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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Can All Work and No Play Stunt Johnny’s Childhood Development?

As society increases its expectations on young children, parents are signing their kids up for kindergarten at younger and younger ages. However, Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a developmental psychologist and best-selling author, has thoughts about early childhood development that contradicts the notion of starting formal education at four years old.

When to Start Formal Education

Neufeld argues that if parents turn over their parental role too early, their children may seek out peers for their attachment needs. He says children should spend the first six years of their lives learning through play, not formal education. So school for these age groups should emphasize play and creativity.
The Vancouver-based Neufeld has an interesting point, but could the value of play in 4- to 6-year-olds really be that important? He compares Ontario, Canada to Finland as an example:
  • Ontario is implementing an all-day, 4-year-old kindergarten program. Even as children start receiving more intense education younger and younger, children grow to be less curious, engaged learners as seniors in high school.
  • Finland, home to some of the world’s highest-ranking students, doesn’t start formal education until age seven.

What’s the Science Behind This?

Neufeld explains that 4- to 6-year-old brains aren’t ready to learn by working. Successful childhood development depends on play during the years before the prefrontal cortex is done developing. In a society that focuses so heavily on grades and performance, you would be amazed by the incredible things children are capable of when you detach them from these expectations and just let them play.

What Is Play?

Play is expressive. Play is not “for real,” so there are no consequences for “messing up.” Play is having fun with no thought of achieving a particular outcome. Some activities can be either work or play, so it’s important to approach them correctly. For instance, potty training is work if the child is expected to sit on the potty until they generate results. It’s play if you add food coloring to the water so the child is excited to watch it change colors.
Don’t misunderstand, there are benefits to seeking peer-to-peer interactions through pre-school and kindergarten, but play should be the emphasis, rather than formal, performance-based education. To learn more about the value of play, please contact ListenLoveLearntoday.
Image via Shutterstock.com

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

How to Play with your 18 month to 3 Year Old to Build Social Skills and Joy




Toys That Help Your 18 Month to 3 Year Old Learn

Toys That Help Your 18 Month to 3 Year Old Learn


This age group can be described two ways- the terrible twos or the terrific twos, I choose the latter and it is all a matter of knowing how to help your 18 month old to 3 year old learn!

Mobility

Wonder Walker

Starting at 18 months of age you child has become mobile, they are starting to walk or are already pretty steady on their feet and they are ready to move! They love to push and pull toys and collect things. While pushing the Wonder Walker they also have a place to select and collect their toys and move them to where they want to play. As they become 2 -year olds they like to ride and pretend. They can be a fire fighter on the Fire Engine or just ride and be anyone they choose on the Driver.

Learning

Bouncing Sorter

Your 2 year old is very busy as he/ she starts developing their hand-eye co-ordination. Playing with a Bouncing Sorter gives your child the sensory input  of touch and strengthens hand eye coordination while they learn about shapes through sorting. They also continue to love music and playing a toy piano gives them the sensory input of touch and sound, add words to their songs and language skills become enhanced. A Deluxe Playcube will keep your 2-3 year old busy and learning all day long, moving colorful beads, playing with the alphabet blocks or spinning the gears and there is no clean-up because it is all self-contained.
Deluxe Playcube


Language


Barnyard Activity Boxes
Between you child’s 2nd and 3rd birthday is when language explodes. Your child begins to store words in categories moving from sounds to words to description. Playing with barnyard activity boxes encourages one of the first categories of animals. In addition to playing with farm animals sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm or read a book like the classic The Little Red Hen. Playing, reading and singing stimulates your child's language explosion and gives form to their play. Your child will be building their vocabulary through fun. Did you know at 24 months a child understands 500-700 words and by 30 months as many as 800-900 words!

Pretend Play
Corrugated Blocks

“ A 2 year old’s imagination develops naturally, but there is a lot you can do to spark it,” says Kristi Alexander, a pediatric psychologist at Alliant International University in San Diego. “ As you expose your child to new sights, sounds and sensations you open her mind to a bigger world.” Imagination! It really begins now. Building with big blocks they can they can build a castle, a city, a house, a road and play alone or with others to create a make-believe world. Your child’s imagination through play builds a deeper understanding of the world around them. Ding- dong! Let’s play house.  It is so much fun to learn all the names of the furniture and rooms of the house while playing with a mini house with a doorbell that works. Social skills of greeting and inviting begin here.

Doorbell House

Although you could just sit and watch, it is even better if your join in to your child’s play. By playing with them you are teaching them so much while you learn about your child.
At each stage of your child’s imaginative development, listening to him and taking part in his games will help you keep up with what he is thinking. You might revitalize your own imagination in the process.

As always, wishing you lots of fun through play!





 About the Author

Lois Kam Heymann, M.A. CCC-SLP is an expert Speech, Language and Learning specialist with over 30 years of helping kids reach their full potential in communication and learning skills. She is a recognized leader in the treatment of children with language, learning and auditory challenges. She is the Director of Communication Therapy at the Center for Hearing and Communication in New York City. She has been a professor, is a noted author and a frequent guest speaker. Her book The Sound of Hope has been endorsed by Rosie O'Donnell and many others.  Her mission is to teach parents about active listening and how to understand the developmental needs of their children. She's now delighted to be bringing parents the quality toys she believes will enhance children's development on her new website-ListenLoveLearn.com 

Children Ages 3-5 Love to Play and Learn!


Children Ages 3-5 Love to Play and Learn!



Children ages 3-5 love to play and learn and it makes this period of their development so special.  Your child has been very busy playing by herself or with an adult but now she is beginning to learn to play with others.  Providing interesting toys to play with is key for building cooperation skills, listening - language skills, learning and having fun. What better way to interact than setting up a town with roads and buildings.

Turn-Taking



This is a time you can begin teaching him how to play games which involves waiting his turn. Waiting for you turn is one of the hardest aspects of cooperative play and in life. This is when it begins. Encouraging you child with positive reinforcement,” I like the way you are sharing your toy with Jodie” is a way to teach through positivity rather than discipline. A simple train set is so much fun and an easy toy to share with another. Setting up a “store” and shopping with a shopping cart helps the child use real life situations in play and can foster co-operation. Playing games relies on turn taking and is how we actually learn to wait our turn. 


Building

Building with blocks is the way for a child to expand their world and strengthen their hand- eye coordination and visual perceptual skills.  It is also an immensely creative endeavor.  They can create anything they imagine-a city, a road, a house, a zoo.  A child then learns about weight, size, balance and gravity, will the bigger block balance on the smaller block? How high can the tower be built before it collapses? These are explorations that help the child learn by doing not by being told. Asking them what they are building and ways you can join in the play make them the director of the play giving them while allowing them to be creative



Language is exploding!


Three and Four year olds are also becoming creative with their language. They are not just imitating what they hear but constructing novel sentences and beginning to explore their ideas and their feelings. Vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. If you are there interacting and playing your child is listening and using their language. Always remember that pairing a book with the theme of play enhances and reinforces language. Building a castle while talking about kings and queen, princes and princesses? Pair the play with King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and Won't Get Out by  Audrey Wood.
Playing with a big red barn?
Pair it with the wonderful book The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise.

These are your child's pre-school years, a time for play and discovery!

As always, grow together and have fun!


About the Author

Lois Kam Heymann, M.A. CCC-SLP is an expert Speech, Language and Learning specialist with over 30 years of helping kids reach their full potential in communication and learning skills. She is a recognized leader in the treatment of children with language, learning and auditory challenges. She is the Director of Communication Therapy at the Center for Hearing and Communication in New York City. She has been a professor, is a noted author and a frequent guest speaker. Her book The Sound of Hope has been endorsed by Rosie O'Donnell and many others.  Her mission is to teach parents about active listening and how to understand the developmental needs of their children. She's now delighted to be bringing parents the quality toys she believes will enhance children's development on her new website-ListenLoveLearn.com 




Thursday, July 24, 2014

Kids May Say the Darndest Things, But You Can Learn a Lot About Love If You’ll Only Listen

The ListenLoveLearn process is based on a simple fact: listening is the key to success. It’s the primary means by which children learn in the classroom. In such an auditory world, children can quickly fall behind if they have hearing loss or face a challenging auditory process disorder (APD). All you want is to help your child listen better, but have you ever stopped to consider the value of learning from kids?
How long has it been since you really listened? Not to the news, not to the movie you’re watching, not even to your favorite music. When was the last time you really listened to your kids?
They may say the darndest things, but you could learn a lot about love from these tiny people. Consider Greg, age 8. He already knows that “love is the most important thing in the world,” though he does admit “baseball is pretty good, too.” Ava, also age 8, is wiser than her years. She knows that “one of you should know how to write a check because, even if you have tons of love, there is still going to be a lot of bills.” Floyd, age 9, sums up how we all feel: “Love is foolish…but I still might try it sometime.”
Statements like these come straight from the mouths of babes. They prove that children are watching, listening and learning about how adults talk and feel about our spouses. If the world was run by children, love would abound more than any other emotion.
That’s why the ListenLoveLearn process is all about providing a supportive, knowledgeable community to empower parents and children to communicate better. As we all know, half of good communication is good listening. And if you want your child to master the ability to listen at home and in the classroom, you have to be willing to listen back.
If you’re ready to join us on this exciting path of learning to listen – and listening to learn – please contact ListenLoveLearn today.
Image via Shutterstock.com

Friday, July 18, 2014

Toys That Enhance Learning in Children Birth-18 Months of Age





Wondering what toys enhance learning in children birth - 18 months?

Parents of young babies often ask me what types of toys should they offer their child that will enhance learning in their child at the beginning of life, birth-18months of age. Of course I have lots of suggestions, but I also remind them that the parent’s most essential tools are always close at hand, the right toys and their own interaction.

Research shows us that play and playing with a child is the essential ingredient in the child’s cognitive development. Through play a child learns about the world around then and develops the cognitive skills that lead to language acquisition and social interaction skills.

Along with the toys, a parent’s or caregiver’s most important tool is their voice. Playing with your child and using your voice; varying your pitch, selecting word patterns, adding rhythm while interacting with your child and the chosen toy adds the “magic” to play.

What toys should parents use to enhance learning, language and social skills in the early months of their child’s life?

Birth-6 months

baby playing
Infants are encountering everything for the first time and benefit by using their senses (touch, smell, taste, hearing, seeing) as their world is narrated, identified and describe by the adults in their life. A rattle  makes noise when it is shaken, is smooth to touch and is all-natural, stimulating all the child’s senses. Lying you baby on their back on a baby mat playing with a baby gym gives the child a sensory experience of kicking and grabbing while you can talk about what they are doing.



stacking rings6-9 months

Infants are now able to sit either supported or unsupported enabling them to grab items and begin stacking rings and snap beads giving the child sensory input while enhancing their cognitive ability of figuring out how the rings go on the peg or how the beads attach and separate.


 9-12 months

Your child now has his/her favorite toys and are moving and pushing items on and off. Children at this age love listening to and playing with musical toys. Playing with the farmyard cube presents your child with sounds to listen to that pair with the animal, pairing what they see with what they hear while playing. Musical instruments bring making music and creating rhythm to play, inviting your child to shake, rattle and roll!






12-18 months

By your child’s first birthday, he/ she is becoming more upright (standing, cruising, walking) and at the same time first words are produced. At this age they love to stack blocks, roll, kick and throw ball. Kids just want to have fun and it is hard to keep up with them as they explore and learn through play.




Playing together with toys  that enhance learning in children birth-18 months of age will enhance attachment, joy and love. Grow together and have fun!