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May 2009, Issue #061

1. Hello from Shirley

For most of my readers the summer is almost here, while the rest of us huddle up to survive the throes of winter.

If your little one gets an ear infection that is so commonly part and parcel of the winter coughs and colds, don’t hesitate to get it attended to – anytime that children can’t hear clearly, besides feeling frustrated and miserable, they are also missing out on important data that is essential for good language skills later on. Children who didn’t hear well or were constantly ill, often battle with spelling and other areas of language, because of missing out on valuable linguistic input. Tell other parents!

As parents and caregivers, we have to be educating ourselves constantly in so many areas in order to effectively look after our children’s mind, bodies and spirits.

Further down, this issue has another longer piece of advice for you – about the silent epidemic that is sweeping through our kids mouths! Please read it attentively – we can stop it!

2. Check my website

Well, Mother’s day has come and gone and before you blink, Father’s day will be upon us. Click here to find out when it is and get some ideas - Father’s Day poems, crafts and more.

For those in the southern hemisphere, take a look at the Winter Preschool Activities - including crafts, rhymes and songs, recipes and more.

I am working on an Ocean Theme with my preschoolers – so far, there are two craft activities for you to try...and I have a lapbook project coming soon to tie it all together.

Sea Urchin Craft

Sea Anemone Craft

3. Quote

"Prevention is better than cure " -- Unknown

4. Tips

Are your kids part of the Silent Epidemic?

Did you know that over 40% of children under 5 in the USA suffer from tooth decay? Here in South Africa, the statistics are believed to be even higher.

I am so excited to share with you, some new information that I recently came across. There’s more we can do for our kids teeth than just regular brushing!

Its going to be hard to explain it all here, so for now I am going to send you to my source – a website created by a paediatric dentist, Dr Angela Gilhespie, who is not out to make a buck (by putting fillings in children’s teeth) but who is passionate about PREVENTATIVE DENTAL HYGIENE!

It is such a pleasure to find a professional person like this who has a heart for educating parents so that we can do a better job of caring for our children’s teeth and teach them good habits for life!

First, please read this page called The Preventative Puzzle

On the next page, which is about bottles, you will discover why giving our children fruit juice, even diluted juice, is like giving them an acid mouth wash! Next page

The answer is to give our children fruit to eat, where they have to chew it in their mouths and produce saliva – which is our body’s own defence mechanism for acid attacks on teeth! Then, to drink, give them water (or possibly milk – which does not leave an acid residue in the mouth.

Don’t let them get addicted to a juice-filled sippy cup whereby they constantly flush their teeth with acidic liquids!

Now, its probably impossible for most of us, to live without sweet treats. The time to give your children anything sweet – candy, biscuits, cake etc is, as a treat, right after a meal when the salivary glands have already been stimulated. Chocolate is less harmful to teeth than other types of candy. If given right after a meal, saliva will reduce the effects of dietary acid in the mouth.

Next, your children should chew gum containing xylitol 3-5 times a day. At first I cringed when I heard this – the name xylitol sounds like some harmful artificial substance that we should avoid in our diets - NOT SO – it is completely natural, our bodies even make it. Read about the huge difference it can make to dental health: Xylitol

(For those interested in more research into the use of Xylitol, go to www.xylitol.org)

Here in SA, the Mentos brand of gum that comes in a plastic jar, not the blister packs, contains 40% xylitol. Read the labels!

If you really want to be pro-active and make a difference in your children’s lives, invest in Dr Gilhespie’s book, The ABC’s of Children’s Teeth. It could save you some huge dental bills in the future!

ABC Fun & 1-2-3

“Preschoolers don’t need a curriculum, but their MOMS do!”

I know that moms of little ones feel a bit unsure about how to help their children and need some structure. You need the security of knowing that there is a programme to guide you and keep you on track as you spend your days with your little ones.

ABC Fun & 1-2-3 was written to you to stimulate your preschoolers in a gentle, age appropriate way, using lots of good quality stories, nursery rhymes, easy crafts, counting activities, games and more.

7. Readiness Activities

You will need to have Adobe Reader installed. It’s a free download. Repeat these activities often - with your own variations too!

May

1. Gross motor skills

Balance: Encourge your child to hop on the spot on one leg. By the middle of his second year he should be able to do this. He should also be able to walk backwards quite easily by now.

2. Fine motor skills

Manual dexterity: Encourage your child to play in the sand. Make sand castles together. Bury a small object like a coin in the sand and let her look for it. Sand play also encourages imagination and develops tactile perception.

3. Visual skills

Visual sequence: Encourage your child to build an alternating pattern with two different colours of construction blocks. Alternatively, this could be done by threading alternative coloured beads on a lace. Later on, for variation, do two of each colour at a time.

4. Auditory skills

Auditory Discrimination: Encourage your child to play along to music with drums (a wooden spoon on an upturned bowl) rattles (rice in a plastic bottle) or to play the xylophone, if you have one.

5. Mathematical skills

Numerical relations: Clap your hands once or twice. Ask your child to tell you how many times you clapped. To make it more difficult, clap behind your back so she can’t see. For variation, ask her tell if you clapped ‘many times’ or once. Repeat the game, letting your child clap.

6. Language and thinking skills

Numerical relations: Talk about animals and objects that are opposites; Eg. An elephant is big but an ant is small
A tree is tall but a child is short
A brick is heavy but a feather is light.
The mug is full but the glass is empty

Talk about things that are few, many, light, heavy, short, tall, high, low, fast, slow, long, short, thin, thick, etc.

7. Faith-building

Encourage your child to say prayers with you. At first glance, this may seem to be just a ritual, but your child is watching what you do, hearing what you say and learning that you are speaking to someone who is invisible. You are including her in a relationship with your Lord, whom we pray, she will one day accept as her Lord and Saviour too.

Greetings until next month
Shirley
About Shirley

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