Cognitive Development
Yesterday I shared a scripture verse we are going to start memorizing this week. Today I thought I’d share some of what we do when we’re memorizing to keep it fun and productive.
How to Help Little Ones Memorize
We’ve memorized several things so far this year including the Pledge of Allegiance, the Star-Spangled Banner, Articles of Faith, and Sammi’s parts in last year’s Primary Program. Sammi, 5, has a knack for memorizing quickly and I’ve been impressed with how long she’ll remember things we’ve memorized. Elli, 3, has less interest in memorizing but tends to pick things up incidentally, over time. Here are some of the things we do to increase exposure and make memorizing fun.
Get Visual
In addition to the written words of what we’re memorizing, we find pictures that help us understand the meaning of what we’re memorizing. This is especially great for pre-readers since they aren’t really helped by written-word cues, but pictures can help them remember specific words.
Get Moving
Elli, especially, is a movement kind of kid. She loves moving, dancing, leaping and wiggling. While movement is often distracting for adults, this is not true for kids. They are great listeners even when they are moving. It takes a lot of concentration to keep a little body still and usually there just isn’t any left over for concentrating on memorizing. So we add movement to what we’re memorizing.
You could make up actions that match specific words in your passage. This is a great vocabulary builder as well because it helps them grasp the meaning of new words and the overall message of what they’re memorizing. Sometimes I’ll say “Touch your toes then head.” Then for every word we’ll go down and touch our toes then on the next word stand up and touch our heads. We vary the actions each time we repeat what we’re memorizing. Elli really loves doing this. We can repeat a passage ten times before she loses interest.
Get Singing
Setting new words to music speeds the memorizing process. Music is memorable. Using that to help little ones memorize creates lifelong memories. I still remember all 50 States in alphabetical order because we learned that song in second grade. Somethings we memorize already have music, like songs and the Articles of Faith. But other things don’t. I just say it in a sing-songy voice till a familiar tune emerges. Nursery rhyme melodies and traditional kids’ songs are great, simple, already familiar tunes that help little ones memorize something new.
Get Interactive
I print a copy of what we want to memorize. Then I have rectangles of construction paper. For each time we go through the passage one person gets to choose a rectangle (there are different colors) and then choose which words to cover up with their rectangle. We take turns, we make choices, we respect each others’ choices and we work as a team. Going through the passage this way keeps my little ones’ interest longer because they love the anticipation of it being their turn again along with the surprise of what someone else will choose.
Application
We often do a combination of several of these at one time. This list addresses four different learning styles from Multiple Intelligences theory. Namely, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical and interpersonal. Approaching the task of memorizing with an arsenal of activities creates enjoyment and memories that will last as long as, if not longer than, the passage you memorize together.
Other resources for memorization that inspire us:
Scripture Memorization by Kris on The Homeschool Classroom
Incorporating the 2012 Primary Theme in Family Memory Work by Tristan of Our Busy Homeschool
What have your little ones memorized that has surprised you?
I babysat a three-amost-four year old who had an entire, long Clifford book memorized. I was astounded. This was my first experience with how extensive little kids’ memories are.
Happy November! We’re surviving the candy hurricane from yesterday. The wrappers are settling and mostly making their way to the trash. And the girls are trying oh so hard to eat their candy slowly. I’m actually very impressed with their “save some for later” attitudes.
I thought before we headed into another season of getting (from Halloween candy to Christmas presents) we would take ALL of November to thing about our abundance and develop a deeper feeling of gratitude.
We started at lunch today. I shared a scripture verse about living in thanksgiving daily. We talked about blessings and being grateful for them. Then I brought out the thanksgiving journal. Each day we will go around the table at dinner or lunch (depending on our schedule) and write down what each person is thankful for. These are some scriptures I found on “thanksgiving.”
…that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you. Alma 34:38
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalms 100:4
If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. Doctrine and Covenants 136:28
This works well for us since Sammi is a beginning writer and still writes very large following practically no spelling rules and Elli isn’t writing words yet and Scott just coos and looks adorable. For this year, either Brent or I will write down everyone’s “I’m thankful for…” sentence. Since I made the rule that we can’t repeat anything we’ve already said, it will be fun to see how specific or general we become in our gratitude.
I found some other ideas about bringing gratitude into the hearts of your family that I thought were adorably fantastic.
Chocolate on my Cranium: Blessing Boxes
Almost Unschoolers: Flock of Thankful Turkeys
Latter-day Homeschooling: Gratitude Posters, Leaves and Letters
We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ: Thanksgiving Advent Calendar
What are you grateful for this month?
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We were inspired by Silly Eagle Books’ Rapunzel tower earlier this week. The timing was perfect as we finished a roll of paper towels and I found another one hanging out in the office. Once the towers were underway, Sammi wanted to recreate as much as she could from movie, so there was a pond, a castle, a path and a slew of floating lanterns.
While making our Tangled diorama, we took turns retelling parts of the story to each other. This flowed particularly well as Sammi chose what she wanted to add. Then she told me about that part of the movie. She has a better memory than I do for this show so my forgetfulness made her ability to retell the story all that more important so I could get the details right!
My favorite part is the mobile of floating lanterns. Sammi really wanted to launch lanterns and included the “pond” as she called the large lake in the movie. She was also very adamant about the lanterns having suns on them. After I put them together and punched the hole, then she drew sun flames around it.
Of course we had to end the evening with another viewing of the movie. And see what else we might add tomorrow…
Other Rapunzel things we love:
Green Golly and Her Golden Flute by Keith Torgan and Barbara Siesel
Rapunzel from Little Golden Book
Scott had his 4 month old check up this week (yes, it was the DAY before his 5 month birthday!) He is growing rapidly. The doctor very seriously charted his height and weight and then proclaim, still in a very serious voice, “He is officially growing like a weed.” That cracked me up.
But before that moment, we had spent nearly and hour and a half at the office waiting, er patiently, for our turn. I brought a snack and some books for the girls. They did great in the “healthy kid” waiting room with the toys there. But by the time we got to our exam room, they were getting antsy.
That’s when Sammi and I discovered a chart on the wall (conveniently placed above some chairs) that helps kids and adults identify their level of pain. I remember reading this chart a thousand times a day when I was in the hospital after Scott was born. I definitely used its definitions and lingo to communicate my pain after the C-section up till I was discharged. But the best part of the chart is the faces that help kids identify their pain.
- Image from Wikidoc.org (Not the exact one I stared at, but the same idea)
We first went through all the faces and how much pain they indicated. Then the girls took turns being the doctor or the patient. The doctor asked how the patient felt and the patient pointed at the face that matched their pretend pain. This is where the chairs were helpful so they could reach the poster.
After several minutes of that fun we switched to making the faces of the chart. Trying to match our face to each level of pain. One we had a pretty good handle on that, we turned it into a guessing game. One person would make a face and the other two of us would guess which one it was. It was great because all three of us girls (Scott was napping at this point) were really engaged in this activity.
The pain scale chart gave us about twenty minutes of entertainment. And we learned a ton from it. We practiced role playing, imitating facial expressions, turn taking, understanding our bodies, and communicating with a doctor.
How do you survive a long visit at the doctor’s office?
Today I’m over at TakingTime4Mommy sharing three truths about toddlers that will help you keep your sanity. Here’s a glimpse at the first truth…
Having a toddler around can be very trying on your patience, creativity and ingenuity. There is so much going on in that little body that it often gets the best of them and us as we try to work through our daily routine. Here are three things to keep in mind that will help you keep your sanity.
Toddlers love repetition.
Repetition is a great learning tool for adults and toddlers. The difference is that adults get bored with repetition long before toddlers do.
I watched my friend’s little boy just a few days before he turned two. For the couple hours he was at my house we had the same conversation a few dozen times. It went something along these lines,
Boy: “Where’s my daddy?”
Me: “At work.”
Boy: “Light?”
Me: “Yes, that’s a light.”
Boy: “Where’s my mommy?”
Me: “Studying.”
Boy: “She go the van?”
Me: “Yes, she left in the van.”
And repeat.
At first I thought I wasn’t understanding him. Then I thought he didn’t understand me. Then I realized it was a game for him. He wanted to interact with me but his abilities are still limited so he engaged me the best he could. This exchange built his confidence with the language and his turn taking skills which are both an important part of communicating.
Click over to the full post on TakingTime4Mommy.com to read about the other two truths that will help you keep your sanity with your toddler.
photo credit: davitydave
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After watching an episode of Olivia where she turns her house into a hotel for her friends, we were inspired to make our own home a hotel for the evening. Sammi was very excited about this project. She was convinced we were going to go so far as to have the pool that is her favorite part of staying at a hotel. We compromised with a bubble bath after dinner!
We decided to call our hotel Solar System Hotel. Sammi came up with this all on her own. The girls have been in love with Bubble Guppies since it aired in January and they are particularly fond of the space episode. I was thrilled since I happened to have the perfect craft and book to go along with our theme.
We decorated our welcome table where we had all our blankets, pillows and towels waiting for us when we checked in. (Bummed I forgot to take the picture before we checked in. The table looked great piled with all our stuff!) We also decorated the light fixture above the dining table. These crafts came in a set from Oriental Trading Company that I bought about a year ago. I can’t find them online anymore, but they have other great space crafts and resources.
The sign for our hotel hung on the girls craft table. We decorated it using the cover of Eight Spinning Planets as our inspiration. They sat there and checked us in. Sammi’s job was to write down our names and assign us each a room. Elli’s job was to hand us a piece of chocolate and our room key (actual card keys from the Hyatt) and then show us to our room. Sammi also checked off when we had received our bedding.
For dinner we had pizzas made on corn tortillas. The shape and cheese reminded me of the moon. We were out of pepperoni so we used olives for craters. The girls really love their olives! So does their dad who insists they put the olives on their fingers and then eat them!
We had so much fun with this impromptu activity. We reviewed what we knew about planets, comets and the moon. We colored, glued, and taped. Sammi practiced her writing skills. Elli got to be the leader (a rare treat for her!) and we all had lots of laughs.
Today we are linking up with ABC and 123 for their Show and Tell!
As parents, Brent and I have been discussing for a while the topics of chores and allowances. Neither one of us grew up with an allowance tied to chores. We had household chores we were responsible for, but if we wanted money from our parents, then we needed to do extra work to earn it.
I never had an allowance, either. My mom always said she’d provide all my necessities and anything else I needed/wanted within reason. This was absolutely true throughout the time I lived at home. Even when I had my own job in high school, my mom still provided a lot of my necessities. But, as my income grew, so did my freedom to shop when I wanted. That led to me buying a lot more of those necessities on my own. For me it was an easy transition into college life and living on my own. Though I have to admit, I missed my mom keeping the kitchen stocked with food and the bathroom full of toiletries.
So, back to our new outlook as parents.Sammi has been learning about money at preschool and is really aware of buying things with money when we go shopping. She always asks if she can hold the money and pay for it. Elli is now a pro at swiping the credit card at the grocery store. Brent and I have wanted a way for the girls to have more opportunities to handle money in a more responsible way (up till now they’ve had a hay day emptying their piggy banks and filling them again, but not careful to make sure no coins were lost in the process).
Since we didn’t just want to give them money unattached to any responsibilities (because when does that really happen in life?!) and because they are getting old enough to learn how to do more chores around the house, we decided to create a chore chart and give them an allowance each week. This way they learn that they work to earn money and they are helping me keep the house organized.
I did a lot of research trying to find ideas for chores for 2 and 4 year olds. Most of what I found were things that the girls already know how to do and do willingly. I didn’t want them to all of a sudden start earning money for brushing their teeth or getting dressed. It seemed like a regression. So I am using the chore chart as a way to teach new household tasks to them. When they’ve mastered what’s on their chore list, then we’ll replace those chores with new tasks, assuming they will continue to do the things they’ve learned how to do. My favorite find was a this post on chores with a free download for a chore chart from simplemom.net.
With Brent in medical school and our income quite limited, we thought a lot about how much they should each receive for their allowances. Since their money will be to buy whatever they want (meaning we will still buy everything they need and most of their wants) I also didn’t want it to be so much that they were constantly in consumer mode. We settled on 10 cents for each year of their age. Sammi gets 40 cents a week and Elli gets 20 cents a week.
We introduced the new system to them last night along with their first allowance so they could see how everything worked together. Sammi was pumped. When I went over her chore chart with her new responsibilities she kept saying things like, “I know I can do that!” As part of their learning to manage their money, we also set up a system for them to put their money into three groups: charitable giving, savings, and spending. For us, charitable giving will start with tithing, or giving 10% back the the Lord. Then from what’s left they save 50% and put the other 50% into their wallet for spending.
Growing up I had a little box that was divided into three sections. I liked that idea, but I wanted something that separated the three a little more. We already had piggy banks for the girls so we just turned little canning jars into tithing banks and then bought little change purses for their spending money. I liked the idea of the spending money being stored in a change purse because it would be easy to grab and take to the store. I let the girls pick out their own purses and they loved carrying them around last night after we put their first allowance in them. But them we promptly put them way up on top of the desk along with their other two storage jars for safe keeping. My current plan is to take them shopping once a month with their spending money and see if there’s anything they want.
Do you do chores or an allowance with your little one?
What is your strategy?
Sammi and I spent the last year going round and round about preschool. She wanted to go so desperately but the only programs I could find in our very rural area were run through the school district which meant five days a week 5-6 hours a day. I didn’t want her gone so long. The final straw was when she started telling people I wouldn’t let her go to preschool because I didn’t like school. That took several days and a LOT of conversations with Sammi to straighten out! We finally compromised by calling everything we did at home (crafts, cooking, music and movement, dress up) preschool activities.
The other part of the compromise is that I would let her go to an all day/five days a week program when she was four. I picked a school a little farther from our house because it has a smaller class size and the teachers came highly recommended. We went in May to register Sammi for her class and meet her teacher. She was in love! She was so upset she had to wait all summer to go back to school. I didn’t know when school started exactly (they said they’d send me a letter sometime in July or the beginning of August!) so all I could tell her was “in the fall.”
Once we knew the official date, we made a countdown chain. She was so excited and got to stay up late one night to make it with me. The next morning she helped me make one for Elli for her birthday which was just a few weeks after school started (in fact, it’s tomorrow!) The girls loved their chains. And yes, Elli is wearing one of Sammi’s skirts like a strapless gown.
We had a lot of fun doing some back-to-school shopping. I wanted to make sure we had enough of everything that she would need so before we went shopping, I wanted to go through all her clothes to see what fit and what she had outgrown. I knew she wouldn’t have the attention span for all of it so we turned it into a fashion show. I put all the shirts in one pile and all the pants/shorts/skirts in another pile and let her pick the combinations. I made her bend over, sit down and stand back up in all the pants to make sure they weren’t too tight on her tummy or too low in the back. Amazingly, we went through all the clothes in just over an hour! I had an empty box ready and tossed in all the “rejects” as we went along. Then we folded up the rest and put them back in her drawers. We were done in time to make dinner!
Sammi wanted so much to take her backpack to school even though she didn’t need to take anything. So we put her extra change of clothes in the backpack and she was off for her first day. We went into her room and she was off to explore. And so was Elli. Elli was most unhappy when it was time for us to go and she didn’t get to stay and play. It’s gotten better but it still takes me at least 10 minutes to leave when we pick Sammi up. They both just want to play as much as they can. It’s a fun room so I just go with the flow.
So far she loves school and is excited to get up every morning and go. She’s starting to talk about her classmates by name and tell me all the fun things they do every day. So far, she has come home with paint on her shirt every day, so I’m guessing she loves that station! She also loves playing outside for recess and being the line leader.
The other week I was sick with strep throat. I drafted this post then, with the sickness fully on my mind and consuming a lot of my attention. But it turned out that there was a theme that Friday, books to sing, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to share some of our favorites. So I tabled this post for a theme-free week and here you go!
So Few of Me by Peter H. Reynolds
Feeling under the weather helped me realize how much I do, and enjoy doing, on a regular basis. Having lost so much energy, appetite and desire to talk has really changed our patterns the last few days. With that on my mind, I kept thinking of this book my grandma gave me for Christmas. So Few of Me by Peter H. Reynolds is a quick, humorous read. This book is a great reminder to focus on what’s most important and doing our best. Definitely a message I need to hear again and again. Especially with little ones at home, it’s easy to lose sight of how important the things I do with them really are for them, their development and for our relationships.
Sisters by David McPhail
This week I have really been enjoying how sweet the girls are together. {This is becoming true of almost every week now!} One Wednesday I posted pictures of them being adorable and their status as sisters is really taking shape. Sammi loves to talk about Elli as her sister, and how she can help her and teach her. Sometimes it’s bossy, but most of the time it’s sweet to see them play together. And work together to finagle ways to get more juice. So we pulled out a book we got when Elli was born called Sisters by David McPhail. It talks about the ways two sisters are very different and then very alike. Some of the things are true about the girls so it’s easy for them to identify with the characters in the book. My favorite pages say, “Both sisters liked to help bake cookies…and to play in puddles.” That’s my girls to a tee.
Flossing Teeth
The last book I’m sharing today comes from our public library. Sammi found it on a shelf and begged to bring it home. I wasn’t sure how she’d like it, but it’s been much requested. It’s called Flossing Teeth and is part of the Pebbles Plus series on Healthy Teeth. Anna shows us the right way to floss to get food and plaque off our teeth. It shows a diagram of two teeth and where the plaque and food like to hang out where the brush can’t reach them. It also shows how teeth get cavities when they aren’t cared for. This was powerful for Sammi since she had a cavity the first time she went to the dentist for an official visit! She really identifies with this book and it helps her remember to take good care of her teeth so she doesn’t get any more cavities.
Have books to share? Want to find more book recommendations? Check out Feed Me Books Friday hosted by The Adventure of Motherhood.
And please leave a comment telling what book you read to death this week 
A year and a half ago Sammi and I took a brave step and read our first chapter book together. I was inspired by Jim Trelease‘s book The Read-Aloud Handbook. I selected Charlotte’s Web because I remembered loving it as a child and it was conveniently unpacked and sitting on our bookshelf. Sammi was 2 years and 3 months old when we started it. We read it every morning at breakfast and we actually finished it. She enjoyed it and so did I.
Since that first success with a chapter book, we haven’t really had much success with any of the other chapter books we already owned. We started a few, but we’d read them here and there and the story line got lost because of our inconsistent reading. Elli has also grown a bit and developed her own opinions about what we read and how long she’ll allow us to read books that are too big for her.
I’ve been feeling like we needed to find some chapter books that we in-between Charlotte’s Web and long picture books. One day at the library Sammi pulled a book off the shelf and brought it to me asking if we could take it home. It was Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in her Pocket. I flipped through it and loved the layout. There are illustrations about every other page, the font is nice and big and it’s divided into chapters. There were six chapters in this book.
It worked out perfectly that we were able to read it for a chapter at a time. Elli could handle that much of the book before interrupting us. It really didn’t take very long to read a chapter. In fact, we’ve read picture books longer than a chapter and some as long as the whole book. But it has a more grown up feel because of the chapters and the layout. The story moveds pretty quickly and Sammi was always interested in rading one more chapter. We picked it up a couple times each day and had it finished in three days.
Sammi enjoyed Junie B. so much that we got two more books in the series. We’re currently reading Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch. Sammi is thrilled with this book, too. At the bookstore where we got it, they had a whole collection of them and I let her pick out two. She seems very pleased with her choice. These books are written in first person from Junie B.’s perspective. It includes typical grammar mistakes of an early elementary school child and a whole lot of spunk in her personality. I often skip over words like stupid and dumb if they are used in a context that Sammi doesn’t know yet (and I don’t want to give her any ideas!). Other than that, it’s a fun read for both of us and we’re excited to be reading chapter books.
We’re definitely hooked on Barbara Park and her Junie B. Jones collection.
Are there any beginning chapter books you’d recommend for us?
Have books to share? Want to find more book recommendations? Check out Feed Me Books Friday hosted by The Adventure of Motherhood.
The links to the books are Amazon Affiliate links. I like to include links to Amazon because they have great prices and a good collection of reviews and additional info. If you happen to make a purchase after clicking on one of my links, I’ll receive a small percentage of that sale.
Don’t miss this week’s giveaway from Baby Cribs Plus (it’s my birthday present to you!) Come celebrate with me!
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