PART 2:
Continued from the Kitchen - Here are some of the activities you can do together at home in the bathroom that offer learning opportunities which will help your child with the most typical school expectations – responsibility, reading, arithmetic and writing . These “ready for school” activities can be done in your everyday routine.
Children learn best when they are interested and motivated. Stop the activity when your child loses interest. You want your child to stay excited about these activities and wanting more.
In the bathroom
◘ Responsibility
Children who routinely participate in their personal care are more likely to maintain those positive habits when they are adults.
Brushing teeth: have your child brush his/her teeth before bed and after breakfast. Brush his/her teeth first, making sure to clean all areas of his/her mouth; then let him/her have a turn. Variation: set a timer for a minute or uses a small hourglass to make sure your child brushes long enough. Only use pea size amount of toothpaste and remind him/her not to swallow.
We are learning: responsibility, personal care, hygiene, taking turns, routine.
◘ Reading Children must understand left-to-right progression, the natural sweep of a reader’s eye, in order to read. Children need excellent discrimination skills and a good memory to learn to read.
What’s Missing? put a few toys in the bath. Ask your child to study the toys and try to remember what s/he sees. Ask her/ him to close her/his eyes while you take one toy away. Ask which toy is missing. Start with only two toys and add more as your child becomes more successful. Variation: give him/her a few toys to study. Then take them all away and ask her/him to name as many as s/he can remember. Switch roles and you try to remember.
We are learning: discrimination, memory, recall.
◘ Arithmetic By experimenting with part/whole relationships, children begin to understand the use of measurement.
Water works: give your child a set of plastic measuring cups and a small bucket for the bath. Let him/her experiment filling and pouring the water. Ask him/her: “How many big cups do you think it will take to fill up a bucket?” Then count to see if his/her estimation is more than or less than.
Variation: ask him/her to put the cups in order of biggest to smallest. Ask him/her: “Will it take more of the small cups of water to fill the bucket or more of the large cups? Lets count and see?”
We are learning: arithmetic, prediction, counting, estimating. part/whole relationships.
◘ Writing Children are able to form letters and shapes more easily with their fingers than by using a pencil because their fine motor skills are still emerging.
Steamy windows and mirrors: let your child draw and scribble on the steamy windows or mirrors in your bathroom. Encourage him/her to have fun and experiment.
Variation: have your child leave a secret message or picture on a seamy mirror with a soapy finger. The next time the bathroom fills with steam, the message will reappear.
We are learning: pre-writing, writing, drawing, shape and letter formation.
These activities are a sample of the advice offered to parents on the “Ready for School” family activity cards compiled by Bright Horizons Family Solutions’ Nursery Group.
www. brighthorizons.co.uk