November 03, 2009
The Whole Child e-zine brings you free preschool activities each week to maximize your child's potential, build skills and parent-child relationships in just a few minutes per day. Useful tips, quotes, resources, opportunities and articles will be added for extra value!
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November 2009, Issue #064
1. Hello from Shirley
How do you hide an elephant?
A while ago, I came across this metaphorical question. If you don't know the answer, here it is - “You can't”.
Instead of pretending that something glaringly obvious isn't there, it is best just to confess it openly...so here is my confession: This newsletter is long overdue.
There is a list reasons why it is overdue, including a computer crash, a family visit, tax returns and more. The bottom line is, I am sorry but I must confess that I can't promise it won't happen again.
As my children are growing older, I find that they demand more of my time for homeschooling and all the after-school activities that they are becoming involved in and I find myself in a season where I want to be more available to them and so my website ends up on the back-burner.
I am hoping that over the December holiday I will have time to devise a way to streamline the newsletter and the activities that go with it so that it will run more smoothly and demand less of my time next year.
Please remember that you can always refer to the back issues of The Whole Child, which you will find on my website here: Back issues of The Whole Child
2. Check my website
1. Hot topics:
Fall Preschool Theme - including fall preschool crafts, free printables, poems, sensory activities, recipes and free fall clipart.
Winter Preschool Activities - including winter preschool crafts,a snow ice-cream recipe, free printables, winter theme nursery ryhmes and free winter clipart.
2. Homeschooling:
If you are a mom at home with your little ones, you probably need some tips and encouragement. If you haven’t yet, browse the articles in the Homeschooling section of my site.
3. Music Appreciation
I think it is almost common knowledge these days, that classical music played to babies and toddlers helps to stimulate the development of the brain. Apparently, Baroque music in particular, stimulates the development of nervous connections in the developing brain of young children and it is believed to enhance mathematical and language skills in particular. Read more about how to encourage Music Appreciation and my recommendations of products that will promote it here: Music Appreciation
4. Re-education Most of us have been raised in an education system that told us to get a good education, so we could get a good job and then we’d be financially secure, but in reality we are not. Read how you can do what I did and re-educate yourself and invest in yourself and your financial future. SBI E-learning
3. Quote
The test of character is how you're willing to treat someone when you are absolutely certain you are right.
Wayne Jacobsen
4. Tips & Advice
In times when banks close, insurance companies get placed under curatorship and pension funds are bankrupt, the future can look very uncertain, especially if you are dependent on others for your future security.
A wise man always said to me: “Don't put all your eggs in one basket.” Now, I am not an expert on investments or policies or such, but I have full confidence that the effort I have invested in my website will continue to pay dividends in the future. It's an ongoing source of passive income.
I AM CELEBRATING that my site was 4 YEARS OLD on the 30th of last month and it earns me a regular 'salary' yet I get to be a stay-at-home-mom. In my opinion, every family should have an income-generating website in their financial basket.
Need more info? Read the story About My Site or click on the banner below for answers to your specific questions:
5. Readiness Activities
The following activities are aimed at ages 2-3. For older children, adapt the activity to their ability or alternatively repeat the activities previously suggested for ages 3-5 in the Backissues of The Whole Child publication. To download the activities in a printable pdf, click here.
You will need to have Adobe Reader installed. It’s a free download. Repeat these activities often - with your own variations too!
1. Gross motor skills
Encourage your child to imitate the movements of various kinds of animals:
jump like a frog or rabbit
waddle like a duck
gallop like a horse
fly like a bird
walk on all fours like a dog
stalk like a cat
plod like a hippopotamus
2. Fine motor skills
Manual dexterity: Encourage your child to cut out. Try showing him how to make Snowflake cut-outs.
3. Visual skills
Colour Perception: Ask your child to sort construction blocks into groups according to their colour. Start with red, yellow and blue. Don't overwhelm her with too many blocks at a time.
4. Auditory skills
Auditory Memory: Teach your child a simple nursery rhyme or Bible verse, then play a game with it. Recite a line and then leave out a rhyming word so that she must complete the rhyme. Leave out more and more words until she eventually knows the whole rhyme.
5. Mathematical skills
Teach your child to count to five. Remember to count real objects such as fingers, forks, buttons, or blocks etc. Young children learn best in the manipulative mode. Read more about developing Math Skills
6. Language and thinking skills
Ask your child questions he should know about his community e.g:
Where do we buy food?
Where do we buy clothes?
Where do we post letters?
Where does Mom get money?
Where can you get fuel for the car?
Where can you buy pizza/milkshake/ice-cream? etc.
7. Faith-building
Teach your children about the great men and women of faith and the lessons we can learn from them as recorded in the Bible. Tell the story in your own words if you can at their level.
Greetings until next month
Shirley
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