The Importance of the Spoken Word

The tenth target in the Ready for Kindergarten program is hearing spoken words. The target is the same whether you have a baby or a four year old: speak to your children 30 times an hour. But what is the significance of all this talk?

Doctors Betty Hart and Todd Risley wrote a book, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, about there research into what creates vocabulary growth for children. They were expecting to find parents utilizing teachable moments. What they discovered was a difference of 2400 words per hour in the number of words a child heard. Moreover, the higher the number of words the more meaningful was the conversation. That is to say the business of life with a toddler took the same number of words across the board, those parents that spoke more were talking about dreams, the past, praises and affirmations.

Also, because the business of life with a toddler of necessity includes the discipline and the "extra" talk includes the affirmations that "extra" talk can have a serious affect on your child's self-esteem. The children of parents who talked less heard they were wrong more than twice as often as they heard they were right. Keeping in mind that business talk was a constant for all the families, the children of parents who talked more heard they were right about six times as often as they heard they were wrong. That is a substantial difference in the amount of positive affirmation.

Now as a note of encouragement, the number of times conversation was initiated was similar for all the families. Those parents who talked more simple sustained the conversation longer. So you don't need to worry about starting more conversations simply keep the conversations you are having with your child going longer. Also, don't worry about trying to move past the business talk as you talk longer it happens naturally. So turn off the computer and start talking.

Introducing Prepositions

Prepositions can be tricky even for adults. However, they are also inescapable, so its best to begin young. According to the Ready for Kindergarten program (which has a number of wonderful resources) one year of age is a good time to introduce the prepositions up and down. Their recommendation for keeping your child interested while introducing the new concept is nursery rhymes. I've listed a few for you in case you are stumped for ideas.

The Grand Old Duke of York
The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.

And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down.

This is a good rhyme for acting out the ideas of up and down. Have your children stand for the ups, sit for the downs and try to find a half-way point for the half-way up (which should produce some interesting results).

Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

There are additional versus. However, they do not focus on the up and down concept we are trying to convey so I did not include them. (Wikipedia lists a number of verses and variations if you are interested.)

London Bridge is Falling Down
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

While it only mentions down this particular rhyme does work nicely as a singing game in which you capture whichever child is under your arms when you sing "My fair lady". I know my girls love to play capture games--particularly if Daddy is playing. We like to play with the additional verse of "Take the key and lock her up".

Ring Around the RoseyRing around the rosey,
A pocket full of posies.
Ashes. Ashes.
We all fall down.

The cows are in the meadow
Eating buttercups
Ashes. Ashes.
We all jump up.

Another good singing game. My children like to circle until they are dizzy. Also, there are a number of variations on this song I've listed the one I'm most familiar with. If you'd like to see alternative verses visit Wikipedia.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout agin.

This is a good starting place for introducing the ideas of up and down because you can act out the prepositions by crawling up your child's arm as a spider and falling down your child's arm as rain.

These are just a few rhymes to get you started. There are many other rhymes you can also try. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Hickory, Dickory Dock to mention just a few (Although Twinkle, Twinkle only mentions up). Pick those you enjoy and sing them often. Also, when you are singing try stopping occasionally to let your child fill in the rhyming words. Remember rhyming is an important step on your child's road to reading. Now everyone sing together:

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down.
Hickory dickory dock

Learning to Color

My youngest daughter is at an age where we would like to introduce her to coloring. Coloring being the first step on the road toward writing. As I mentioned earlier I like using the Kumon Workbooks when teaching. However, their color workbook is a little advanced for introducing coloring. So when I am introducing a child to coloring I prefer to use Big Skills for Little Hands I Can Color! (Big Skills for Little Hands; Ages 2 and Up). The lessons begin much more simply and the older versions also ended with a certificate. (I believe the newer versions no longer contain a certificate.)

However, if you want to avoid the expense of a workbook you can introduce coloring on your own fairly simply. (Although the workbook contains a number of helpful hints for parents, which can be reassuring if this is your first teaching experience.) Each time you begin a coloring project with your child make sure she is holding the crayon correctly (like you would a pencil). Also you the opportunity to introduce your child to color names. Start simply with ideas that allow your child to color on the entire paper. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Draw some fish and ask your child to color the blue water for the fish to swim in.
• Draw a wave and ask your child to color some yellow sand for the ocean wave to crash onto.
• Draw some stars and ask your child to color the black night sky.
• Draw a bowl (top view) and ask your child to color the red tomato soup.
• Draw a snowman and ask your child to color the white snowbank. (You'll probably want to use a non-white piece of paper.)
• Draw a pig and ask your child to color the brown mud for the pig to roll in.
• Draw a dog and ask your child to color a field of green grass for him to play in.
• Draw a glass (top view) and ask your child to color the orange juice.

Remember to correct your child's hold on her crayon each time you begin. Heap on lots of complements. And always stop when you are both still having fun. Good luck!

Reading and Writing for Preschoolers

My daughter has mastered her ABCs and we are trying to transition into reading and writing those letters. Apart from continuing to read together we've tried a number of workbooks. The best approach I've found is to separate the two components rather than try to learn to read and write the letters together.


When learning to write the best workbook I've found is My First Book Of Uppercase Letters (Kumon Workbooks). This workbook introduces the letters in a logical sequence for fine motor skill development rather than following an alphabetical sequence. First letters with straight lines are introduced, then diagonal lines before progressing to curving letters. Though it's possible to do the same thing yourself without investing in the workbooks the workbooks provide fun colorful pages as well as numbered starting circles with corresponding stars at the finish of each stroke. Also each section begins with practice pages the introduce the new line, diagonal or curve that will be expected for that section.

The Kumon Workbooks all end with certificates of achievement. We like to make a big ceremony of the presentation and march them as a family to the wall were they will be hung for display. My daughter feels a special sense of accomplishment and we all have fun celebrating with her.

When learning to read the letters repetition seems to be the key. That being the case I would buy up any inexpensive phonics workbooks you can find. Phonics flash cards are also a big help. Start with the short vowels. Then introduce the simpler consonants like b, d, l, m, n, p, r, s and t. After we've mastered those sounds we'll move on to more difficult letter and sound combinations.

Review of "Animals should definitely not wear clothing" by the Barretts

Another of those hundred books recommended by our local library was Animals should definitely not wear clothing by Judi and Ron Barrett.

The story introduced a number of large vocabulary words like disastrous, unnecessary and embarrassing. And the words are in very large print and always all together on the page opposite the picture. Also, the story is a good way to introduce children to the idea of comparisons. How are animals different than people? Porcupines have quills and camels have humps...Besides those differences listed in the story what other differences have you seen?

The pictures illustrate only what is written in the story, but the illustrations are very detailed. The illustrator did not use a large color palette but the pages with the words are also in color.

It was an enjoyable book and my daughter enjoyed seeing the pictures of the animals in their clothes.

"Is Your Mama a Llama" a Must Read for Preschoolers

My daughters and I have been reading through our local library's list of 100 books every child should hear before kindergarten. The week before last we were reading Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino and I'm considering checking it out from the library again.

The book walks you through a variety of animals giving brief descriptions of each all without your child realizing they are being taught. The rhymes make the story fun and lyrical as well as making the words easier to remember. And my daughter loved shouting out the name of each new animal.

The pictures by Steven Kellogg were full of hidden details, like a turtle mama and her babies, while maintaining the correct lack of detail to keep the animals sweetly child-like. When I pointed out the "hidden" animals my daughter delighted in searching the pages for them and pointing the animals out to me.

This is a delightful book and would pair nicely with a discussion about types and varieties of animals. I covers a variety of animals that are not typically covered in a child's first introduction to animals.

Reading Mouse Paint a story by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Because my daughters are both so young we have mainly been focusing on reading together. Because there are so very many children's books to choose from I thought I'd start with the library's reading list. I also add books as they attract my daughters' attention.

The past couple of weeks we've been reading Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. The story introduces the idea of mixing colors to create new colors. The mice mix red and yellow to create orange, yellow and blue to create green and blue and red to create purple.

Each color is created twice so that the idea will stick better in the mind of your toddler. The first time the mice mix the colors they use their feet (an idea which my daughter very much enjoyed). The second time the mice use brushes to mix the paint.

The story is simple without being repetitive. The pictures are also simple and easy to follow. I agree with the library that this is a book your little one should hear before kindergarten.