Nursery Rhymes and that magic box...

Nursery Rhymes and that magic box...

Each day during our morning rituals the preschooler's ask, "Let's do something fun today!"  I say, "What would you like to do?"  They run to that magic box and start digging.  

Packages and papers flying, experiments, loose parts, yarns, ribbons, paint brushes and books scatter until they land on it, "THIS!"  "We want to do THIS!"  There are squeals and hustle as we open packages and assemble the plans.  

We observe.  We discuss.  We hypothesize.  "So what will we need to do this?" I ask.  They think and plan...  "We will need....." and the planning and gathering turns into a process.  The process turns into progress and before we know it we have a full day of play ahead.  

I love their excitement. I love that they know I will help them accomplish anything they can imagine. I love it when holidays roll around and they are beaming to make hearts or clovers or Christmas trees.  

​There's nothing better than the twinkle of tiny eyes and paint covered hands. 

For now, we are studying Nursery Rhymes. We live in the world of "Bah, Bah Black Sheep" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" so turning this into a thematic unit filled with science, math, creative arts and, of course, literacy is child's play! (pun intended!!)

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Hickory, Dickory Dock!

Most of my little one's know many of the nursery rhymes we are covering. Today was Hickory, Dickory Dock!  This clock game is one of my favorite new math games from Mother Goose Time!  

We first looked at the clock and discussed how the numbers go all the way around the "face" of the clock and the the number 12 is at the very top.  This brought about questions...

"Why isn't the number 1 at the top? "Where is the zero?"  

Good questions.....

After explaining that clock numbers go in a circle we practiced walking around numbers we placed on the floor.  Like little mice we scampered around and around.  

We then allowed the 2's to continue this active, gross motor play while the older 3's and 4's played the game.  In this game they had to practice their social/emotional skills of turn taking, waiting patiently, and politely saying, "Your turn _______" if their friend becomes distracted and forget whose turn it was.  These skills are, in my opinion, even more important than the number recognition and counting practice they are receiving by playing this game.  

In fact the ability to self regulate is a better indicator of academic success than any other indicator (even better than scoring high standard test-based entrance exams!!) 

This is just another reason why I LOVE games that teach.  They can be "teaching" letters, counting, sequencing, that cows pass gas for heaven's sake, I don't care! What they are actually teaching a child in regards to his or her social/emotional development FAR outweighs being able to recognize a  lower case "r" or that 13 come after 12.  They are teaching patience, persistence, perseverance, taking turns, and that sometimes we win and sometimes we do not, but that we all get to play together.

But don't take my word for it.  Read the research...

“There is a lot of evidence to suggest that self-regulation can be taught in children.”  As an example she points to an intervention aimed at improving self-regulation in preschoolers.  “In one recent study,” she says, “we found that a series of classroom games in preschool designed to help children practice paying attention, remembering instructions, and demonstrating self-control significantly improved self-regulation skills, especially for children with low self-regulation.”  https://www.education.com/magazine/article/self-regulation-children/(Read the full article here.)

This article in ChalkBeat discusses the psychology behind self-regulation and the vital importance and superiority it holds over Kindergarten entrance math or reading levels.

"In psychology, this lack of self-regulation is referred to as “executive function.” Research shows that executive function is a better indicator of academic success than IQ or entry-level reading or math skills.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that a quarter of all children don’t have the skills they need to learn. Forty-six percent of kindergarten teachers reported in one study that more half of their children did not have sufficient levels of self-regulation. Another study of Head Start classrooms found problems with self-regulation, such as kicking or threatening others, occurred once a day for 40 percent of students.
There is, however, a silver lining: executive function capabilities can be altered quickly if caught and changed early enough. The problem is, parents are regulating their children instead of teaching their children how to get control of themselves.
Key findings in the book:

• Praise doesn’t increase kids’ achievement It has been a long-standing belief of psychologists and parents that praise was an important motivational factor for promoting achievement. In fact, this type of nurturing based on constant praise is actually more likely to create children who are willing to cheat to get by. “It instills in them the idea that had they prepared well enough, or tried hard enough, they could have succeeded, rather than risk being told they have failed or that they aren’t smart,” said Merryman.

• We are robbing our kids’ sleep Today’s generation of children get one hour of sleep less than children did 30 years ago, and the effects of this are just now beginning to be realized. New research has tied this sleep loss to numerous problems facing today’s children including ADHD, behavior problems, academic problems and even child obesity.

• Obedience vs. self-direction “The idea is that how you nurture self-direction is not by drilling children or telling them what to do, but by fostering them in mature make believe play where they play a role which in turn helps them to regulate themselves,” said Leong. This is the sort of play that allows them to learn how to self regulate. “Preschool and kindergarten are really the only places left in the world where children really get to practice that if the teachers nurture that.”

• The role parents play Kids playtime has diminished as parents have put an emphasis on teaching letters and numbers, according to Leong. She also pointed out that children are in very segregated age groups and don’t have much interaction with older children who can be mentors of play and learning for younger children. This leads to lessons taking three or four times longer to teach to children because they literally have to learn to play again. Parents can learn to be creative with learning opportunities that pop up while cooking, shopping, or running errands. “We put our kids in situations where they are isolated from real life, which is easier for parents in some cases. Parents spend a lot of time trying to keep their kids occupied rather than seeing these as opportunities to teach their children about real life,” said Leong.

• Immediate benefits There have been a number of 1-year studies on children who entered kindergarten a year behind, entered a Tools of the Mind classroom and came out a year ahead of their peers, said Merryman. A few school districts in New Jersey have noticed a pattern of children who participated in Tools of the Mind landing in gifted and talented programs. In Jefferson County, the curriculum in preschools and Head Start programs has been so successful that first grade programs have begun to be rewritten because the kids were already so far ahead. “We saw that the more difficult the tasks the children were given, the more motivated they were to succeed,” said Merryman." By Alex McNa http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2010/11/04/self-regulation-key-to-classroom-success/

The skill of self-regulation is a teachable, not an inherent skill and allowing children the time to experience conflict, decision making, and turn taking with the use of games that have predictable as well as non-predictable outcomes is vital to their academic success which translates well into their adult years.

So for you and all the little ones in our lives, I wish you well and I hope you play today!!

-L