« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »
June 27, 2007
Getting Ready to Read
Yesterday I talked about getting ready to go to Kindergarten. It can be a surprising undertaking for many. Once the initial shock is over, then we move on to more engaging subjects like getting ready to read, a big step again for both Mom/Dad and your child.
To me, the most important thing you can do before a child picks up his first book, is to talk. Talk about everything you see, do, hear, taste, and feel. Building a child’s vocabulary is a key to being a good reader.
Let me show you what I mean. I want you to think of the word “dog.” What pops into your head? Usually it’s a picture of a dog. It could be any kind, but it’s probably one you know. Now if I say “small dog,” you might revise your picture to a Chihuahua or a terrier. If I say “dachshund” you would change it again. You might not have the same color in mind as I do, but you know what I was talking about.
You’re an adult so you have a lot of pictures in your brain. I bet if I said “Ferrari,” you could come up with some interesting ones. Your child doesn’t have those pictures yet. He or she doesn’t have the years of experience you do. Your job as a parent is to help him obtain those pictures of words. When you talk to your child, visit a farm or a zoo, or read them a story, you’re providing pictures for his brain.
Once an active vocabulary is developing, you can begin to move into the same spoken words being written words. Saying dog brings up a picture. The word “dog” on the page of a story brings up the same picture. At first you’ll read the word to him. It won’t be long, though, before he’s heard the story enough to be able to see the word, know it’s “dog” and see his own picture. We’ll talk later about how he recognizes the word, but for today, just know he needs the word and the picture first.
If a child doesn’t have any experience with the word “dog,” the spoken word is going to mean nothing. It’s like saying to me “kem.” That could be a word of three letters with a vowel in the middle just like dog, but “kem” has no meaning to me. I have no picture for it. If your child has no experience with the word “dog,” it would be like saying what a cute “kem.” Nothing pops up. So give them experiences, experiences with all kinds of dogs. Then move on to kitties, zebras, corn fields, and locomotives. He'll need experiences with all kinds of words to carry on conversations with you and then translate those word picures into what he hears and reads. So plan lots of experiences and use the words many times so he can hear them, say them, and use them.
When he's ready to read, he will need that picture vocabulary as he recognizes the words on a page. The more word pictures he has, the easier it is for a child to unlock/decode a word and then bring up his own visual of what that words is. When he can’t bring up a visual, reading becomes hard if not impossible.
So the activity for today is TALK, build a vocabulary. Build a working, pictured vocabulary and help your child take his first steps into reading.
Posted by Dr Joni at 07:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 25, 2007
Getting Ready for Kindergarten
Last week and for the next couple of weeks, I'm meeting with groups of parents about things they can do to get ready for kindergarten. These parents all have their children in a program called Smart Start and that it is. It's a several week program for entering kindergarteners. It helps the children know what happens at school, meet some of the other children they will be with when school starts, and find things like the bathrooms. It also help in a big way with something many people don't think about at all-separating from Mom.
Small children depend on their parents for everything. School, whether it's preschool or kindergarten, is a situation in which Mom or Dad aren't around for an extended period of time. This may be the first time that has ever occurred in the life of a child and for some it can be pretty traumatic.
I remember one school year when I started the year by helping in the kindergarten class. My group wasn't starting for another two weeks so I could be useful there. The first day I watched as several of the children walked in, went straight to the fish tank or the bunny and didn't even remember to wave to Mom. Those Moms were a bit unprepared for the task. Others clung and cried, afraid of staying without Mom around. It took a bit of coaxing to assure everyone, Mom and child, it was going to be okay. This was a safe and fun place to be.
I thought things were settled as the group got started on their first activity. Until out of the corner of my eye I watched one young man edging toward the door. The veteran teacher nodded to me and I edged closer. Soon he was at the door. As he opened it I moved behind him, but not wanting to scare him I waited to see what he'd do. He was out the door in a flash walking down the sidewalk just as fast as his little legs would take him. He wasn't running yet, but close. Again I didn't want to scare him so I followed. When he got to the sidewalk, he took off running and so did I. At that point I wasn't worried about scaring him. I was scared he'd run in the street. I caught up to him, scooped him up, and tucked him under one arm. He wasn't going to go back willingly or with logic. As i deposited him gently back in the room I knelt down and explained that he needed to stay here. Mom would be back later and get him, but for now he needed to be here. We picked out something in the room that he really liked and I stayed with him, trying not to gasp for air, until he got engaged.
Folks don't always realize what a shock this is for a first timer-parent or child. Smart Start really helps take some of that away. What we talked about the other evening was how to help their child as they begin to learn to read. I'll share some of that with you tomorrow.
Posted by Dr Joni at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 13, 2007
A Chat with Claire
Claire sat next to me on the airplane going from Nashville to San Diego. She was going to see her Mom. She was with her Dad and I got the seat next to them.
On the plane, Claire had Pringles and water. She played with her Little Kitties book. It had a special pen than when she used it, the pen turned blank pages and boxes into pictures of kitties, airplanes, numbers and letters. Claire showed me the numbers and the letters and the pictures then told me what they were.
She also told me she had just graduated from kindergarten and would be in first grade next year. She was certainly ready for first grade. She already knew her numbers and her letters. She is six years old.
It would be fun to be Claire’s teacher. Her Dad said her grandmother is a teacher and has been for many years. Right now she teaches sixth grade. She has mentioned that both eighth grade and first grade are real challenges. I agree. It’s not easy getting them started right, Getting them ready for high school is amazing.
I enjoyed Claire’s company. It was a long flight, but she kept herself occupied the whole time. I wish her the best in first grade. I know she’ll do well.
Posted by Dr Joni at 08:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 12, 2007
Mornings with Mommy
The other morning as I was walking through the Nashville Airport, I overheard a mom talking to her son. He was looking at the departure board. He was checking on their flight. He told her it would be leaving at 9:30 for San Diego and it was on time. It caught my attention that he was telling her, not she telling him.
Then she asked him what time it was. He began looking around for a clock, and she helped him a bit by saying, “Look at the board. Check the bottom on the board on the red strip. It has the date and…..”
“Oh, it’s 8:22,” he said.
She sat down not far from me as he went to check out the area. I mentioned that I’d listened to their conversation and asked if she was a teacher. She said no, but that every morning they have what she calls Mornings with Mommy. She tries to use breakfast as a learning time. Since they were traveling today it seemed like a good idea to use the items in the airport as a learning experience. She said she liked the learning to be something everyday and practical.
Her son is in fifth grade, and it was obvious they do this regularly.
What a delight! This is exactly the kind of thinking I’ve been encouraging in the parents I meet in schools. Learning doesn’t have to be a burdensome undertaking. It’s fun and make sense in what we do everyday. School is supposed to help make the everyday experiences easier to deal with and make more sense.
I really appreciated what this mom was doing, and doing so automatically as if it were part of parenting. Some of us do it automatically. Some of us need a little direction to see how it might work, but neither matters because however you get thre, your child is going to benefit from the learning.
Thanks mom.
Posted by Dr Joni at 09:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 08, 2007
Tennessee Teachers
I’m sitting in a room with six very talented teachers. Lesley and Nicole are primary teachers (K-2), Kelli and Jeannie are third through fifth, and Charlotte and Vicki do six through eight. We’ve spent the last week together, and I’m here to tell you it’s been a fabulous week.
The ladies agreed to help me with an experiment. I had been in Tennessee a couple months ago doing some work with friends. My friends introduced me to a school district who was very interested in helping parents. They have a wonderful parent coordinator in the form of Sharon. Sharon and the Federal Programs Coordinator, Theresa, set up a week long session with these six teachers just after school was out for the year.
The task was to create my Parent Playbook series which is in California state learning standards into Tennessee standards. We’ve been working for a week and are almost finished.
What a pleasure to work with a very professional group of women who are truly dedicated to helping kids and parents learn. For the last four days we have worked and shared stories about how children can learn better.
This morning Vicki showed me a new program they are using in their classroom. It involves a very smart white board connected to a computer and a very sophisticated set of learning tools. I watched as she showed me how she gives spelling tests, teaches language arts, and how the math and science teachers at her school use the same tool. I can’t imagine a sixth grader who wouldn’t be interested seeing Greece in full splendor, surfing the Internet for space shuttles, or graphing math in color. Learning has become high tech.
It’s funny having been here for several days and listening to the conversations. Kids in Tennessee and kids in California aren’t that different. Kids anywhere are learning and growing, and we’re all still parents and teachers trying to find the best ways to make that happen.
Yesterday at lunch Charlotte and I were talking about where I live in California. She said, “You’re not a hippie and you don’t seem really way out in what you think.” I assured her I wasn’t a surfer either.
She also mentioned that they weren’t from Appalachia and did actually wear shoes without holes. I think she’d come to the conclusion maybe I was okay and not everybody in California was “way out.”
I agreed, but admitted the only thing I saw about folks in Tennessee that was different was they “tawk a lil funny, ya’ll.”
Guess our kids are pretty much the same too. I’m sure glad I know that.
Thank you ladies for a wonderful week. I love you all, and I truly love what you do for kids.
Posted by Dr Joni at 05:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack