Let Them Be Children
June 15th 2009 23:50
Let Them Be Children
Today there is such a push for children to excel at something………anything. Parents work at getting their children involved in sports, martial arts, and a wide variety of after school and summer activities. Usually their intentions are good in wanting to give children the opportunity to have a wide variety of experiences.
Children are not just empty vessels into which we pour knowledge and experience. Young children are natural scientists, explorers. Given the guidance and opportunity to learn at their own speed and in their own way they are learning every single day.
Are you aware that children begin learning skills that will help them to be successful in life and school from the very day they are born. The feeling of safety, security and personal value gives a child the ability to move into the unknown and experience new things………….to learn.
One of the biggest concerns of parents and teachers is teaching children to read. Often adults think that this occurs only if you sit children down with books pointing to the words and singing the ABC song over and over again. Whereas, books are important and providing age appropriate books for children to explore is an important experience for even the youngest of children. Reading to your child beginning at a very young age is a pleasant ritual that both parent and child can enjoy. Very young children simply enjoy the sound of their parent’s voice and being held close during the activity. Reading a story word for word is not necessary. Telling the story works just as well while turning the pages and talking about the pictures. We live in a print rich environment. Reading signs, cereal boxes, funny papers with children are all ways to help children learn about words and the world around them.
One of my favorite stories about a child who surprised an adult with word knowledge is about my youngest sister-in-law, who is a grown woman now. She was about 4 years old when I married her oldest brother. We were in Florida on vacation with the entire family enjoying Disney World. She was a child who did not like crowds. We had decided to go to the Country Bear Jamboree. Arriving early we found ourselves very close to the theatre doors. The room had fill with quite a crowd and the 4 year old decided she was uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Her brother picked her up to comfort her. Pointing over the theatre doors which had a Pepsi emblem above them stated that we had to leave through those doors. She asked “Why?” He replied simply, “The sign says so!” She replied “No it doesn’t it says, Pepsi!” he was floored. How did she know that! He asked me. My reply was simply “She watches television………..and goes to the store with mom.”
The first word a child tends to learn to recognize is most often their name. Being very ego eccentric nothing is more important to a young child than themselves. So how do you build on this knowledge? Quite simply. Make or purchase a sign or something that has your child’s name on it in large block letters and place it on their bedroom door or somewhere in their room and point it out on a regular basis. Then using paper or index cards write words for objects around the house: chair, table, window, bed etc. Attach the labels to the objects. Enjoy making a game of finding words or recognizing them. Make it fun and part of their every day experience. Over time your child will recognize these words that are part of their environment. This is called a sight word vocabulary. Children can begin to develop this sight word vocabulary before they are physiologically ready to hear the different parts of words. Learning phonics is an important part of learning to read but a child must have time to be developmentally ready for success with phonics. Recognizing and naming individual letter comes after recognizing entire words (like your name). Recognizing similarities and differences begins as children learn colors, sizes, shapes. All of these experiences are pre-reading skills.
Enjoy helping your children explore the world in which they live. It is all a learning experience.
Today there is such a push for children to excel at something………anything. Parents work at getting their children involved in sports, martial arts, and a wide variety of after school and summer activities. Usually their intentions are good in wanting to give children the opportunity to have a wide variety of experiences.
Children are not just empty vessels into which we pour knowledge and experience. Young children are natural scientists, explorers. Given the guidance and opportunity to learn at their own speed and in their own way they are learning every single day.
Are you aware that children begin learning skills that will help them to be successful in life and school from the very day they are born. The feeling of safety, security and personal value gives a child the ability to move into the unknown and experience new things………….to learn.
One of the biggest concerns of parents and teachers is teaching children to read. Often adults think that this occurs only if you sit children down with books pointing to the words and singing the ABC song over and over again. Whereas, books are important and providing age appropriate books for children to explore is an important experience for even the youngest of children. Reading to your child beginning at a very young age is a pleasant ritual that both parent and child can enjoy. Very young children simply enjoy the sound of their parent’s voice and being held close during the activity. Reading a story word for word is not necessary. Telling the story works just as well while turning the pages and talking about the pictures. We live in a print rich environment. Reading signs, cereal boxes, funny papers with children are all ways to help children learn about words and the world around them.
One of my favorite stories about a child who surprised an adult with word knowledge is about my youngest sister-in-law, who is a grown woman now. She was about 4 years old when I married her oldest brother. We were in Florida on vacation with the entire family enjoying Disney World. She was a child who did not like crowds. We had decided to go to the Country Bear Jamboree. Arriving early we found ourselves very close to the theatre doors. The room had fill with quite a crowd and the 4 year old decided she was uncomfortable and wanted to leave. Her brother picked her up to comfort her. Pointing over the theatre doors which had a Pepsi emblem above them stated that we had to leave through those doors. She asked “Why?” He replied simply, “The sign says so!” She replied “No it doesn’t it says, Pepsi!” he was floored. How did she know that! He asked me. My reply was simply “She watches television………..and goes to the store with mom.”
The first word a child tends to learn to recognize is most often their name. Being very ego eccentric nothing is more important to a young child than themselves. So how do you build on this knowledge? Quite simply. Make or purchase a sign or something that has your child’s name on it in large block letters and place it on their bedroom door or somewhere in their room and point it out on a regular basis. Then using paper or index cards write words for objects around the house: chair, table, window, bed etc. Attach the labels to the objects. Enjoy making a game of finding words or recognizing them. Make it fun and part of their every day experience. Over time your child will recognize these words that are part of their environment. This is called a sight word vocabulary. Children can begin to develop this sight word vocabulary before they are physiologically ready to hear the different parts of words. Learning phonics is an important part of learning to read but a child must have time to be developmentally ready for success with phonics. Recognizing and naming individual letter comes after recognizing entire words (like your name). Recognizing similarities and differences begins as children learn colors, sizes, shapes. All of these experiences are pre-reading skills.
Enjoy helping your children explore the world in which they live. It is all a learning experience.
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