Debi Taylor-Hough

Bright-Kids
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Vol. 5, No. 6 - February 11th, 2008
http://brightkids.wordpress.com
mailto: debi@simplemom.com
Copyright 2008 Deborah Taylor-Hough
ISSN: 1536-0466 All Rights Reserved
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IN THIS ISSUE:
-- "Dear Readers"
-- Quote-able
-- Preschool Valentine Games
-- Ending Every Discipline Time Positively
-- Reader Tips
-- Assorted Information (resources, archives, etc.)
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< < O U R . S P O N S O R > >

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Dear Readers ...

The article in this issue about Valentine games for preschoolers
was written specifically for preschool teachers, but the ideas can
easily be translated into things you can do with your own children,
or maybe a group of neighborhood friends.

Also, there are lots of great Reader Tips later in the newsletter --
essentially more of the continuing "educational things to do in Winter"
discussion.

With the Spring just around the corner -- as well as Easter and other
seasonal events -- I'd really love to hear what you do with your kids
to take advantage of the coming season in your home or school. Got
any springtime gardening ideas? Or Easter/Passover educational
thoughts? What about nature study ideas? I'm looking forward to
hearing from everyone. :-)

Have a happy Valentine's Day and a great week, everyone!

Simply Yours,

--Debi
(Deborah Taylor-Hough)
Editor, Bright-Kids Email Newsletter
--Author of the popular 'Frozen Assets' cookbook series, 'A Simple
Choice,' and 'Frugal Living For Dummies(r)'
--Editor, Simple Times and Bright-Kids email newsletters

http://brightkids.wordpress.com
http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com
http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware
http://dsimple.wordpress.com

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QUOTABLE

"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness,
but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that
you may be better able to discover with accuracy the
peculiar bent of the genius of each."

--Plato
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PRESCHOOL VALENTINE GAMES
Copyright Mary Robinson
Used with permission from EzineArticles.com.
All rights reserved.

Valentine's Day is a favorite for children since it provides an
opportunity to express their love for the important people in
their lives as well as a clever excuse to eat candy. It's also
a great time of the year to incorporate some preschool Valentine
games into the lesson plan to reinforce the central theme of
love.

Most of these games focus on the theme or image of the heart,
which is central to Valentine's Day festivities. Also, since
Valentine's Day is basically a non-religious holiday, parents
won't raise any objections to these preschool Valentine games.

While the most obvious of the preschool Valentine games is
the making of and distribution of decorated or store-bought
valentines, don't be afraid to move beyond this classic activity.
A great variation of the Valentine making game is to have each
child make a valentine for their family using paper, paint, glitter,
stickers, and whatever other art supplies are on hand.

Once the valentine is completed, place it in an envelope and
help each child write their address on the envelope. If time
and the weather permits, take a short field trip with the children
to the post office so that they can mail the Valentines to their
families.

Heart Numbers

Some preschool Valentine games allow children to work on
their sorting and matching skills. For example this game called
"Heart Numbers", has children matching numbers with the
corresponding amount of dots or hearts. Cut out a number of
large heart shapes from construction paper or cardstock.

Next, cut each of the hearts in half length-wise. Write a number
on the left side of the heart, and draw that many dots or small
hearts on the other side. Next, mix up the halves and try to see
if the children can match the numbers with the correct amount
of dots or hearts.

Here's a fun game that has children identifying pictures on a
heart shape. Cut out one heart for each child in the class. Next,
have the children go through magazines to look for interesting
pictures of animals, people, flowers, or anything else they find
intriguing. Once they've decided on a picture, they cut it from
the magazine and paste it to the heart.

After all the children have finished, gather the hearts and place
them in a bag. One at a time, children pull a heart from the bag
and identify the picture on the heart. They can also try to guess
whose heart it is.

Yummy Sorting Game!

Last but most certainly not least for these preschool Valentine
games is one that uses little candy hearts to help children with
their sorting and matching skills. Place a small amount of candy
hearts in a bowl and have children sort them based on color or
words. Try to see if they can find two identical hearts. Once the
game is over, the clean up is simple -- the children get to eat the
hearts!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
--Mary Robinson has been teaching preschool for over a decade.
Get instant access to her preschool activities, crafts, and lesson
plans by visiting her website: http://www.preschoolwhiz.com
For a limited time, all visitors to Mary's site will also get a free
copy of her special report: "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Preschool
Teachers and Parents Make". Go get your free copy today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Robinson
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< < O U R . S P O N S O R > >

PIANO IS EASY FOR KIDS!

Start piano at home with your child
Book and numbered stickers. Free DVD.
Come see all the fun songs you can play.
Download and print any book $9.95

http://www.pianoiseasy2.com

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ENDING EVERY DISCIPLINE TIME POSITIVELY
Copyright Dr. Scott Turansky & Joanne Miller, RN
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
http://effectiveparenting.org/

After a consequence or a conflict time with your child, it's
important to have a Positive Conclusion. During this conclusion,
it's usually best to talk about what went wrong, why it was
wrong, and to help children develop a plan for next time they
find themselves in a similar situation. After that discussion,
end the whole discipline by saying something like, "Okay, go
ahead and try again."

An affirming statement at the end says, "I believe in you. Yes,
you're going to make mistakes, there are consequences but
we can debrief and learn together."

This gives your child the confidence to try again. This kind of
ending essentially says to a child that you believe in him, that
we all make mistakes, and you know that he now has what it
takes to make a right choice next time.

This type of statement is similar to the way that Jesus ended
the conversation with the woman caught in adultery. He said,
"Go and sin no more."

That's the kind of ending we want on our discipline: Go try again.

You can start having Positive Conclusions with children as young
as two years old. They may not be able to answer questions and,
of course, you'll want to keep it short. But take time to hug and
affirm a young child recognizing that the way you correct at two
years old builds patterns for ways that you'll correct at five or fifteen.

With older children, take the time necessary to discuss issues
and work to bring discipline times around to a Positive Conclusion.
If the child is unwilling to respond then you may need to take a
break, but don't just let it go. Teach young people that we continue
to work on conflict until it's resolved. That's not easy sometimes
but if you work hard on it now you'll be giving your children a gift
that will benefit them greatly as they get older.

ABOUT THE ARTICLE:
--This idea was taken from the CD series, "Eight Secrets to Highly
Effective Parenting," by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN,
BSN. They are also the authors authors of a large number of books
and other resources on parenting and family life. You can visit them
online and subscribe to their free parenting email newsletter at:
http://effectiveparenting.org/

Order their most popular books online at:

"Home Improvement: Eight Tools for Effective Parenting"
http://snurl.com/effectiveparenting

"Say Goodbye to Whining and Complaining ... In You and Your Kids!"
http://snurl.com/goodbyewhining

________________________________

READERS WRITE / READERS' TIPS
Submitted by Bright-Kids' readers.
Send your tips to Debi: dsimple@aol.com

= Instant Books =
We got one of those notepad "cubes" that you pull off one
sheet at a time. One day, my son pulled off 5 sheets at once.
They stuck together like a small book. So, we wrote a little
story in it. One side for words, then a picture opposite. We
gave one story to our friend in her birthday present. The next
day, I wrote a little book for each of my kids. Then my son
wrote his own little book (he's only 4) by drawing pictures, then
dictating the words to me. It's been so much fun. I hope we
write enough books to give them as gifts to family.
--Debbie

= Winter Swimsuit Day =
We actually have a winter swim suit day. The first time my
kids thought I was crazy. Now we Just have fun. It was about
37 degrees out and I put on my swimsuit to build a snow man
(yes, it was cold but well worth it to stop the idea of warm
weather clothes in winter). I was outside for a few minutes the
kids saw that I was cold and they said let's go inside for some
hot chocolate and warm mom up. As we sat inside, we came
up with the idea of putting our swimsuits on over our snow clothes.
We now do this every year. Instead of snow angels or snowmen
we make snow surfers and mermaids. We paint them with colored
water in a spray bottle. (I use warm sugar water with food coloring.
We have tried Kool-Aid but the sugar water is cheaper.) It has made
us laugh away the winter chill.
--Kar C.

= Winter Ideas =
Not all of these directly involve snow, but they are things we have
done during the winter.

I don't know whether this was much of a learning activity, but it
was so beautiful. We put a piece of black fabric in the freezer.
We then took it outside and let snowflakes fall on it. They didn't
melt because the fabric was at freezing temperature, so we could
observe them as long as we wanted. We used a magnifying glass
which helped us see more details.

We also had fun one day when temperatures were very, very cold,
and we blew soap bubbles outside. They froze almost immediately,
and shattered like glass when they broke.

For wintertime nature study: 1) Snow makes for excellent animal
tracking. 2) Some constellations are visible only in winter. 3) When
the leaves are off the trees, you can find bird nests that you can't
see during the summer. It's amazing how many different styles of
nests there are. 4) When the ground is covered with snow, it is
more difficult for birds to find food. Providing feed and water for birds
will bring them right up to your kitchen window. If you start feeding
early in the fall and continue through spring, you will see a very large
variety of birds during migratory periods. Birds that don't stay in your
area still have to pass through on their way to wherever they are going,
nd they will stop by for a meal and some fresh water.

This is a year-round activity. I seem to recall that I got the idea from
one of Charlotte Mason's books. Draw a sketch of the eastern and
western horizons from where you live. Make 52 copies. About once
a week, draw where the sun rises and sets, and where the moon rises
and sets. It helps to show the children those aspects of the changes
in the seasons.

--Mary Beth

= More Winter Tips =
Here are some of my winter tips I've done with my son. For Christmas
a few years back, I found a spray bottle shaped like a snow man. I
painted a snow man on it on one side, and painted the words "snow
painter" on the other. When it snowed, I put some blue food coloring
in it, and a lot of water, and let him go to town outside. I was able to
clear the driveway, and our yard looked colorful. The next day, he
wanted to paint again, and as we still had snow, I changed the color
to green, and let him go. What surprised him most, was that the
snow he had sprayed the day before only had a little of the color left
in it. So, it was almost a clean palette to start over with. This year,
he's already looked for his painter, we just haven't had enough snow.
I also realized we can change things up, and use a sports bottle to
spray from, it's going to change the pattern, but he'll learn something
new that way.
--Jen B., Morrow, Ohio

We'd love to hear YOUR fun ideas to encourage kids to learn
something new or try something different! Or even just have
some good old-fashioned family fun. :-) Send your ideas to
Debi at DSimple@aol.com
______________________________

READ-ALOUD BOOKS FOR FAMILIES:

http://snurl.com/reading4kids

Recommended books for children and families
(This is a great list to print out and hand to your kids'
grandparents for suggestions at gift-giving times!) :-)
_______________________________

A special thanks to Gary Foreman and the friendly folks at
The Dollar Stretcher for making this mailing list possible! :-)
http://www.stretcher.com/
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Bright-Kids - 02/11/08 - Preschool Valentine games; postive conclusion