“Would you like to make pine cone wreaths in my basement workshop?” a neighbor asked one afternoon.  “I have all the supplies and provide all the directions,” she added.  I accepted her generous offer with more enthusiasm than craft know-how or confidence.

Her festive spirit rubbed off on everyone as we set to work like elves just before Christmas.  She encouraged the preschool children to help sort the pine cones and nuts, cut wire in various lengths, and arrange the wreath designs.  Later, after a final spraying with clear varnish, our wreath looked surprisingly symmetrical and professional.  We returned to that busy workshop several times to produce more wreaths for family and friends.

A new direction to our gift-giving traditions was born.  We saw a special joy from the children as they bundled up and set off on their gift delivery missions.  Here was something that took thought, time, and effort to make.  Kindling an unselfish attitude helped to define the holiday spirit through actions, not words.

The children searched year round for more pine cones, beechnuts, buckeyes and other trimmings for future wreaths.

But how many pine cone wreaths does anyone need?  The next Christmas we searched for new gift ideas which could be defined as easy to make, practical, economical, and in the range of a youngster’s interest and ability – a craft easy enough so Mom and Dad didn’t have to finish it by default.

This eliminated the lengthy “how-to” books, yet a potpourri collection developed from craft shows, children’s books, school projects, talented neighbors, and the children’s own ideas.  From simple homemade baked goods tucked into decorated coffee cans, to handstitched felt map cases, to more complicated candle making and art work, the making, baking, and giving have been valuable lessons.

One of the best ideas came from a grandma who lives alone.  She recommended, “I like “doing” gifts – doing the raking, the storm windows, etc.  These are difficult things for me to do.”  Our son designed a “coupon booklet” so grandma could redeem certain chores when she wished. [Read more…] about Kids Learn Thoughtful Giving With Handmade Projects, ‘Doing’ Presents

Math! To some adults the word conjures up unpleasant memories of wrestling with percentages, long division, and quizzes on fractions. But most young children enjoy counting, weighing, measuring, and other activities associated with numbers. So how can parents encourage a child’s interest in math and help to promote a positive attitude on the subject?

The Mother’s Almanac by Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons, a classic, offers one realistic answer:  A child keeps his fresh awareness of mathematics as long as it is applicable and practical. This valuable guide encourages parents to make use of the everyday opportunities to emphasize awareness of numbers.

Following is just a sample of the activities to help make numbers applicable and practical.

Counting. Although many children can count by rote to 100, their grasp of abstract concepts needs to be fostered by practical experiences. Letting a child count out the forks or pieces of cake, one per person, for example, teaches rational accounting, the opposite of parroting numbers. Counting objects, whether they are beans or buses, helps a child to connect the numerals (one, two, three, etc.) with the numbers they represent.

Shapes. Using the names of sphere, cube, triangle, rectangle, etc., to describe objects helps a child recognize likenesses and differences in their daily lives. Children enjoy sorting buttons, making sequences of shells and leaves, and pairing different shaped beads. This heightens the awareness of shapes. Also, playing a game to find parallel or perpendicular lines in a room, or cylinders on a playground, provides practical evidence of various shapes in a child’s daily environment.

Measurements.  “Is tomorrow the next day after this?” questioned a four-year-old. Measurement of time and distance are concepts that a child can learn to grasp through practical application. In building with blocks, for instance, a child discovers for himself the relationship of a 4-inch block to an 8-inch or a 12-inch block.

Other measuring activities children enjoy are finding the time it takes to run a 40-yard dash across the yard, measuring the size of the garden and the distance between plants, and measuring the ounces of chocolate chips which go into the cookies. The metric system can be introduced by a continuing game of finding how many places metric units are listed such as on grocery items and road signs.

As children progress in math, they can apply their growing knowledge to more practical situations, such as comparison shopping, double-checking the addition on your receipt, recording expenses on a family trip, or keeping a record of gasoline purchases and mileage. These types of experiences do not guarantee a child will later have an agility for algebra, but they will help to weave the world of numbers into a child’s life.

Charles Schultz of “Peanuts” fame described many modern-day Thanksgivings when he observed, “…over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house … except she’s moved to an apartment.”

It’s not hard for most adults to recall fond memories of visits with grandparents on this special holiday.  Yet, for many families today, grandparents live so far away that children must rely on parents to enrich their holidays.  This can be accomplished by teaching children the deeper meaning of Thanksgiving and developing a few family traditions.

Following are examples of some special family activities appropriate to the season.

Telling the classic story of the Pilgrims is an excellent activity in November.  Be sure to include interesting details, such as, that 34 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower were children. Also, share the importance of the “Mayflower Compact,” the agreement to make laws together, and the contribution of Squanto’s guidance in planting crops. It’s a dramatic story that never grows old.

Parents can use the President’s Thanksgiving Proclamation printed in newspapers to point out the religious freedom and the abundance for which the Pilgrims in 1621 and Americans today express gratitude.  Defining such ideas as gratitude and religious freedom will expand a child’s concept of Thanksgiving.

There are many excellent children’s books that will support and expand your storytelling.  Here are a few available in most public libraries:

 

The Adventures of Plimoth Plantation As Told by the Mayflower Mouse, by Marian R. Carlson

The Plymouth Thanksgiving, by Leonard Weisgard

The Thanksgiving Story, by Alice Dagliesh

N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims, by Robert San Souci

The Very first Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene

Who’s that Stepping on Plymouth Rock? Jean Fritz

[Read more…] about Thanksgiving’s True Meaning

Onboard with the Pilgrims!

Six Essential Questions to Ponder

Visit www.MayflowerMouse.com for this and other activities about

“The Adventures of Plimoth Plantation As Told by the Mayflower Mouse”

Imagine that you’re onboard the Mayflower with the Pilgrims for months and months. How will you pass the time? Perhaps you’ll tell stories, play games, help with the chores, – or ask each other questions. Here’s six essential questions and how the Pilgrims might answer them. How would you answer them: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How?

[Read more…] about Onboard with the Pilgrims!

At our first back to school meeting in mid-September, teachers began preparing parents for Halloween. Their reason was to warn us of a new dimension to the popular school parade and party.

“We would like to correlate our traditional Halloween parade with a program objective for our school in reading and literature,” the principal suggested. “This idea is to use this event to help us raise pupil awareness of literature, and to encourage our students to read more books.”

For this year’s parade the pupil will select a character from a book of their choice as a costume in the parade. Teachers will help by providing tags with the name of the character, title, and author of the book, to be worn by parade participants.

How do 5 through 12-year old children react to having a special theme on a holiday ordinarily free of adult advice? After talking to over two dozen students, this writer found an enthusiastic response. Of course there is always the one who objects “I already planned to be a rock singer.” [Read more…] about Storybook characters for the Halloween parade

When children master that first R, reading, many parents have bittersweet feelings. They are naturally happy that their child is well on the road to literacy, but sad that the days of reading aloud together are over. Even though the mutually satisfying hours of reading Mother Goose, Richard Scarry, H. A. Rey, etc. are gone, a parent and child can enjoy a new phase of literature together by discussing books in depth.

Asking a child, “What’s it about?” does little to draw out a solid discussion and often causes resentment. But if we ask meaningful questions and exchange ideas centered on the literary structure of a story, we are more apt to have a rewarding dialogue.

For example, 13-year-old Steve was reviewing a short novel in preparation for a quiz the next day. Since his mother had read the book, too, they could discuss the literary structure of this story by questions such as, Who was the protagonist? Who was the antagonist? Exactly where and when did the story take place? What conflict arose between the characters? What was the main action in the story? What were the climax and concluding actions that took place? [Read more…] about Reading on their own: a new bond