Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘toddlers’

Mar
23

Castles at the Beach

Posted in Life with Kids, Symphony Concerts, Things to do, Things We Love

As we promised you at our show at the symphony this morning, here’s a great activity that’s portable, provides hours of fun, and you don’t have to be at the beach to do it! It’s a favorite game of our Studio3Music families, and now you can learn the song so you can play, too.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog so we can send more fun activities and great info your way.

-posted by Miss Allison, Stacey and Michael, who admit that their favorite part is the crashing waves that knock their castles down.

Tags: games, kindermusik, Miss Allison, Miss Stacey, preschoolers, Things to do, toddlers

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Aug
1

1, 2, Tie My Shoe – Learning to Sequence

Posted in Child Development, Education, Things to do

Sequencing is the ability to remember an order of events or instructions. We use sequencing skills all day by ordering what we need to do first, second, third, last, etc. As grownups, we don’t think twice about the steps to brush our teeth, tie our shoes, or cook an everyday recipe. We easily prioritize errands to fit into our lunch hour, or put our work to-do lists in order.

If you’re wondering how long of a list your child should be able to remember or follow, a good rule of thumb is that young children are able to remember a sequence with approximately as many steps as their age. For example, a two-year-old can likely complete a two-step direction; three-year-olds can often sequence three steps, and so on.

Like most skills, learning to sequence is a skill that can be practiced. Looking for ways throughout your day to help your child practice following steps or remembering a sequence is a great way to build the sequencing skills needed for writing, pre-reading and comprehension.

This practice can come in the form of giving instruction (i.e., Pick up your socks and then take them to Daddy.), giving a sequence of events (First, we’ll eat breakfast, then we’ll get dressed, and then we’ll go to Kindermusik!), or discovering the sequence in a story book.

Here are some other ideas that can be easily done at home:

Ages 2 and up
Encourage your child to think sequentially simply by asking questions. “It’s raining. What do you need to put on before you go out to play?” “Tell me what you did at Nana’s house today.” “How do you get ready for your bath?” Take a walk in your neighborhood and then ask your child to give directions as you head back home. Read familiar books together and then pause between pages. Ask “What happens next?”

Ages 3 and up
Find printable picture sequencing cards online, or purchase a box at any learning store. They come in 3 to 6 scene sets. Talk about the pictures and put them in order, using sequencing words like: first, second, next, then, and last. If four cards are too many to put in order, then start with two or three.

Print out photos of your child from birth to present. Mix the photos up and have your child put them in order. At first, you may need to give clues to help. Encourage your child to describe the photos using words like: taller, shorter, younger, older, smaller, bigger. When the photos are in order, have your child describe what she sees. “This is when I learned to crawl. Next I learned to walk. Now I can jump on my trampoline.”

Ages 4 and up
Practice storytelling. We play a game called The Storybook Game. We take turns flipping over cards in a row and adding the nouns pictured on the cards into the story. It can be used as a memory type game for retelling a story, but we often leave the pictures face up. Expect to hear a lot of “and then… and then…” until your child gets a good vocabulary of sequence words. You of course, model those words by using them in your storytelling. Make sure your story has an ending!

Have your child make simple recipes like a peanut butter and honey sandwich, or grapes and string cheese. Talk about the food preparation. You’d be surprised at how many steps there are to getting grapes and string cheese ready to eat! If you’ve got child who likes to draw, have him draw out (in order) what he did to make the sandwich.

Ages 5 and up
Get those magnetic letters and numbers back out. Starting with two (and adding more as she gets better), have your child arrange the letters or numbers in order. Since most 5 year olds can count or say the alphabet in order, make it harder by not starting at the beginning, or skipping letters and numbers. For instance, your child will have to figure out the missing letters in between W, B, L, X, T in order to put them in proper sequence.

Play a game. Dice games like Bunco, Yahtzee and Phase 10 Dice are all great for teaching more complex sequencing skills.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, whose favorite game right now is Rummikub, which also requires the ability to manipulate sequences of tiles, best done in your head so your opponent doesn’t catch on…

Tags: language development, learning, Miss Analiisa, preschoolers, toddlers

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Jul
18

Facing the Terrible Two’s (and coming out alive).

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Life with Kids, parenting

This is where I remind all of you war-weary moms that you are the adult in charge no matter how tyrannical the toddler. You have the fully developed brain with all neurons firing! You have the emotional maturity and ability to engage in the patience of a saint! Yes, YOU! And, yet…what?…who is that…what’s happening? Ah, yes, that indeed, is your precious toddler putting on a show of will, volume and flailing arms in the grocery store among a randomly selected audience of judgmental onlookers.

But, let me straighten your hoodie, wipe the sweat from your brow, offer you a tissue to blow your nose, and tuck that piece of hair back into your ponytail. It’s going to be okay. These toddler tantrums will pass, you’ll have some respite in the elementary years…and then they’ll be mood-swinging tweens–I kid, I kid! You’re almost in the clear, hold on!

From the day my middle daughter was born she was, no doubt about it, stubborn! She was a lazy nurser, she screamed when we changed her clothes and she was very stingy with the smiles. As she grew into a little toddler, the theme continued: she was a stubborn potty-trainer, she was a picky eater and she knew what she wanted to wear and what she would not wear. I would say, in general, she was happy and content, she loved kitties and babies and I would often find her lining up her stuffed animals along the wall in order according to size. I guess you could say that from a very early age, she communicated loud and clear that she liked order, control, and independence. But, as we all know, life calls for a measure of flexibility and that was not a word or a practice she could appreciate. I was always running distraction maneuvers with her to avert crisis, like when she would say, “I want juice! P’ease!” and I would say, “Nice asking! You may have water.” [insert her transforming happy face into a mad face] “Would you like the pink cup or the yellow cup?” Ah, the ever-lovin’ option clause that gives the illusion of control. It’s a good one. Try it out. No charge.

There were times, when she would not be lured by the options game and things would digress into what I secretly branded, “the chantrum.” It was a very specific cycle of chanting the same phrase over and over while sobbing uncontrollably, peppered with the occasional screaming spike. Come on, don’t judge me, you know what I’m talking about. It’s a classic toddler throw-down. Sometimes, after I left her in her room for a while to work it out, there would be a lull and she would check to make sure she still had an audience, and then the chantrum would resume its regularly scheduled programming. The best thing to do was to wait for it to cycle through. We would talk and hug after it was over and she would always offer up a very heartfelt, “I just am sorry for frowing a fit, Mommy!”

I’d like to tell you how I discovered the solution to the chantrums, but I didn’t. I practiced deep breathing to remain calm, made sure that I was holding the line for something worthwhile, and quietly but firmly assured her that I heard what she was saying and that when she calmed down, we could talk about it. Intense, people! Exhausting. As I was venting my frustrations to a veteran mom, she listened to me and then said something that meant so much to me. She said, “Jenny, be patient, one day she’ll be stubborn for what she believes in and it will be her greatest strength!” It was just what I needed to hear to keep going and remember that my job as a parent was to take this amazing child, exactly as she came to me and to work with her to help her discover that with a little patience and direction, what I labeled “stubborn” could actually become unremitting perseverance and tenacity.

I will not say that that made everything all better, because toddlers can be tough and those days seem to have no end in sight, but I can say that she and I are both still alive and she is ten years old now. She is the most responsible, truth-loving, helpful, and compassionate child. The energy that once took the form of chantrums, now takes the form of a passion for justice and mercy and others and I can’t wait to see what she will do with it next.

-posted by our mom and blogger friend, Jenny Leggett, from SoundSteps. Who has made it through the toddler years, and promises you will, too.

Tags: guest post, parenting, toddlers

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Jun
27

ix-Nay the aby-Bay alk-Tay

Posted in Child Development, parenting

When first thinking of this post, I wasn’t sure if I, in good conscience, could write about this one without confessing, up front, that I not only have used baby talk, but still cherish some of the baby-talk words that my kids used in early language development. Who can resist repeating and affirming the request for the “Ba-ba” AKA, the bottle. Or the many baby words that follow for “outside” or “dump truck” or “pretty?” My son named his cherished sleeping blanket, “Geekie.” He was trying to say, “get it!” when he would throw it out of the crib and yell for me to come in and “get it” for him, but it came out, “geekie” and we reinforced it and thus, the blanket is still referred to by all as “Geekie.” (He’s seven and a half, now, and still sleeps with Geekie…but that’s a post of a different color.)

We all know that using baby talk is frowned upon, or is it? There’s a lot of research that supports talking in a cooing tone of voice actually helps infants develop language in its early stages. We’re using crazy faces and big eyes and connecting with our babies–the “ooooos” and the “ahgooooos” and zerberts. Anything less at this stage of development would fall short. It has its time and place and is gone all too fast.

Now, the problem comes in (when and if) we’re talking to our toddlers and our preschoolers using baby talk. They’re growing and learning and we need to lead the way. I love the mistakes they make when they mispronounce or misuse new words out of context. Not only is it adorable, it’s impressive! They’re trying new words on for size and taking them out for a spin. Our response should be one of excitement! “What a great word, tell me more about what you mean!” Listen to their explanation and help direct them with a more appropriate word and then use their word in a proper context (if appropriate, tee-hee-hee). When we read with them and take time to talk about new words and their meaning, it creates a learning environment that’s happening inside (new brain connections) and outside (how long until they use their shiny, new word in conversation?). Using a rich vocabulary in casual conversation is indeterminately valuable. It starts at home and, hopefully, continues in their school environment. A recent study cited “surprisingly clear evidence that when children were 4 years old the kind of language they experience in their classroom made a difference first for their kindergarten performance and then their fourth grade reading abilities.” Talk about a return on your investment!

We can often underestimate what our little ones can understand, but when we use “big words” in conversation, they will either understand and learn the word based on the context and the actions that follow OR they will ASK you what it means–win-win! Instead of saying, “No, not now, you have to wait,” we can say, “No, not now, I need you to be patient.” Patience is a word that has greater value to you and to them. You’re asking them to demonstrate a practice. It’s a practice to be praised and cultivated! We can recognize patience in others. We can acknowledge that being patient is difficult (ah, another good word!). We can talk about the opposite of patient; impatient! We can talk about the difference between being patient and being a patient. Wow, now try that with a word like “wait!”

Using real and rich words with our toddlers and preschoolers will add to their language development, their future reading ability and our repertoire of funny kid stories.

-posted by by Jenny Leggett of Sound Steps in Dallas, a former baby-talker and current rich language user with three children who now read beautifully.

Tags: babies, guest post, language development, parenting, preschoolers, toddlers

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Apr
6

Life With a Tornado

Posted in Child Development, Family

My niece Macie turns one year in a month. Right now, she’s at that annoying stage where she sits in her high chair, looks you straight in the eye, gives a cheeky grin, and drops her cup onto the floor.

My sister finds it annoying. I find it hilarious. Of course, I’ve been-there done-that three times, and it’s been five years since one of mine played that game. Because I’m the auntie, I can call it cute and be glad I’m no longer scraping food off the walls.

What this all means is that 11 month old Macie has moved from the this-is-all-about-picking-things-up stage, to the what-will-happen-if-I, what-does-it-feel-like, what-noise-does-it-make stage.

But let’s back up a moment. I’ve got to get you caught up. These fine motor skills began at about 2 to 4 months of age, when she inaccurately swiped at objects. Sometime after 3 months, she could hold small objects in her hand, and within a couple of months, could transfer those objects between her hands. Between 5 and 9 months Macie could first rake at objects with her whole hand to pick them up, and then moved on to picking up small objects using her thumb and index finger. We call this a pincer grasp.

She’ll use this grasp to string beads, close a Ziploc bag, color, hold her glockenspiel mallets in Kindermusik Young Child, build Lego creations, and cut with scissors.

As Macie’s grasp became more precise, she explored objects by moving, twisting, turning and shaking them. Now at almost a year, she’s just about ready for my favorite classic of baby toys – the Tupperware shape sorter, which combines the rotating, moving and flipping skills she learned earlier, which a little cognitive thinking.

When she first learned to sit, Macie would prop herself up on one arm, and explore her playthings with one hand and her mouth. As she learned sit without help, both hands became free to be used to answer her questions about the shape, texture, size, hardness, and weight of objects. She’s using her mouth less (though a lot of children remain really oral for a couple of years, and that’s perfectly okay).

Which brings us back to the cup throwing. And the banging, shaking, squeezing, tapping, twisting and flinging. Is my sister annoyed? You betcha. Her living room floor currently looks like a tornado hit it. So does Macie’s room. And the dining room. And sometimes even the bathroom. (And even the hallway, which occasionally gets mummified by an unwound roll of toilet paper.

But rather than get angry when our babes make a mess, keep this in mind: You already know what a balloon does when you kick it, what noise a cup makes when you throw it, just how fast you can unwind toilet paper (and how long it is!), how scratchy brush bristles feel on your skin – but your little one doesn’t. Someone, long ago, let you taste, touch, feel and manipulate objects. And then helped you learn how to pick up your tornado.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who suggests you make an ever-changing sensory box filled with varied objects like a sponge, a wooden spoon, a rock, a piece of sandpaper, a feather duster, and egg shaker, a pan lid, a real flower, a jingle bell stick and a stuffed animal for you to explore together.