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and to end child care month....

5/31/2010

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Learning through Literacy Play
As our Child Care Month celebration of Learning Through Play continues, we would like to explore how play supports early literacy.  Language development is perhaps one of the most subtle benefits of play, and also one of the most crucial. 
From birth children are constantly exposed to language, the primary stepping stone to literacy.  As adults, we instinctively expose children every day to the skills they will need to learn to read by speaking, singing, rhyming and reading with them.  A child’s own exploration through play further reinforces their language learning by providing opportunities to try out an array of developing skills. Play, like the development of language, is a natural and essential component of a child's life.While reading to a child is the most obvious way we can facilitate literacy development, it is far from the only one. Singing teaches children event sequencing, word recognition and concepts. Libraries and book corners allow them to practice being respectful of books, creating stories based upon pictures, noticing & recognizing letters, and retelling familiar stories.  Group story times encourage children to hypothesize about what will happen next, follow the left to right flow of text and to recognize the difference between fact & fiction.  Dramatic play provides opportunities to recognize that text is all around them (for example:  magazines at the doctor’s office and boxes in the store,) and encourages familiarity with letter recognition.  Art supports language development and literacy in many forms, including making books, seeing their name on their pictures and documenting the story of their art to encourage storytelling, flow of text and modelling of writing.  Almost any play experience will offer opportunities to support emerging literacy!
Here are some easy ways to build literacy learning into your child’s play experience at home...
·         Have your child help you make a grocery list by “reading” the flyer.  Through identifying the pictures they learn to recognize the text.
·         Spell words and names aloud as you write them.
·         Create stories together, particularly ones which feature alliteration and rhyming.
·         Read, read and reread.... familiar stories encourage children to take part in reading by completing lines and “fill in the blanks.”
·         Sing!
·         Identify letters everywhere- stores, signs, etc.   Pick a letter and count how many you can find together wherever you are... this is a great way to fill time in waiting rooms and long lines!
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play to learn about science!

5/25/2010

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Learning Through Science Play

In celebration of our Learning Through Play philosophy, Tree Frog Daycare is pleased to share with you an opportunity to have a childcare experience at home. As adults we often forget how much learning happens through play. Children learn by exploring their world and organizing the information they gather in a meaningful way for themselves.  To us this looks like play- to them it much more.

The curiosity and desire to learn that comes with early childhood makes it an ideal time to foster their interests and build on their emerging skills.  Science exploration comes very naturally to young children and is an easy interest to encourage.  On Salt Spring the most obvious area of focus is nature, with the wealth of opportunities to explore as a routine part of life. Other science topics to consider exploring in everyday observation and conversation are: matter and energy (gravity, magnetism, sound,) the universe (stars, space, moon phases) and living things (human body, life cycles, seasons.) 

Science discovery can be reinforced by discussing these topics, reading books or trying out basic experiments like the one we have included for you to try at home. Science exploration helps to build on a child's developing skills such as problem solving, cause & effect thinking, predicting, observing and comparing.  It also allows children to discover how things work and strengthens their understanding of the world around them.  Early learning through science can not only satisfy a great many questions a child has about the world, but is also a lot of fun. There's a great deal of enjoyment in watching a child discover how and why things work the way they do. 

Try out simple ideas like “sink and float” in the bath, or adding dye to the water with white flowers.   For bigger excitement try this:

Volcano

Surround an empty baby food jar with playdough formed to look like a mountain. Put a drop of red food coloring and a tablespoon of baking soda in the jar. Add vinegar to make it erupt.

  Previously published in the Gulf Islands Driftwood, May 2008
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may you be inspired....

5/17/2010

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Learning Through Creative Play
As Tree Frog Daycare continues to celebrate Learning Through Play, we would like to also celebrate the learning that comes from creating. Every child is an artist, a dancer, a singer and a creative wonder.  They embrace creative expression with an open mind and joyful abandon.  Through creativity children learn skills that will guide their self expression, as well as their emerging skills in math, reading, writing and science.

Creativity for children comes in many forms including music, dance, artwork and dramatic play. The options for creative play are as diverse and unique as the children themselves. Each outlet comes with its own learning opportunities. Dramatic play allows for communication, fine & gross motor and problem-solving skills to develop.Music encourages listening skills, rhyming and repetition to support literacy. Dance teaches children to be active and in control of their bodies while expressing themselves.

A daily component of childcare is Art.  It is offered in many ways including painting, collage, beading, cutting and pen work. By offering an array of materials and mediums children are encouraged to make choices, create and find their own idea of beauty.  Beyond these benefits, children are preparing to write by learning to hold paint brushes, pens and scissors while controlling their hand movements. Beading further supports the fine motor development and hand-eye coordination needed to learn to write. Collaging teaches children early math skills through patterning and sorting a variety of materials.  While your children build their confidence as artists and decorate your fridge, they are preparing to learn lifelong skills.

Some suggestions to support your young artist's development:
●      provide a variety of surfaces-  horizontal & vertical, soft, firm & textured for working on to help strengthen muscles and hand control
●       write the story of their picture to encourage conversation and model the left to right flow of text
●      count, identify colours, describe objects and have fun... they are all learning moments 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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May is Child Care Month!

5/10/2010

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Learning through Sensory Play
May is Child Care Month. Tree Frog Daycare would like to take this opportunity to share our basic philosophy of Learning Through Play, while providing you with a bit of the childcare experience at home. Each play experience your child has is building on skills they will use as lifetime learners.  This week we would like to talk about a childhood staple- sensory play.
Sensory play comes in a great many forms and engages children by allowing them to explore their world with all their senses.  Playing with water, sand and playdough are the most common forms of this play. As adults engaging with children in these activities we may enjoy the tactile experience and the calming effects they offer, but a child is building skills they will use later.
Sensory play encourages children to compare and measure, and to explore cause and effect in preparation for math and science learning.  It also helps to develop hand-eye coordination and strengthens hand muscles important to learning to write. Added to this are the social interactions and fun children have at these activities- making sensory play a great, easy and fun way to encourage learning through play.  We find playdough to be one of the most popular sensory activities as Tree Frog and would like to share this simple recipe for you to enjoy at home:

Basic Uncooked Dough

2 cups flour                             
1-cup water

1cup salt                                  
food coloring (add to water)

1 tbsp cooking oil

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together. Add oil, water and food coloring. Add more flour if it's sticky. Will keep about a week if left out and longer in the fridge.

Variations
– add kool-aid to the water to add color and smell

-  Add multi colored cake sprinkles to plain white dough for a rainbow effect.
-  Use different spices, coffee grounds, glitter, anything you can think of.
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