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On TED.com there is a speaker whose talk was recently published with a focus on education of children.  His name is Sugata Mitra and he has devoted a greater part of his life to education research.

In 1999, he and his colleagues developed an experiment where children were left unsupervised and he noted how they were able to teach each other and others.  This was started in New Delhi and replicated in other parts of rural and urban India.

Of course we are not advocating that teachers be removed from the classroom but rather reflect on the marvel of kids and the some of the ways they are able to learn and teach others.  Quite thought provoking isn’t it?

hildren who have an articulation delay have difficulty pronouncing age appropriate sounds. Listed below are a few easy and successful suggestions that you can do at home. In class, I have found my students have fun with these activities and do not realize that I am actually working with them on something that is challenging.

1) Buy small plastic trinkets that start with the letter you are trying to address. For example, if you are targeting the letter “B” you should buy items such as a ball, bat, bear, bike, and bee. Often, the dollar store has an array of these items. I would buy 7 or more of these items. Put the items in a bag and have your child reach in and feel around. Have them guess what they are feeling. When they pull the item out, help them identify the object and produce the targeted beginning sound. Your child might have difficulty. Make sure to give gentle reminders and repeat the sound twice per object.

2) Place pictures that start with the targeted sound on the ground. Spread them out and have your child throw a bean bag onto each card. Have them identify each picture and assist them in producing the sound. This is a good language and gross motor activity.

3) Place cards that begin with the targeted sound on blocks. Give your child a ball and have them bowl to knock down each block and produce the sound.

Some children who have difficulty writing, painting and drawing may have low tone or muscle strength in their upper body. This leads to a lack of control and makes fine motor activities challenging. Using an upright surface often helps these children gain control of their arm and encourages better posture and positioning. If your child is having difficulty writing while at a table, try another technique. Present the child with an easel to complete fine motor activities. If you do not have an easel, tape a piece of paper to the wall. As the difficulty decreases, or when you notice your child developing more control and better posture when using a writing utensil, take it down a notch. A slant board still offers some support for the arm but is closer to the table. The slant board is easy to use and relatively cheap. Boards come in different heights and contains a clip for paper. I am a big advocate of the slant board both in the classroom and for tutoring. I have seen children’s fine motor skills improve as well as their confidence.  Click here to order a slant board.

Many of you have asked me what your child is expected to know when entering Kindergarten. I have outlined some objectives in my post “Getting Ready for Kindergarten“. Below are some activities that you can do with your child to ensure success! Remember to pick activities that your child is able to do or is ready to undertake.

Cut and Paste:
In Kindergarten, your children will be completing cut and paste activities. Click here and check out:
ABC order (preschool)
Shapes (preschool)
Numerical order, numbers 1-10

Counting:
Your children will be counting objects up to 10, using one-to-one correspondence. For example, when the child sees the number 3, they can hand you 3 items.
Click here for dinosaur, fish and color counters.

Cutting Activities:
Click here for a house and a kite puzzle. Your child can work on cutting out the shapes and putting the objects together. They might have difficulty cutting out the smaller objects so make sure you help them if they need assistance.

Dot to Dot:
Dot to dot activities are beneficial for your children because they promote arm control and eye hand coordination. Click here for activities that work on connecting numbers 1-10. The spelling dot to dot might be too difficult.

Sewing Cards:
Click here and check out the template for the circle, heart, triangle or square. Put the shape on poster board and punch out the holes. Provide your child with a thick piece of yarn with tape on the end to practice sewing.

Matching:
Click here and go to the animal matching activity.

Sorting:
Click here for the flower activity which has children sort by color and size.

Summer provides many opportunities for children to participate in gross motor activities. This includes taking trips to your neighborhood playground, going to the pool, riding a bike and playing sports. Activities that strengthen large muscles help children navigate surfaces, improve balance and posture, build stamina as well as confidence. Children who have upper body strength in their arms and trunk have better control of their body which leads to improved fine motor skills. Below is a list of gross motor developmental milestones for children ages 3-5.

3-year olds:

Walk forward heel-and-toe for 5 steps

Run 30 feet with most of their weight on the balls of the feet

Climb stairs using a hand rail and place 2 feet on each stair

Jump with one or two feet over a small object

Jump forward 24 inches

Begin to move legs to pump a swing

May be overly fearful of height and the speed of objects thrown to them

Stand on one foot unsteadily for a few seconds

Kick a ball with a backward and forward leg swing

4-year olds:

Demonstrate a mature run- the arms bend at the elbows and move back and forth across the body, the trunk leans forward, high knee and heel lift and running on the balls of their feet to push ahead

Hop on one foot

Stand on one foot for ten seconds or more

Alternate feet going up the stairs- one foot per step

Show greater perceptual judgement and awareness of limitations

Exhibit increased endurance

Walk forward on line heel-and-toe for 6 feet

Jump forward 10 times

Kick a ball with good backward and forward leg swing and arm movement

5-year olds:

Gallop for 10 feet

Hop 5 times

Walk backwards toe-to-heel for 4 steps

Skip and run with speed

Walk on a two-inch balance beam with control

Jump down a few steps

Coordinate movements for swimming and bike riding

Play group turn taking gross motor games

Stand on one foot with eyes closed for 10 or more seconds

Take 2 or more coordinated steps and kick a big ball