps.

When children watch ad-supported programming, parents can help their children identify the difference between a regular show and an advertisement. Parents can point out how the characters are different, the changes in volume or pacing, and how the content of the program and advertisement does not match.  Since this type of distinguishing will not develop until children are around 5-6 years old, parental guidance is essential for helping them see the differences.

Lastly, parents can help their children think critically about the information they are presented. This skill will develop over time, but parents can encourage children to evaluate statements by simply asking "What do you think about that?" or "Do you agree with what they are saying?"

Children have a natural curiosity, and parents should foster this type of thinking in their children to help them identify advertisements and avoid being unduly persuaded by them.

Contributed by Doug Fleischli, Fairmont Private Schools

Image by sheknows

SNACKTIME: healthy nutrition habits for the whole family

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommends a tasty Mediterranean-style diet for promoting good health and preventing disease. The basis of this nutritional recommendation comes from traditional dietary preferences in Greece, Southern Italy, and Spain. Families can enjoy a super healthy plant-based diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes (beans, peas, and tofu), and whole grains without giving up meat.

In fact, an analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults demonstrated that following a Mediterranean-style diet provides a host of benefits. The diet helps reduce risks of heart disease and cancer, as well as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Key components of a Mediterranean-style diet:

• Eat primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts (tofu = soybeans = plant).
• Replace butter with healthy fats, such as olive oil.
• Use herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods.
• Limit red meat to no more than a few times a month.
• Eat fish and poultry at least twice a week.

Practical tip #1
Keep nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios, and walnuts handy for a quick snack.  Pair with fruit or whole grain crackers for convenient after school snacking.

Practical tip #2
Dip celery, carrots, or cucumbers in hummus.

Select natural peanut butter instead of brands with added hydrogenated fat. Try blended sesame seeds (tahini) as a dip or spread for bread. A Mediterranean food guide is available on Health Facts for You, a fact sheet prepared by UW Health.

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Submitted by Leslie Kay-Getzinger, MS RD
Regional Dietitian for Nutrition Management Services Company

Image credit: Nazareth Healthcare

HOW TO: manage sibling rivalry

Sibling rivalry: it’s as old as time itself. Competitive attitudes between siblings is natural. As a parent, dealing with children who are constantly challenging each other can be a taxing battle. Extinguish rivalry fires around your house with these helpful tips!

1. Do not show favoritism toward your children - While the child who is on the receiving end of his or her sibling’s aggression may be your favorite at the moment, do not show partiality. This will only intensify the siblings’ desire to fight for your attention.
2. Refrain from talking to one child about the other - An extension of tip number one, parents should never discuss a child’s poor choices with the opposing sibling. This will only fuel the fire and provide a poor example of how to fight fair.
3. Be inclusive of older children - After the novelty of a new baby wears off, and you devote more time to a smaller child, your older children may feel as though they have fallen down the family pecking order. Encourage your older child to participate in making small decisions regarding the younger child (e.g. allow them to pick out a food item or outfit while shopping for the baby).
4. Actively listen to your children’s struggles - Allowing them to individually express their problems shows that you care and respect what they have to say. This will encourage your children to become good communicators and result in a peaceful household. The dueling siblings will ultimately learn to handle disagreements in a less aggressive manner.
5. Keep both children accountable - Steer clear from determining a winner and loser of each battle. Remember the saying “it takes two to tango,” and arrange a fair punishment for all parties involved regardless of who “started it.”

For more tips on how to manage sibling rivalries:

15 Ways to Manage Sibling Rivalry

Siblings at War in Your Home?

Contributed by Rebecca Stokes, Fairmont Private Schools

Image by ALPI