THE PRE-K PARENT POST Ready to learn...Ready for school Activities for Georgia's Pre-K children and families Ninth Edition "It never fails! We've been in the car for five minutes, and my child wants to know when we'll be there. When will he be able to understand about time?" Time is a hard idea for young children to grasp. They live in the present and want everything NOW! Counting the minutes or hours until dinner time or the days until Grandpa's visit seems to take forever. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow blur when children talk about their activities. This is because their understanding of calendar and clock time is just developing. Learning to tell time can begin with simple questions, such as "Do we wake up in the morning or at night?" "Do we eat dinner in the morning or at night?" "What do we do next (brush teeth, get dressed)?" A daily schedule at home and school helps the child learn the order of events in the day. This is the beginning of an understanding of time. Parents can help children understand the concept of time by making a weekly calendar. Provide stickers or use markers to mark special days. You can use time words with your child, example: "We will go to the dentist in two days. Let's write it on the calendar so we will know the day we are going." You can also talk about how long things take to cook. "We'll cook the popcorn in the microwave for three minutes, and it will be done." FEATURED WEB LINK www.pta.org A website offering help and encouraging parents on raising successful students. 1 All In A Day By Mitsumaso Anno This unique picture book shows similarities and differences in children and their activities in eight very different parts of the world during a single 24-hour day. It features wonderful illustrations by Anno and nine other outstanding illustrators. Make time to enjoy this great book with your preschooler and talk about the experiences of their school day. Look for this book, or a similar one, at your local public library. CLASSROOM CORNER When you visit your child's classroom, you will see many "learning centers" where important learning takes place. In this issue of The Pre-K Parent Post, we feature the MATH/MANIPULATIVE CENTER. Perhaps you've looked at the small blocks, beads, puzzles, colorful cubes that snap together, and other manipulatives and wondered about their purpose. These objects help your child learn about shapes, sizes, numbers, space, and other math relationships. Working with these materials also helps develop eye-hand coordination and strengthens small muscles in hands and fin- gers. It is a fun and engaging way of learning about the world of math in a concrete, "hands-on" way, which is exactly what children need. Watch closely as the children make patterns, sort, classify, and solve problems as they work in this center. HOME CONNECTION You can support your child at home by putting five items of one kind and four of another on a table. For example, put five toy cars and four blocks on the table. You can have your child mix and sort items. "Which group has more? Which has less?" DINING Mud Pies Ice cream Cones 1 package of instant chocolate pudding 2 cups of milk Tell the children a few days ahead about the wonderful mud pies you are going to make. Put the pudding (dirt) in a sealable plastic container. Add milk and stir well. Cover and take turns shaking the container. Serve the "mud" in ice cream cones. (This cooking experience is fun to do outside.) Content Standard: Children will acquire scientific knowledge related to physical science. 2 ACTIVITIES Routines are one of the best ways to help young children understand the concept of time. Children learn the order of events and how they usually occur each day. I wake up, then I eat breakfast, then I get dressed. Everybody has their own bedtime schedule. Create a sequence of pictures of your child's bedtime routine using photographs, pictures from a magazine, or your child's drawings. 1. Bath 2. Pajamas 3. Brush teeth 4. Drink of water 5. Read story 6. Goodnight As your child gets older, add words and times to the chart. Your child can benefit from a monthly calendar. Use stickers to mark special occasions, so they can count four more days to Allison's birthday party, eight more days until we go to Grandma's house, etc. Content Standard: Children will learn how to use a variety of non-standard and standard means of measurement. 'Round the Clock (Tune: Twinkle, twinkle, little star) Round the clock the hours go, Sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Tell me what the two hands say, They will tell the time of day. Eight o'clock, it's time for bed, Come with me, you sleepyhead Suggestion: Make up your own rhyme for other times of day, i.e., Twelve o'clock, it's time to eat. Come with me, we'll have a treat. 3 A MINUTE FOR MANAGEMENT ON... RULES Keep children's interest in rules by making very few and making sure that children know and understand them. Decide what is most important. If you want to make a rule, make sure you are willing to enforce it. The rule: Wear your seatbelt. The scenario: You are taking several children to the pool, and they want to sit on the floor of the van together. You know the pool is very close, so you decide not to enforce the rule. What this teaches children: Rules are not very important, and adults do not really mean what they say. Instead: Make sure you follow up with rules in a polite way while setting a good example: "Cindy, what is the rule about seatbelts?" Cindy says "Oh yeah, always wear your seat belt." Mom says, "That's right, thank you." It is important to remember that following rules teaches children not only to be kind or safe but helps to develop habits that will result in a child respecting authority and obeying laws later in life. INCLUSION CORNER Where can I go for resources in Georgia? Georgia has many resources for families of young children with special needs. The following is a list of places to contact: Georgia Advocacy Office - www.thegao.org - Advocates for individual rights Lekotek of Georgia - www.lekotekga.org - Adaptive toys and equipment Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities - www.gcdd.org - Public policy research Babies' Can't Wait - www.health.state.ga.us/programs/bcw - Connects infants and toddlers with special needs to needed services in their area. Georgia Department of Education/Division of Exceptional Students - www.doe.k12.ga.us Special Education for children 3-21 Resources for Children with Special Needs - www.sph.emory.edu/gafolic - Handbook for parents Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning 10 Park Place South, Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30303 404-656-5957 or 1-888-4GA-PREK www.decal.state.ga.us 4