[ Tuesday, December 25, 2007 ]
Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season! I will be back, but these last three weeks have just been non-stop busy, fun, wonderful, time-consuming days, so I have not had a chance at all to post and I've even had trouble reading other blogs. But things should settle down after the new year. Until then, Peace! Out.
yam [2:17 PM 0 comments ]
[ Sunday, December 16, 2007 ]
Busy BYes, I've been a major busy B this past week. I will try to write up the week that was, later on tonight. With Christmas activities and M's school activities abound, I could hardly find the time to stop and think.
(UPDATE: Sorry, guess I was a bit too optimistic... will try to do it sometime this week)
yam [9:47 AM 0 comments ]
[ Thursday, December 06, 2007 ]
THE RIGHT STUFFMy not-so-little one is quickly losing interest in "toys" these days, but I thought I would share this article from Growing Child - Grandma Says, that I got in my e-mail for those of you who still have kids and would appreciate some guidelines for choosing good toys...
A grandparent recently wrote of her need for direction in choosing toys for her grandchild. She said, "I find too many busy toys, too much color and confusion, just like the rest of modern culture, with not enough learning going on and too much entertainment. How can I buy a few really helpful toys like the ones that I used to provide for my own children?"
This is an important question for us all. A walk into a toy store offers literally thousands of toys, all clamoring for our attention. Last week I walked along one whole aisle of electronic toys, most featuring characters from television programs or recent movies, and they all had to be plugged in to an electronic device.
In most of these so-called "teaching toys," the programming has been built into the toy, even to the point of providing the automatic response, "You're right!" when the child presses the appropriate button.
When the toy is in control, children are not able to improvise or express their own ideas. The toy may be teaching, but what do children learn?
Then there is another whole group of toys that have basically been designed to entertain. These are the cats that meow appealingly, or the dolls that say all manner of annoying things.
Several years ago, I was trying to find a hobbyhorse, the kind that has a horse's head on a stick, for my youngest granddaughter who had fallen in love with all things horsey.
Much to my disgust, I could never find one that didn't make all sorts of horse sounds and play cowboy songs--we quickly removed the batteries. A silent horse allowed her to create her own sounds and stories.
What children need in toys has not really changed since this grandmother was buying toys for her own children. They need playthings that allow them to be in control, to take initiative in exploring, creating, and pretending in whatever direction they want to go.
The best toys are not designed with predetermined outcomes, but are open-ended enough that children can use them as they plan. Such toys can often lend themselves to increasingly complex play, as children expand their ideas and abilities.
Here are some criteria for helpful toy selections to support and encourage children's important learning through play:
• Safety first. Look for parts that can come off and swallowed by little ones, pierce or puncture little arms and legs. If in doubt, don't buy it.
• Choose toys that are age-appropriate. The age ranges listed on the packages are guidelines. Stay within them. A parent who believes his or her child is "brighter" than that, may find the child plays with the box - not the toy.
• Choose toys that appeal aesthetically to touch and sight. The all-pervasive primary colored plastic toys do not nourish the aesthetic sense in children.
• Choose toys that do not provide all the sounds, or remove the batteries. Talking, noisy toys are programming children's thinking to create conforming kinds of play.
• Invest in good quality toys that can be used for years, adaptable for versatile and complex uses that come from children's developing skills and interests. An example of this kind of toy would be a good set of blocks. Block play lends itself to planning and designing, problem solving, and early math and science reasoning skills, as well as fine and gross motor development, to say nothing of imagination and creativity. Children from toddlers to school-agers enjoy block building.
• Buy toys that support role-playing and pretend play. Rich imagination lays the foundation for symbolic thought, the basis for later school success. Small figures, furniture, animals, and vehicles allow children to construct whole worlds. Stay away from those associated with television or movies, as children then follow the familiar scripts instead of making their own
• Consider also toys for vigorous outdoor play. Balls and other traditional toys encourage activity and prevent obesity, setting healthy patterns for later life.
• Pay attention to children's interests for ideas about what kinds of play to support. Check out some of the websites for toys used by good early childhood programs to find specific materials.
Children's play is the very essence of their learning. You are quite right in understanding that "the right stuff" supports their active role in initiating meaningful experiences.
yam [3:49 PM 0 comments ]
[ Wednesday, December 05, 2007 ]
Ho! Ho! Ho!We thought that maybe we missed him, since we had gone to the market and heard such a clatter over on the next street over, but we were lucky enough to see him making an early visit through our neighborhood again tonight!
The excitement was building as we approached his vehicle
It's Santa Claus! Hi, Santa!
yam [9:03 PM 0 comments ]
[ Tuesday, December 04, 2007 ]
Grouch
Last night I caught myself being a real Oscar the Grouch. It must have been a convergence of the planets in the wrong pattern or maybe my biorhythms were at a low point, but at least I was able to recognize it before I got myself into big trouble.
First off, I was somewhat tired from the work day (nothing new). Last Friday when Matthew was supposed to bring home his report card, he told me that he lost it and I told him that he'd have to ask his teacher for a replacement today. So when I picked him up from after school care he said that his teacher was out and that he told the substitute. So, still no report card. And then I asked him if he tried to check around other places to see if someone found it (I find it hard to believe that if someone found it that it wouldn't be turned in), but he hadn't made any effort to do that. Yelled at him for not thinking on his own and not doing things for himself.
So the next daily question was whether or not he did his homework and of course, said that he didn't do it because his excuse was that they wouldn't let him into the back room to get his books since someone else was using the room. "Did you tell them that you needed to get your books to do your homework?" "No." "And was the room in use the whole time after school?" "No." "So what did you do all that time?" "Played." "OK, then you're still not getting your DS (handheld video game) back until you start doing your homework when you're supposed to." This was doubly bad because he also had piano class so there was less time for him to do his homework at home.
As I'm leaving the piano school after dropping him off, some lady is backing out of a parking spot into the lane, without even looking my way, so I creep up right next to her with my headlights blasting right into the back of her head (since she's not even turning her head both ways) until I see her finally realizing what a dodo she is. Almost felt like running into her to make a point! Next, I have to go to the market to pick up a few things and there are slow cars all over the parking lot, just taking their sweet time, when I only have 20 minutes before I need to go back and pick up the kid.
Inside the store is no better. One guy is right in the middle of the busiest aisle (where all of the checkstands are) with his shopping cart turned perpendicular, trying to read the label on a box, in the meanwhile, blocking everyone from going through. 10 feet later, two women friends meet each other, with their carts nose to nose, again right in the middle of the aisle, blocking everyone. Right next to that was a guy with his two kids, in one of those extra long shopping carts that looks like a race car, also turned in a way where no one can get passed! At least he recognized it and said "Sorry!" It was like one of those bizarre nightmares, come to life!!
GRRRRR! One more "incident" and I was fit to be tied!
Dinner went pretty smoothly, and Matthew finished up his math homework. But as usual, after checking it, found that it had lots of mistakes and I had to try and help him out, to learn it the right way, even though he figured out the right answers in the wrong way. He waits for me to tell him the answer, but I never do, as I try to get him to learn how to get it himself. Back and forth and lots of head-banging, but he finally got it. *sigh*
What did I do to get me out of that grumpy mood? Baked some cookies from scratch! Persimmon cookies with raisins and nuts and lots of spices. Ahhh, that calmed me down a lot smelling those warm, autumn smells in my kitchen. :-)
yam [9:16 AM 0 comments ]
[ Sunday, December 02, 2007 ]
UglyTrounced. Smoked. Blown-out. Call it what you want, but our basketball team was clobbered today in our season opener, 16-73! I was afraid that we weren't going to have a good game since we've only had one practice in the last month, but I didn't think it would be that bad. I think the main problem is that we got put into the wrong division. I know that we're not that good of a team, but at least in the last two seasons, we've been competitive. This team today out-played us in every way, was very disciplined, hard-working, and well coached. There was some talk after the game that the team we played today was a gold level team and that there was a confusion over what group we were being placed in.
I'm afraid that it's going to be a long season. *sigh*
yam [10:40 PM 0 comments ]
[ Saturday, December 01, 2007 ]
yam [10:01 AM 0 comments ]
