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Bell, Terrel H.; Hertzler, Elam K.Keys to Your Child's Intellect: A Guide to Home andChild Care Center Based Early Childhood Education.92

177p.Terrel Bell and Associates, Boston Building, Suite311, Nine Exchange Place, Salt Lake City, UT84111-2765 ($19.95, plus $3 shipping; 6 to 25 copies,$17.95 each; 26 or more copies, $15.95 each).Books (010) Guides Classroom Use Teaching

Guides (For Teacher) (052) Guides Non-Classroom

Use (055)

MF01/PC08 Plus Postage.Child Development; *Early Childhood Education;Educational Environment; Educational Games; Infants;*Intellectual Development; *Learning Activities;*Parent Child Relationship; *Parents as Teachers;*Preschool Children; School Readiness; TeachingMethods

IDENTIFIERS Daily Activities; *Incidental Teaching

ABSTRACTThis book for parents and child care providers

describes a program for home-based, early childhood education thatdoes not use formal, disciplined instruction. The program uses the

technique of "incidental teaching," which emphasizes learningactivities that occur while children participate in typical daily

activities, such as eating, dressing, and playing. The book is

divided into 14 chapters. The first four chapters provide backgroundinformation that form the program's foundation. Chapter 1 discusses

techniques to help children build powerful intelligence. Chapter 2

provides general instructions and cautions, such as avoiding pressureand establishing an optimum physical environment. Chapter 3 outlines

ways to think and act from a child's viewpoint, and provides examples

of the ways in which reinforcement can guide teaching behavior.

Chapter 4 describes ways to use household items and educational toys

as teaching aids. The n3xt nine chapters provide infornation forteaching children in the following age groups: the first 10 months;

18 to 24 months; 2 to 3 years; 3 to 4 years; and 4 to 5 years. Each

chapter discusses characteristics of the age group concerned, offers

practical teaching suggestions, and describes games and activities

that use common household items as teaching aids. The final chapter

outlines procedures to help prepare children for school, and includes

suggestions for teaching directions and games that require abstract

reasoning. (MM)

***********************************************************************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document.***********************************************************************

41116 /la

A Guide toHome and Child Care Center Based

Early Childhood Education

AIM

4.

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

)(his document has been reproduced asecerved from the person or organization

originating it0 Minor changes have been made to improve

reproduction Quality

Points of view or opinions stated in this docu-men. do not necessarily represent officialOERI position or policy

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

Ferrel VI- Bell

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"

Rik

BEST COPY MA

i

a

A GUIDE To

HOME AND CHILD CARE CENTER BASED

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

KEYSTO

YOUR CHILD'SINTELLECT

Terrel H. Bellformer U. S. Secretary of Education

Practical Applications and PhotographyElam K. Hertzler

...

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-074920

Copyright © 1992 by Terrel H. Bell and Elam K. Hertzler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or me-chanical, including photo copying, recorder, or by informationstorage and retrieval system, without permission in writing fromthe publishers.

Terre! Bell and AssociatesEducational Consultants

Suite 311, Boston BuildingNine Exchange PlaceSalt Lake City, Utah 84111

801-521-8041801-521-9635 FAX

4

P. 0. Box 18983Washington, DC 20036-8983

703-821-6608

iie

CONTENTS

Introduction v

Chapter 1:Helping Your Child Build a More Powerful Intelligence 1

Chapter 2:General Instructions and Cautions 9

Chapter 3:Learning to Think and Act from the Child's Viewpoint 13

Chapter 4:Household Items - Educational Toys as Teaching Aids 23

Chapter 5:Learning During the First Ten Months of Life 31

Chapter 6:Learning During Ten to Eighteen Months 47

Chapter 7:Learning during Eighteen to Twenty-four Months 61

Chapter 8:Learning during Two to Three Years 71

Chapter 9:Additional Learning for Two- and Three-Year Olds 89

Chapter 10:Learning during Three to Four Years 101

Chapter 11:Additional Learning for Three- and Four-Year-Olds 117

Chapter 12:Learning during Four to Five Years 127

Chapter 13:Additional Learning for Four- and Five-Year-Olds 141

Chapter 14:Preparing Your Child for School 157

A Final Word 165

Selected References 167

IntroductionThere is ample evidence that pre-school children

need mind nurturing experiences over an extended pe-riod of time. The preponderance of this evidence ofthe value of early learning experiences continues tobuild. Indeed, a research project concluded at theUniversity of Arizona in 1992 demonstrated that babiesas young as five months can recognize correct andincorrect answers to simple math problems.

Early learning experiences for preschoolers is thenumber one goal of American education. After exten-sive hearings by Congressional Committees, Congressenacted legislation supporting programs to provideearly childhood education programs that involve par-ents, guardians, and child care centers. This new fed-erally funded program is intended to give disadvan-taged pre-school children a better start in school.

The Head Start program, now in its 27th year ofexistence, has prepared many children for a successfulstart in school. Longitudinal studies of the results ofthis program were so successful that during the budgetreduction programs of the Reagan years, Head Startwas spared the sharp knife of the Executive Office ofthe President.

Another federally funded program is Even Start, asub-program of Chapter I of the Elementary and Sec-ondary Education Act. Congress enacted this programto provide financial assistance to school districts andto encourage them to sponsor programs of home-based early-childhood education in neighborhoods

V

C

with low income and educationally disadvantaged stu-dents.

Following a meeting of all the nation's governorswith President George Bush, six major national goalswere unanimously adopted. The first of these is thegoal of having all children entering school ready tolearn. There has been widespread agreement that allthe states muster a major effort to fulfill this first andforemost of all the goals for American education.

This goal cannot be realized without extensive in-volvement of parents, guardians, and child care centerworkers in its fulfillment. The schools must reach out tothese persons and teach them how to effectively pre-pare pre-schoolers to be ready for school. Their activeparticipation is indispensable to success.

This book, extensively rewritten (to incorporate thelatest research) from an earlier version written by Dr.Terrel H. Bell (U.S. Secretary of Education, 1981-1985)and published by Olympus Publishing Company, hasbeen published by Terrel Bell and Associates to serveas a handbook for parents, guardians, and child carecenter workers who will have many opportunities to en-hance the future potential of millions of preschoolers tobecome apt learners and successful young scholars.We firmly believe that this simple, practical and inex-pensive program of preschool education will increasethe levels of intelligence and readiness to learn for mil-lions of preschoolers whose education will mean thedifference between success and failure in the fiercelycompetitive world of tomorrow.

A New Role for the Nation's ElementarySchools

Elementary schools should have the responsibil-ity to teach parents, guardians, and child care providerswho work daily with pre-school children the advantagesof current research and effective programs to preparechildren for learning when they arrive at school age.

All elementary schools should offer parents of pre-schoolers a comprehensive program of home-based,early-childhood education and development activities.

vi

All elementary school principals and at least oneteacher from each school, designated as the lead early-childhood educator and parent liaison, should betaught in a short but intensive training course to providethe leadership for this program. Such a programshould be designed to teach and prepare principalsand lead teachers to launch the program.

Following the training, each elementary school prin-cipal and lead teacher should telephone and/or write toall parents of pre-school children residing in the schoolattendance area. There should be an all out effort toreach all parents of pre-schoolers regardless of wherethose children may ultimately go to school. These par-ents must clearly understand that the information theyreceive will be important to their children's future suc-cess in school even if the child has just been born or isexpected in the near future.

During the four or five meetings parents should at-tend, they would learn about "incidental teaching."They should not be taught to "hold school". Instead, astheir children play in the world around them, parentsshould learn how to actively develop their children'slearning capacity and prepare them for school throughlow-key, ron-pressured, incidental, mind-stimulating ex-periences. Parents should learn how to provide oppor-tunities for developing language, computing and intel-lectual skills. As the program matures, parents whohave used these ideas should be asked to teach otherparents.

This type program is an important and useful way toprepare each pre-schooler to go to school ready tolearn. This manual provides the necessary content forsuch an outreach program to parents.

vii

NOTES:

In the interest of avoiding awkward sentence struc-tures, the male and female pronouns will be alternatedchapter by chapter and activity by activity throughoutthe book; it should be understood that either pronounis intended for either gender.

In the interest of avoiding awkward sentence struc-tures, "parents" will be used to refer to parents, guard-ians, child care givers and other child care providers.

9 viii

k

Helping Your Child Build aMore Powerful Intelligence

Defining and discussing the idea of intelligence arecontroversial and difficult. We know that some personslearn very quickly and with obvious ease, and we oftenrefer to such persons as "very bright" or "highly intelli-gent." We also know that some persons are slow tolearn and appear to be limited in what they can learn. Itis common to refer to such persons as "slow mentally'or as "disadvantaged learners."

To be quick of mind, to be able to grasp subtlemeanings, to understand (comprehend) complex ideas(concepts) are great gifts. Educators refer to studentswith such abilities as "academically talented" or "intel-lectually superior."

Intelligence has to do with a person's mental capac-ity. It relates to the ability to learn as contrasted toknowledge or what has been learned. A very brighttwo-year-old child may have a powerful learning capac-ity but has little knowledge or wisdom. A powerful intel-ligence shows the capacity to understand and compre-hend . . . and to exercise higher mental functions. Aperson with a powerful intelligence has the capability oflearning at a greater speed than other people and caneasily grasp factors in a complex situation. This is notto imply that the most intelligent people are the mostambitious or conscientious, nor that all the desiredtraits or talents are embodied in a powerful intelligence.An intelligent person may be lazy, cruel, unfair, dishon-est, or many other undesirable things, or may be un-happy or unhealthy. We must seek many human traitsin addition to intelligence.

10

Intelligenceis a person'smentalcapacity

2 YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

Earlychildhood

developmentin the learning

process isdesirable for

all children

Parental lovewill help the

childfeel secure

Intelligence is, however, a desirable human featureembodying one of the most universal powers a personmay possess. All persons regardless of their special-ties and unique abilities will be even more capable ifthey have developed more fully their intellectual pow-ers. A talented musician, for example, is more capableif she has a powerful basic intellect. A pe, son withmechanical or technical aptitudes is much more pro-ductive if she is also quick of mind. A person able towork with people is greatly aided in her efforts if shehas a powerful intelligence.

Intelligence opens many doors, just as ignoranceprevents progress and opportunity. No matter howbright and quick of mind one might be, she usuallywishes that she could learn and understand morequickly and with greater depth. Early childhood, indeedinfant development in the learning processes is there-fore desirable for all children, regardless of backgroundor ability.

All parents should strive to help their children frominfancy build a powerful intelligence. All childrenshould have -- as part of their heritage -- the greatestopportunity to develop all their talents. Fundamental toall other abilities is the development of basic intelli-gence. This handbook has been written to help par-ents to help their pre-school children to attain theseadvantages.

The Power of Parental Love

As you follow the program in this book, you willgrow closer to your child. Parental love will help thechild feel secure and emotionally responsive. This isthe great strength of home-based, early childhoodlearning. Only this element -- so essential to all babiesand small children -- can be provided in full measure byparents. A warm, intimate, and continuous loving andsharing between parent and child can grow from theparental role as the child's first teacher.

At the outset of our discussion of home and childcare center based preschool education, we caution ourreaders to avoid too much pressure on children. Par-ents should not sacrifice the child's feelings of securityand of being accepted while she is learning to respect

11

HELPING YOUR CHILD BUILD A MORE POWERFUL INTELLIGENCE 3

the act of leaming. Learning should be brought aboutnaturally in an atmosphere of loving encouragementrather than through demand and pressure. Unusualachievement in terms of growth in the child's under-standing is possible in a natural and relaxed setting.That is why we advocate incidental rather than formal-ized teaching in this book.

In the pages that follow, the techniques of teachingyour child will be blended with the text content. Theentire program assumes that a small child can learnwhile playing and growing in the natural, loving environ-ment of the home. The practical how-to-do-it applica-tions at the end of each chapter, written by Mr. Elam K.Hertz ler, an educator with years of experience, shouldsubstantially aid the parent to reach that goal which isdesirable for the child at each succeeding age level.With his invaluable assistance, we will not only describethe basic ideas but we will present concrete examplesof how these concepts can be applied in the daily life ofthe child. The result should produce a priceless gift forthe child and a great sense of accomplishment for theparent.

Critical Role of Parents,Guardians and Child Care Providers

Not long ago, most educators believed that intelli-gence was almost totally fixed at birth and that quick-ness of mind or capacity to learn was determined byheredity. A stereotyped mental capacity of a child wasuniversally accepted. It was believed that we shouldstrive to teach a child all we could within the limits ofher capacity, but that we could not increase the basiccapacity, significantly beyond the limits inherited at thetime of conception. There have been many debates onthis issue, but only in the last few years have facts onthis matter become known.

We now have strong evidence that a human being'sintelligence can be increased. This means more thanthe simple fact that a normal child can learn to workharder than the above-average child and make up witheffort what she lacks in basic intellectual capacity. En-vironmental factors have much more to do with nurtur-ing intelligence than was expected even a short time

12

A small childcan learnwhile playingin the naturalenvironmentof the home

There isstrong evi-dence thathuman beingscan increasetheir learningskills


Basicintelligence isformed in thefirst five years

life

ago. Presently, evidence from research gives us rea-son to believe that we can increase this basic intellec-tual power and help the child build intelligence signifi-cantly beyond the usually accepted range of the intelli-gence quotient (IQ).

Recent research by cognitive psychologists revealsthat the capacity to learn quickly and with ease can besignificantly expanded beyond that inherited at birth,possibly one of the most important educational discov-eries of the 20th century. This message for parents andeducators brings great hope ana heavy responsibilityfor developing the intelligence of in:ants. Evidence thatthe environmental power of the home is more influentialthan the school places much of the responsibility onthe parents.

The emphasis is placed on young children becauseresearch tells us that we must bring certain mind-nurtur-ing experiences to children before the age of five yearsif we are to take advantage of this great new potential.Much of a child's basic intelligence, according to theresearch, has been formed by the time school age isreached. Parents should keep this in mind so that theearly months, when the mind is the most impression-able, are used to may,mum advantage.

Home vs the Sch,)ol as the Sitefor 'Early Childhood Learning

The fundamental fact that the home is where earlychildhood learning occurs has triggered a great debate-- in education circles. Some psychologists and educe-

( tors advocate starting public school education at twoyears of age, claiming that a great opportunity will belost if we do not start sending our two-year-olds toschool where they can avail themselves of this greatpromise to build their intellects. Many opponents, how-ever, do not agree. Although they recognize the poten-tial, they argue that young children will lose much morethan they will gain ii we institutionalize or formalizelearning this early in life. They argue that in the earlymonths, the child needs the home and the home needsthe child. They argue that schools are too bureaucraticand complex to be sensitive to the individualized needs

Children losemore thanthey gain if

earlyeducation is

formalized

13


of tiny tots and that the home will be weakened and toomuch responsibility placed on the schools. Studies ofhome and parental influence on learning seem to sup-port this position.

The debate also includes school finance. Somecritics claim that it will take untold billions of dollars toeducate two- to five-year-olds. It will also take thou-sands of new school buildings and vast numbers ofadditional teachers. Opinions of how much govern-ment and/or family should do enter this continuing de-bate. Many parents want the schools barred from ven-tures in early childhood education, while others de-mand an immediate response. Some critics say that itwill cost more if we fail to reach the struggling learnersto give them a chance to build an intellect that helpsthem achieve their greatest potential. Others claimthat it is unfair to reach some and not others and thatearly childhood education for only the educationallydisadvantaged places a stigma on them and deprivesthe normal child from building her intellect to become asuperior child.

Because of the emotion, the political conflict, andthe lack of public finances, it appears that public-sp_ ;-sored, far-reaching, early childhood education is a longway from becoming a reality -- if indeed it ever will. Thisplaces a great responsibility and challenge on thehome . . . particularly upon parents who are concernedabout their small children and who conscientiously de-sire to provide the maximum opportunities for them.Many parents eagerly accept the added burden ofbuilding the basic intellectual power in young childrenso that the child may be a superior student -- a brightand creative human being.

The Potential of Home-Based,Early Childhood Learning withParents as the Prime Teachers

Parents should be taught the fundamentals of inci-dental teaching in the home, of how to recognize andseize upon the fleeting teaching moments in a smallchild's life. They should learn to teach through joyfuland productive play, to apply reinforcement theory (ex-

1 4

Theresponsibilityof earlychildhoodeducation isin the home

Convert thehome into alearninglaboratory

O


Recognizeopportune

moments toteach during

the dailycontacts with

your child

Householditems can be

used aseducational

toys

plained in chapter 3) in the home, to create a processfor learning and to stimulate the child's mind for devel-oping cognitive powers.

Parents should convert the child's home environ-ment into a powerful learning laboratory so that thechild will grow intellectually during those vital first fiveyears of her life. Parents should realize that the oppor-tunity to take full advantage of early childhood intellec-tual development comes only once in each child's life-time. Most of it comes before the child enters school.

Demands on Parents' Time

As you read this book, you may become concernedabout what may seem to be excessive demands uponyour time to do all of the things and carry out all of theactivities recommended. You will, however, find thatmost of the recommended activities to develop cogni-tive growth in your child can be carried out as youperform other routine tasks in your home. Consider-able emphasis is placed upon recognizing opportunemoments to teach through your daily contacts with yourchild while you dress her in the morning, feed or playwith her during the day, take her shopping, or put herto bed at night. The techniques are casual; the teach-ing is incidental and related to the real-life experiencesof parent and child.

Keep in mind that most of the recommended activi-ties do not require additional time from busy parents,but more educationally productive use of the usual timespent by parents with their children. Also rememberthat each child develops differently. Do not be undulyalarmed if your child does not keep up with the recom-mended activities for the age group cited in this book.Detailed instructions throughout the book will help youbring your child along at her own pace.

Using Common Household Itemsas Educational Toys

The use of the term "educational toys" as discussedin this book refers to items used as teaching aids and

1 5


motivational tools rather than simply as playthings. Forpurposes of this book, the term, educational toys, in-cludes common household items that are used in playand in incidental teaching. We shall continue to usethe term, educational toys to include all objects usedby child care givers in their incidental teaching activi-ties.

The applications discussed at the end of each chap-ter are designed to make use of common householditems. They do not require the purchase of specialtoys.

At the end of each chapter in this book are somepractical how-to-do-it suggestions involving the use ofcommon household items as teaching aids. Theseuseful and easy-to-follow instructions will add to theutility and effectiveness of making concrete learning ap-plications of the principles of learning described in thebook.

Children need "hands on" experiences as they learn.They need to be able to feel, see, hear, and manipulateobjects that will support and reinforce learning. Thepractical applications at the end of each chapter will bevery useful to you in providing these concrete learningexperiences for your child.

Reminder:

In the interest of avoiding awkward sentencestructures, "parents" has been used to refer to par-ents, guardians, child care givers and other childcare providers.


'; ity; *

\I

.rr 140

(

ANIL_

- 5"4.er '-

17

1.4-

1,414

2 General Instructionsand Cautions

Most experts in the field of early childhood develop-ment are concerned that children may learn to dislikelearning and even develop strong emotional blocks ifoverly anxious parents and child care workers pressurethem to levels of achievement before the children areready. It is also feared that parents, lacking in profes-sional training, may not recognize the limitations of verysmall children.

Avoiding Pressure

Because of often-expressed apprehensions by edu-cators, it is important that parents recognize the neces-sity of teaching the child when he is ready and when heis motivated to learn. In the suggested games andparent-child activities that will be presented, the childmust be the one to determine when he wants to partici-pate. Be sure to avoid pressure. Be sure to observethe child carefully and take advantage of the timeswhen he is interested and wants to participate in thelearning activity. Also, be very observant to note whenthe child has passed the point when the learning activ-ity is productive.

This key concept of teaching, when the child wantsto learn and stopping when his interest is low, mustguide the parent throughout the program. The child isentitled to grow and develop happily. He must enjoyhis learning activity and develop very positive attitudes

Children maylearn todislike learn-ing if pres-sured byoveranxiousparents andchild careproviders

The childmustdetermine theright teachingmoment


There will behigh and lowpoints in the

child'sresponse tothe learning

situation.

Parents andchild careproviders

must learn totake

advantage ofhigh levels of

interest and toshift to other

activitieswhen interest

is low

toward learning. (More information on developing posi-tive attitudes will be given in chapter 3 when reinforce-ment theory is discussed.)

Peaks and Valleys in Learning

There will be periods of time in the life of almostevery child when he will have a total disinterest in learn-ing activities. There will be other times when he will behighly interested and will eagerly seek opportunities tolearn and to be involved in the games and in the use ofeducational toys. Children go through stages of devel-opment which are related to their physical, emotional,and psychological growth. Parents should not be un-duly concerned if the level of interest is irregular over aspan of time. There will be high and low spots in thechild's responses to the learning situation. Wise par-ents will adapt to these situations without conveyingapprehension to the child.

Attention Span

Depending upon the nature of the learning activity,a child's attention span will vary -- young children be-come disinterested quickly; they do not have the capa-bility of concentrating for very long. When using edu-cational toys and parent-child games, parents must becarefully observant of the learning situation. They mustlearn to take advantage of high levels of interest and toshift to other learning activities or postpone the learningactivity entirely when the child's attention span is low.Children become restless at certain periods of the day.By observing closely, the parent will learn to distinguishthe child's interest level in any particular situation.From that knowledge, the parent should be able to de-termine when the optimum learning situation haspassed. The best learning opportunity for the child willhave expired when he is no longer paying attention . . .

when he becomes irritable or fidgety or when he startsasking questions not related to the learning situation.At this point the learning activity should be changed, orthe entire period for participation in the program shouldbe postponed.

; 1 0

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND CAUTIONS 11

Being observant and understanding of the variedattention capabilities and being able to transter thatknowledge into a shift in activity or a change of paceare very critical skills for a parent to develop. As youwork with the child, be conscious of the need to besensitive to his attention span.

Learning to Enjoythe Teaching-Learning Situation

Parents should engage a child in developmental ex-periences only when it can be a joyful activity for bothparents and child. It is important to recognize thatwhen parents are under stress, it is unwise for them toenter into teaching activities with their children. Mostparents know when they feel up to the challenge.

Timing is extremely important in the development ofvery young children; emotional circumstances are cru-cial. Both parent and child must be prepared for ajoyful experience together. They must be relaxed, withtension at a minimum level. Parents should recognizethis and think about it often. They should review thelearning experience after it has occurred and ask them-selves if the experience has been pleasant for the child.They should also ask themselves if the atmosphere wasrelaxed and if there was ample opportunity for pleasantinteraction, for laughter and happy responses.

The early childhood development program in thehome should not in any way follow patterns at school.Preschool children are far too young to have a struc-tured, regular program of instruction patterned afterschool curricula. Child care givers should therefore notthink of themselves as teachers in the formal sense.The entire environment must be natural and spontane-ous so that each learning experience developed by theparent and other care givers will carry out the sequen-tial learning activities contained in this program and atthe same time permit the child to set the pace.

During the teaching and learning experiences, theparent should play a different "role" from that playedduring the rest of the day, relating to the child in amode of relaxed play and conversation. The parentmust let each of the child's responses flow naturally

4t)t r1

Both parentand childmust be readyfor a joyfulexperiencetogether

The home-basedteachingprogramshould notfollow thestructuredcurriculum ofthe school

/

6


Ditraceonsshould be

kept to aminimum

The homemust be abright and

cheerfulsetting forpreschool

learning

from the previous response. Parents must recognizewhen to have a great variety of activities and when toseize upon a high-interest point to get a basic conceptor a particularly difficult skill across to the child.

Establishingthe Optimum Physical Environment

It is important for the child care giver to thin c con-stantly about the physical surroundings and to estab-lish the optimum environment for enhancing the :earn-ing situation. This should vary from one situation toanother, depending upon the type of learning activity.Distractions should be kept to a minimum. Child caregivers should seek ways of developing the physical sur-roundings so that they will contribute to the learningsituation. A pleasant environment, conducive to learn-ing, should be planned.

Many homes are not sufficiently "child centered,"and many children must make too many adaptationsand adjustments to the adult mode of living. Brightcolors, cheerful pictures and paintings, and child-ori-ented furnishings will add to the total opportunity togive the child the finest environmental situation duringthis critical first five years of life. Parents should re-member that once these opportune days, weeks, andmonths have passed, they cannot relive them with thechild. They should remember that research tells us thata child gains a very significant and lasting part of hisintelligence during those first five years of his life. Inthis sense, the home is the first classroom and theparent the first teacher.

We urge parents to look at their homes and deter-mine if they are child centered. The priceless years ofearly childhood will be gone all too soon. Make yourhomes truly conducive to the maximum environmentalcircumstances that will nurture the growth of your childto the greatest extent possible. More specific informa-tion on the home as a learning laboratory for the childwill be presented in chapter 3.

3 Learning to Think and Actfrom the Child's Viewpoint

Many forces enter into the rearing of a child in thehome. During the first five years, childhood exr ari-ences will fortify the child with the capabilities to obtainand retain knowledge throughout her life. The "knowl-edge" experiences are discussed below.

Empathy

Empathy is the imaginative projection of oneself intothe being or circumstance of another. Parents should,in the time that they spend teaching the child, try toempathize. Through close observation and practice inwatching the response of the child, the ability to empa-thize can be developed. As you work and play withyour child, study her reactions and learn everything youcan about her. Strive to understand why she doeswhat she does. The more you know the more effectiveyou will be as a parent and teacher.

Reinforcementas a Basic Principle in Teaching

There is likely no other principle of teaching andlearning that is more important to the child and to theparent than reinforcement theory -- an awareness thatmost of the experiences must be successful and rein-forcing to the child. Rebellion and dislike for learningwill result if this paramount principle is ignored.

22

As you workand play withyour child,study thereactions . . .

try toempathize


Rebellion anddislike for

learning resultfrom lack of

reinforcement

Parentsshould use

reinforcementto the child's

advantage

Children havea better self-image if theylearn through

rewardsinstead of

throughpunishment

It is important that parents learn about the principleof reinforcement and how they can use it in helping thechild develop a more powerful intelligence. If parentsunderstand this principle and observe how reinforce-ment can lead a child to desirable or undesirable be-havior, they will be more conscious of many actionsthat unwittingly work against the purposes and out-comes they are seeking. Most human beings persist indoing those things that are rewarding and pleasurable.If, for example, a child cries when she is refused candyand if the parent responds by "giving in," the parent isobviously encouraging an undesirable habit.

A small baby soon learns that crying gets attention -- her way of communicating that she is uncomfortableor wants something. While it would be absurd to rec-ommend that parents ignore crying, it is important thatthe parent be aware of responses made to crying sothat the parent is not unconsciously reinforcing behav-ior that must be changed or eliminated later in thechild's life. Some of this cannot be avoided for it is partof rearing a tiny infant. The point is that the parentshould be conscious of this reinforcing behavior anduse it to the child's advantage. Not only do you teachby your actions, you also teach by your reactions.

The positive use of reinforcement calls for rewardingthe desirable response and keeping to a minimum (oreliminating where possible) the rewards for undesirablebehavior. A reinforcement-conscious parent will bevery careful about using negative responses and saying"no" too often. Instead, positive and rewarding re-sponses can be used to lead the child in an affirmativeway (rather than negative responses that will drive thechild through punishment).

The parent should be particularly conscious in theteaching and learning experiences suggested in thisbook to use reinforcement theory. Plainly stated, chil-dren will have a better self-image if they learn throughrewards rather than through punishment. Parentsshould be careful about saying "No, that is wrong" in anunpleasant voice. This does not mean that childrenshould learn only about their correct responses. Obvi-ously, it is necessary for a child to know when herresponse is incorrect. The method of communication,however, should convey information that the response

23

Learning to Think and Act from the Child's Viewpoint 15

is incorrect in a manner that will minimize negativenessand will lead rather than drive the child.

If, for example, the child misses a key step in alearning game, the parent should emphasize some ofthe child's previous correct answers at the same timethat she learns that she just missed the key question.She should be praised and encouraged at the sametime that she is corrected for error. Parents get in the"no" and "don't" habit of communicating with children.This is sadly demonstrated by studies of vocabularydevelopment in young children which indicate that theword no is one of the first words spoken by most chil-dren.

Parents, in their anxiety to help the child, correct toomuch and lead and reinforce too lithe. Strive to usepositive words most of the time in your communicationwith your child. Use the words "no" and "don't" spar-ingly. If parents are careful in their manner of correc-tion, learning will be a happy experience, and the childwill seek more opportunities to be involved in it.

Adjusting the Level of Difficulty

The parent must be very conscious of the "level ofdifficulty" at which the child is working. Experts onlearning tell us that the level of difficulty for a childshould be adjusted so that she is making correct re-sponses approximately eight out of every ten times sheis asked to respond in a learning situation. This keepsthe entire experience "reinforcing" in its outcome andminimizes the number of times that the child has to becorrected and :old, even in a positive way, that herresponse to the learning situation was incorrect.

Observing the child's response, the parent shouldmake the question easier or the learning game lessdifficult if the child is not responding correctly in ap-proximately eight out of ten questions. When educa-tional toys are used, a less difficult or more challenginggame can usually be selected to meet the performancelevel of the child. In the less formal situation -- wherethe parent is questioning and the child is responding --the solution is to ask less challenging or more difficultquestions. As the parent and child work together, it willbecome increasingly easy for the parent to adjust the

The childshould bepraised andencouragedalong withbeingcorrected

The level ofdifficultyshould beadjusted untilthe child canrespondcorrectlyabout eightout of tentimes.

16 a YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

There must besufficient

challenge tocause the

child to feelaccomplish-

ment

Make yourawareness ofreinforcement

a guide toyour teaching

behavior

level of difficulty to meet the child's needs.Success is contagious. In our eagerness to get the

child to move ahead rapidly, or in our concern that shemay be behind, it is very easy to push too hard or tomove the child to a level of difficulty where her re-sponses are most often incorrect. This is self-defeatingand must be avoided at all costs.

The parent should realize that there must be suffi-cient challenge in the learning situation so that the childis learning, advancing, and attaining a feeling of ac-complishment. If the situation is so easy that the childis responding correctly 100 percent of the time, she hasalready learned the task, and the level of difficulty mustbe advanced. Parents should remember that the 80percent correct response principle is desirable. It maynot be necessary to measure this precisely in the infor-mal use of educational toys, learning games, and otherteaching and learning activities. It is important, how-ever, to be conscious of the fact that most of the re-sponses must be correct and the child must be on alevel of difficulty where the parent can genuinely praiseher often and reward her for her correct response.Many times throughout the teaching and learning activi-ties of our program, we will urge the parent to be con-scious of the use of the power of reinforcement in theteaching situation. This chapter (and particularly thissection of the chapter) may need to be reviewed oftenby the parent in order for the principles of reinforcementto become a natural part of the parent's teaching be-havior.

Be sure that you understand the principle of rein-forcement. Make your awareness of the power of rein-forcement a guide to your teaching behavior. The appli-cation of this principle may be the most importantteaching technique you will ever learn. Your behaviorwill largely determine the attitude and success of yourchild in her early childhood education.

Parents should consider the following examples inthinking through how the reinforcement principle canbe used in the home to obtain the desired results:

Example A mother decides that her two-year-old isready for toilet training. She begins by casu-ally placing the child on the toilet at intervals

?Al


when she suspects that she is ready forbladder or bowel elimination.

Comment The first experience should be a pleasantone. The mother should carefully select theproper time when the child is not sleepy orirritable. Pleasant and optimistic voice tonesshould be used. Simple and positive expla-nations should be made. The experienceshould be very hrief. If the act is not suc-cessful, the parent should express mild en-couragement and approval anyway. If it issuccessful, the parent should praise thechild and encourage her to let the motherknow when the physical need is felt for elimi-nation.

Example: A 3 1/2-year-old child keeps begging to eatbetween meals. The parent has determinedthat the child's nutrition is adequate and thatshe should not be hungry an hour or twoafter she has eaten. The child is persistent4nd increases the pressure until the parentgives in "just to keep her quiet."

Comment: This is applying reinforcement to develop un-desired behavior and bad eating habits. Thechild learns from the success of pressureand persistence that the parent will eventu-ally give in to her demands. The behavior ofwhining and the habit of eating betweenmeals are unwittingly taught by the parentthrough misapplication of reinforcementtheory.

Example: A parent desires to develop number discrimi-nation skills through use of an educationaltoy that builds this capacity. When the at-mosphere is relaxed and it is play-time forthe child, the parent asks for and receives apositive request suggestion that the parentand child play the number discriminationgame. The two start playing and the childresponds correotfy to only half of the items.The parent, knowing that a successful expe-

2G

Make the firstexperience inany situation apleasant one

Apply thereinforcementprinciple indesirable, notundesirable,circum-stances


Always adjustthe level ofdifficulty so

that your childfeels success

rather thanfailure

rience is essential to the child's future atti-tude, immediately moves the level of diffi-culty back to where the child had been an-swering about eight out of every ten prob-lems correctly. This gives the child a feelingof accomplishment, but the level of difficultyis still challenging, as evidenced by the fewincorrect responses (about two out of tentries) that are made from time to time. Aftersome time, the child begins to show disinter-est. Although the parent is anxious for thechild to continue, the game is stopped with-out pressure or unpleasantness when her at-tention starts to decline. The child is praisedfor success even though the parent wouldhave been pleased with more progress.

Comment: This wise parent knows that success is mea-sured by how much desire the child has incontinuing. This cannot be done if the childexperiences failure too many times. Thusthe level of difficulty was adjusted so thatmost of her attempts were successful. Thechild ended the game too soon to please theparent, but the parent did not pressure thechild when gentle persuasion did not suc-ceed in getting agreement to continue. Thechild learned from the results of these learn-ing endeavors and knew, when incorrect re-sponses were made, what the correct re-sponse should have been.

This represents the application of the reinforcementprinciple in a direct teaching and learning situation in-volving the use of creative play.

Talking to Your Child

A child can learn much from conversation; more-over, conversation and the resultant vocabulary devel-opment during the early years of a child's life will helpto build her cognitive power. In conversation, ofcourse, words are symbols consisting of sounds cre-ated by the vocal cords. For a child who does not yet

27


have a vocabulary and who has not mastered the ca-pacity to get meanings from sounds made by the vocalcords, this is indeed a complex and challenging learn-ing situation. Parents should remember what was em-phasized about empathy earlier in this chapter. Youmust know that listening and getting meaning fromsounds require ability to associate these sourds withsomething familiar to the child. This is more compli-cated than one might think, particularly if this task isanalyzed from the point of view of the child. Rememberthat the child is beginning with zero vocabulary.

Very young children need constant spoken vocabu-lary stimulation, and parents should converse fre-quently with them. Some studies of child behavior indi-cate that children will make earlier attempts at speakingand will jabber and make conversational mimicry if, dur-ing the early months of their lifetime, they live in anenvironment where they are talked to frequently. Evenat an early age when a parent may not think a child isunderstanding, it is important that conversation (even ifit is a one-way discussion) occur frequently. Exposureto language and vocabulary building is very important.The entire five-year period is one of building vocabularyand developing language skills.

As will be discussed in subsequent instructions andsuggestions in the text, children should begin to de-velop a listening or "word recognition" vocabulary be-fore they can speak. Using carefully spoken words --such as "shoes" when the young baby's shoes are be-ing put on and "fingers" when you touch or she usesher fingers -- will help to build an identification and lis-tening vocabulary before the child actually learns tospeak. Repetition of plainly spoken, short words is veryimportant. The proper words used when the child isinitially exposed will help the child to understand.

The word "dog" is much less confusing to a childthan to teach her that a dog is a "doggie" and then laterto tell her that "doggie" and "dog" are the same thing.This principle also applies to "train" and "choo chootwain." Often, parents think they are speaking on thechild's level when they use childlike words. This onlyadds to the learning burden of the child. Parents canuse the proper words and speak them with enthusiasmin a tone that creates response from the child without

Children learnto recognizewords beforethey learn tospeak

Parentsshould teachthe properpronunciationof works, notbaby talk


Teach thedifficult

concepts,such as rightand left hand,

carefully

resorting to copying words they heard other young chil-dren use when first learning to speak.

Parents will also help children build vocabularies iftwo or more words that denote the same thing can beavoided; for example, if a mother calls a cat a "kitten"and a "kitty" as well as a "cat," she can cause confusionfor a young child struggling to master complex soundsymbols that identify an unfamiliar world filled with unfa-miliar objects and things. Please be sure to thought-fully avoid confusion in this regard.

Words such as "too," "to," and "two" are often usedfreely in the same sentence ("Its too late to play withyour two cars"). Proper words, clear pronunciation,and an avoidance of confusing terms ("No, I don't knowor "Close the door and hang up your clothes") will domuch to help the child.

In teaching right- and left-side concepts, a thought-less teacher may say to a small child "right," meaningthat she is correct when she points to her left hand.Parents must be exceedingly conscious of words usedin conversation with very young children.

If a child is to develop a keen intellect and a power-ful means of expressing thoughts, she should be ex-posed to a rich vocabulary. Repeating the names ofof.!scts which continually surround the child will helpbuild vocabulary power. uetailed emphasis will begiven in building a more powerful intelligence throughthe use of language in subsequent chapters of thisbook. Emphasis is given at this time so that parentswill know from the outset that conversation and vocabu-lary building are extremely important and should beproperly developed from the very first months of lifeand continued throughout the remainder of the entireprogram of home-based, early childhood instruction.

Homes and Child Care Centersas Learning Laboratories

To be successful in building the child's intellectualpower, the home must provide continuous exposure toa wide variety of experiences. These experiencesshould stimulate the mind of the child and expose herto circumstances where the limits of her mind will bestretched. In any home where children are growing up,

20


the most important function is to nurture developmentand bring to fruition all of the latent talents of the child.

Exposure to books, to illustrations and pictures, topuzzles, to stimulating colors and shapes, and to a richarray of sounds, smells, tastes, and touching and lis-tening opportunities should be planned. Variety andchange of environmental stimulation are very important.Parents should constantly be thinking of how to adddepth and breadth to the experiences which are pro-vided in the home. Learning takes place when action isrequired from the learner. The teaching methods de-scribed in this manual and related supporting materialswill call for an active response from the learner.

Many television programs may be useful in this re-gard. Parents should supplement the course of instruc-tion provided in this book with related household itemsand toys and with regular exposure to high qualitychildren's TV programs. Viewing and listening to suchprograms will fall short of a total early childhood devel-opment program; however, they will be a useful enrich-ment and an added environmental dimension thatshould be used. Because TV viewing is a somewhatpassive activity for the young, it should therefore beconsidered as having only that enrichment value whichcan be greatly enhanced through active follow-up bythe parent. The essential elements of the manychildren's programs, such as "Sesame Street," will beincorporated into the contents of this book. These TVshows developed for the very young should be usedbut not relier1 upon as anything even closely approach-ing a maximum effort at early childhood education.

Parents should be conscious of the home as alearning laboratory for the child. A variety of materialsthat will keep the child constantly exposed to learningcircumstances should be provided. Recorded musicand stimulating, colorfully illustrated books can serveas added supplementary and enrichment materials in ahome consciously prepared to perform the function ofproviding maximum intellectual stimulation for the child.Parents should look at the home from the child's per-spective and should often think of the home as a stimu-lating learning environment which will lend maximumsupport to parental efforts to nurture the full potentialfor helping the child build a superior mind.

Learningtakes placewhen affirma-tive action isrequired fromthe listener

Televisionviewingshould beenhancedthrough activefollow-up bythe parents toteach thepreceptsshown

Parentsshould look atthe home as alearningenvironmentfor their child


The childshould

develop apositive "can

do" attitude

The Child's Self-Image

It is important that the child grow up with a positiveself-image. This comes from successful experienceand from a sense of progress and accomplishmenteach day. Parents should relate to the child in such away as to provide a feeling of belonging and a feelingof worthiness. This requires a great amount of lovingand listening by the parents.

The listening part of this self-image building effortshould be taken seriously. Parents should seek tohave the child express himself. They should try to en-courage the child to express any fears and apprehen-sions that she might have. This will yield valuable infor-mation to the parents as well as provide a useful outletfor the child's feelings. These listening sessions shouldhelp the parents get feedback on their teachings as wellas indicate the child's responses to these stimuli. Per-ceptive parents will learn how to adjust and adaptteaching strategies from what they learn during theselistening sessions.

The child should be helped to develop a positive"can do" attitude toward learning and toward himself asan individual capable of doing a number of usefulthings. Keeping the level of difficulty adjusted to thechild's needs will help in building a good self-image.(Review the material on reinforcement in the first part ofthis chapter if you need to refresh your memory onadjusting the level of difficulty to meet the child's learn-ing needs.)

Reminder:


3).

4 Household Items andEducational Toys asTeaching Aids

Toys that have educational value blocks with let-ters or numbers on them, balls or other geometricshapes of different sizes and colors, etc. -- can be ap-propriately useful in teaching children. In addition,there are always in the home many items that can besuccessfully used as teaching aids. These commontoys and household items are discussed in this chapter.Parents do not need to purchase a wide array of toys tomeet the needs of the programs described in this book.Through some creative use of items commonly foundaround the home (see the applications at the end ofeach chapter), parents and children will find many op-portunities to play and learn together in the program ofinstruction described in this book.

Objects That Stimulate Learning

In the following paragraphs, we shall discuss thekinds of objects that are applicable to different age lev-els and those that encompass visual, audio, and tactile(touch) sensations for the child. This discussion willserve as a general introduction . . . more specific in-struction will be found in the chapters that follow.

Crib Toys

Inexpensive crib toys are commonly used to attractattention. Many of these very low cost toys for the very

3 2

Parentsshould useeducationaltoys eitherhomemade,borrowed orpurchased


Crib toysshould becolorful as

well asaudible tostimulate

visual andlistening

capabilities

Crib toysshould be

changed oftenfor variety

For thecreeper, toysshould stimu-late curiosityand sharpen

perception

young infant (prescribed for teaching strategies inchapter 5) have been designed to stimulate the sensoryexperiences of the infant during the age of four monthsto the time when he is able to creep (crawl). Such toysshould be colorful so that they attract the child's visionas soon as he is able to see and focus his eyes. Theyshould, if possible, stimulate the child to want to reach(exercise), thus providing practice in coordinating hisarm and leg muscles. Some crib toys should be au-dible to stimulate the sense of hearing; they should beresponsive to hands and feet that come in contact withthem. They should excite and stimulate curiosity.

In situations where household items and toys areavailable for use in homes and child care centers, theyshould be changed frequently so that they are not com-monplace to the sight, touch, and hearing. Their use isto make the crib a more responsive and stimulativeenvironment. Variety of color, shape, sound, and func-tional response must be provided. Parents should lookaround the home and shop around in various stores foropportunities to select a variety of objects to stimulatethe child's mind. The more sound, color, and touchstimulation for the child, the greater will be his growthopportunity during the time that he is a crib-bound in-fant.

Toys and Common Household Itemsfor the Creeper

By the time the child has attained the physical ca-pacity to creep, he has also gained the ability to reach,grasp, listen, focus his eyes, imitate, and respond tovarious kinds of stimulation. Homemade and othertoys (prescribed for activities recommended in chapters5 and 6) should stimulate the curiosity of the child andsharpen his perception. Toys and common householditems that will help the child develop listening skillsshould be provided. Objects that require the child tosee differences in shapes and colors are also useful.

The child needs muscle activity and experiences inlearning coordination of his hands and feet with hisvision. Toys and household items that stimulate use ofhis larger muscles and those that require his hands to

Household Items and Educational Toys as Teaching Aids 25

reach and grasp in coordination with his sight shouldbe used.

Teaching Colors, Numbers,and the Alphabet

Some household items and toys can be used todevise games that teach color identification, numbersand number concepts, and the letters of the alphabet(prescribed for activities recommended in chapters 7, 8,9, and 11). These games provide variety and new chal-lenges for the child. Most parents, as they observetheir children using household articles and educationaltoys, will think of many games that can be created toprovide more learning opportunities for the child.

Games that create a joyful and attention-holding re-sponse are usually effective in teaching. The learningcomes without awareness of effort since the concentra-tion is on the game. This is the great value of trulyeffective educational games used during play time.

Teaching Sight, Sound, andTc::ch Discrimination

The preschool child should enter formal schoolingwith his senses developed and his ability to use them toprovide information to his thinking processes sharp-ened as keenly as possible. He must be able to listento sounds that are nearly the same and detect the dif-ferences. He must be able to look at objects and pic-tures that are almost identical and be able to see slightdifferences. He must be able to identify objects that hecannot see by touching and feeling them to form men-tal images of them. Parents should concentrate onbuilding these skills in all their play and incidentalteaching.

Parents should use objects around the house thatwill help to develop keen use of the senses of sight,touch, and hearing. The results may not become ap-parent until the child faces reading and arithmetic in-struction in the formal school situation, but the parentsshould not neglect the developmental opportunitiesprovided by games that develop these senses.

Educationaltoys can aid inteachingcolors,numbers, andletters

Parentsshould usetoys thatteach sight,sound, andtouchdiscrimination


Children notonly must

developmental

powers, butalso

enjoyment oflearning

Let the child'sinterest in the

gamedetermine thetime to teach

Two Goals

Your child must reach two goals that may seem toconflict with each other: He must develop his latentmental powers to the maximum extent possible, and hemust learn to enjoy learning and to develop wholesomeattitudes toward his educational experiences.

The use of common household items and a fewtoys should help parents reach these somewhat contra-dictory purposes. The applications at the end of eachchapter are challenging because they do more thanentertain -- they require the use of two or more of thesenses and involve physical as well as mental activity.Since many of these applications require two personsto play the games, the additional advantage of involvingthe parent is also provided.

Importance of Following Instructions

The directions accompanying the practical applica-tions at the end of each chapter emphasize the neces-sity for the parent to permit the child to determine whenhe is ready to play a game and when he wants to stop.Parents should heed this advice. It is advisable to be-gin when the child is eager and to stop when his re-sponse is high so that the child will look forward toadditional experiences with the toys.

Many parents, in their eagerness to see the childmake progress, may pressure or attempt to coax thechild to play. Research has proved this to be a seriousmistake in the strategy of teaching the very young child.The premise of this entire book is based upon play as ameans of learning. The games must be child centeredand child directed.

A wise parent will study the child and respond to hissignals. Through extra effort by the parent, playtimethat turns into incidental learning experiences will paythe rich dividends.

Developing Abstract Reasoning Powers

Children in the fourth year of life, (see Chapters 12and 13) should develop ability to reason and derive

Household Items and Educational Toys as Teaching Aids 27

judgments after weighing multiple factors in a gamesituation. Be sure to use the objects and a few toys toprovide a mind-stretching interplay of the more complexgames when your child has reached the age of four.

Application of the number concepts and use ofsimple arithmetic skills may be provided through use ofmany common household objects and a few simpletoys described in these chapters. Teaching additionand subtraction through the use of games will make funout of practice and drill if skillfully executed by the par-ents. Games that apply arithmetic skill with color identi-fication and with use of geometric shapes will provideunusually rich opportunity for development of cognitivepower. Children who master these capacities to use acombination of three or more skills in a fairly complexgame will be reaching levels of ability that will lead themto become very capable and intellectually powerful stu-dents when they attain school age.

Parents should pay special attention to the check-ers and chess games that are recommended in chapter14. These games are somewhat commonplace andcan be obtained without much expense. They are,however, extremely effective as cognitive power build-ers. Parents should provide children (who display thecapability) with opportunities to play these games asoften as interest demands. Needless to say, not allchildren of preschool age will have developed the abil-ity to skillfully play checkers and chess. But these twogames provide continuous mental exercise, and theyshould be used extensively with children who can ben-efit from them.

Assembling A Ready Sourceof Teaching Objects

As parents begin to work to give their children manyrich learning activities, they should establish a readysource of teaching aids. These may be common itemsaround the house such as small blocks of wood, ameasuring tape, spools, paper clips (depending onage), simple toys, geometric shapes such as triangles,squares, circles, etc. These items should be placed inplastic bags (be careful to avoid accidental injury in

Games thatapply numberand colorskills developcognitivepower

Try to playgames asoften as thechild's interestdemands

Link thechild's instinctto play withhis capacity tolearn


using plastic bags and other items) and stored in acloset so parents can get them in an instant if the occa-sion arises to teach through play. If the child showsinterest but the parent has to search and assemblewhat is needed, it is often too late. Teaching momentsare often fleeting occasions that require an almost in-stantaneous response. Be prepared with your "bag oftricks" when opportunity knocks.

3 "i

5 Learning Duringthe First Ten Months of Life

With the background information provided in thefirst four chapters of this book, we are now ready forinstruction and intensive discussion about what, how,and when to teach. The first two chapters are impor-tant for parents as a theoretical foundation and as basicguideline material to be used throughout the entirecourse of instruction and the full period of parental re-sponsibility to the child as her first and most importantteacher.

Remember that a child's feelings have a profoundimpact on learning. The factors we cannot teach youas a parent are the specific feelings and emotional re-sponses of your child. We can emphasize problemsand generalize from what has been learned about mostchildren and from how most children respond, but eachchild is an entirely different human being. Parents real-ize this more than anyone else. We emphasize againthat the parent should watch the emotional and attitudi-nal response of the child to the teaching and learningsituation. Beware of too much pressure, and be verycareful that you do all you can to help the child have apositive and healthy attitude toward learning. Her firstlearning experiences must be rewarding and filled withmuch more success than failure. Do not apply pres-sure. Keep in mind the reinforcement principle, andremember that leaditig positively will in the long runreach the child more deeply and effectively than effortsto drive or to punish for wrong responses.

A child'sfeelings havea profoundimpact onlearning

Beware of toomuchpressure;help the childdevelop ahealthyattitudetowardlearning


Stimulation ..1rmental activityat the earliest

L 3 isimportant

The good-natured baby

also needsenvironmentalstimulation in

the home

General Educational OutcomesDuring the First Ten Months

During the first ten months of your child's life, youwill want to systematically build her pre-vocabularyskills and imitative voice sounds and her visual, listen-ing, and muscular skills. You will want to spend thetime to teach the child that learning can be fun and thatshe can be confident in her abilities.

The First Few Weeks of Life

Remember that a major purpose of early childhoodeducation is to nurture maximum growth in intelligence.vVhile much is not known about this process, there isc,00d reason to believe (from extensive research) thatstimulation of mental activity at the earliest possible ageis very important. Parents should be aware of this needfrom the time a child is a new-born infant. Variedsounds and other sensory experiences should be pro-vided. The baby's crib should display diverse colorsand patterns. Crib toys should be abundant; objectsthat move and toys that play music should be provided.Be sure that the crib is an active, responsive place - aplace the baby will enjoy.

The baby should sit or recline in many positionsduring those first few weeks of life. She should havealternative locations in the home where she can seedifferent items, shapes, and colors, both inside and out-side the crib. Reaching, grasping, and kicking and alsoreceiving auditory and visual stimulation should be pro-vided. She should feel loved and secure and have herphysical needs met promptly and regularly in responseto her cries and demands. Be sure you provide stimulifor muscular development. Help the child to be bothphysically and mentally active.

Some babies are quiet, demanding little attention.Busy mothers can easily neglect such infants by failingto provide a stimulating and responsive environment.Often the inactive, good-natured, non-crying babyneeds this environmental stimulation the most. Seethat your baby spends her first months of life in anactive, stimulating environment.

Learning During the First Ten Months of Life 33

Activities at Sixteen Weeks of Age

By the time a baby reaches 16 weeks of age, shewill have begun to show interest in matters other thanfeeding, sleeping, and being kept dry and clean. Shewill want to be held and will enjoy being propped up.Objects that attract attention and stimulate curiosity ona broader scale should come into her experience at thistime. She should have her feeding and sleeping rou-tine fairly well patterned. She should be able to followmoving objects with her eyes and be stimulated toreach for things with her hands. Tasting, touching, andreaching experiences should be provided often.

The 16-week-old child should show some emotionalresponse to stimulating situations. She should be coo-ing and trying to make initial sounds other than crying.She should be stimulated to smile, even laugh aloud,and to respond to all kinds of sound and motion.

It is common for mothers to demand absolute si-lence when the baby is taking her morning and after-noon naps. This kind of situation does not help thebaby become tolerant of sudden noises or make thehome a natural, normally functioning place. Teach thebaby to sleep with the usual sounds around the home.She must learn to live in a world with a fairly high noiselevel and be able to carry on her normal routine whileadjusting to life's circumstances. An enforced quietand unnatural whispering or tiptoeing around the homecan actually be detrimental to the infant. Her sleepingand her concentration when awake must be done byblotting out distractions.

Be sure that the baby gets exercise and a chance tomove her arms and legs. If she is not active, try tostimulate her to kick and reach as much as possible.Encourage emotional response by laughing and play-ing with her. Give her attention, conversation, and en-couragement to respond.

Activities andof the Five-to

By the time apending on each

CapabilitiesSeven-Month-Old Infant

baby is five to seven months old (de-child's individual abilities), she is be-

42

Tasting,touching andreachingexperiencesshould beprovided

Teach thebaby to sleepwith the usualsoundsaround thehome

Be sure thebaby ismotivated toexercise armsand legs


Increasedexposure tomusic and

conversationshould beprovided

Provide ampleopportunity for

the child topush up on

"all fours"

Allow thechild to build

a strongmuscularcapacity

coming ego-centered and is demanding more attention.She prefers to be in the sitting position and strugglesto be where she can see and interact with others. Atthis age, her sensory experiences should have in-creased greatly. She should be able to feel and tasteand should have many objects to grasp and examine.She should demonstrate the ability to shift objects fromone hand to another. Help her practice this.

Increased exposure to music and conversationshould also be provided. The infant now has moresocial awareness and will respond readily to stimula-tion. Surroundings in her crib and in other locationsaround the home should be of varied colors andshapes. She should have an opportunity to grasp andbang toys or her fists on her high chair or feeding table.This and other experiences should stimulate her tomake vocal sounds. Talk to her and sing to her and doall things needful to stimulate her to use her voice.Encourage her vocalization as much as possible inother experiences besides crying. Try to get her tomake sounds, and make a special effort to react to hervocalization.

The five- to seven-month-old child should be strivingto get her knees under her body and to push up on "allfours." Ample opportunity for exercise must be pro-vided. Help her to practice this feat. The extent andvariety of physical activities should be intensified.

She will have begun to learn to cope with gravityfrom the experience of falling whenever she attempts tosit alone. In carpeted or padded areas, this type ofexperience should be permitted. When the five- toseven-month-old topples from a sitting position, let herstruggle briefly before coming to her assistance. (Par-ents who rush too quickly to help often do a disserviceto the infant.) This will increase her physical balanceand allow her to build muscular capacity. Rather thanbeing inhibited, the infant at this age will reach to pullhimself up and may even crawl. Encourage her to ex-periment in these endeavors.

Activities at Ten Months of Age

Between the ages of seven and ten months, theinfant will have become more restless as she tries to

Learning During the First Ten Months of Life 35

get on hands and knees to crawl. As she learns tomove on hands and knees, a new era opens for her,and she will require some adjustments to protect herfrom falls and injury. Be sure to provide ample oppor-tunity and encouragement to practice. When the babyfirst starts to crawl, it is the time to place brightly col-ored and interesting objects just beyond her grasp toencourage her reaching and to stimulate arm and legmovement. Do not frustrate her, but challenge her in away that will cause her to succeed.

The baby at ten months of age should have devel-oped more hand and finger coordination ability. Ad-vanced and rapidly growing children may be able totake a few faltering steps at this age. All of these physi-cal capabilities should be noted and encouraged.

Sensory experiences and exposure to language,music, colors, and shapes should be increased. It istime to fill her daily life with rich experiences. This is agood time to begin using common household itemsand toys that are safe to handle but are also stimulat-ing. This is also the time to increase the variety ofactivities and to surround your child with a mind stimu-lating environment.

Reminder:


When thebaby starts tocrawl,encouragethis byplacingattractiveobjects justbeyond reach

It is time to fillthe child's lifewith sensoryexperiences

YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

gib

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-,r141,f1-

45: BEST con Y AVAILABLE

37

Introducing the "How-to-do-it" Applications

This introduction precedes the "How-To-Do rr APPLICATIONS" that follow eachage-level chapter for the rest of the book to help parents gain the most fromthe applications presented. For the applications ONLY portion of the nextchapter, there are age level segments provided at the top of the page to em-phasize the overriding importance of an early start.

Many of the applications are given as if for one child. This is done forthe sake of the parent. It is not difficult for child care providers, of more thanone child, to enlarge the activities to include groups of children.

Learning can take place at any time and in any place and occurs whenthere is good communication on the learner's level of understanding. Learn-ing also takes place when the learner is interested and curious. It is good toremember that repetition is an important part of learning. Be pleased if hewants to repeat an activity many times. Use this interest to broaden the hori-zons of the child by finding similar activities that enlarge on the original activ-ity that caught his interest. The order in which children learn to do things isnot near so important as taking advantage of each opportunity as it arises.This is what quality time with youngsters is all about.

The premise of the applications listed at the end of each chapter is thatincidental learning in the lives of very young children is the best way to workwith and engage them in ways that develop a keen intellect. There is a needto be very subtle about the way the very young are taught. It is not neces-sary to remind them that it is now time for a lesson. It is important, however,to recognize when children are curious and to take advantage of that curios-ity. This takes sensitivity and requires thought. Experiment with the applica-tions presented here and adapt them until you find methods which feelcomfortable and natural for you.

The applications in this book are designed to help the caregiver buildthe capability of seizing the moment when a child is ready to learn. The ap-plications given with a specific activity in mind and in a specific setting maybe used as they are but with a little thought can be adapted to fit a variety ofsituations which will accomplish the desired results. These are applicationsthat can be used with all children whether or not they are yours.

Consult with others about your efforts and sham your ideas with them.You will find they will also have ideas, different ideas. An educated person isone who is open to new ideas and new truth. Share and combine your ideas.Combine your skills with others as you work together. Networking is an ideawhose time has come. This is true whether you are reading and studying thisbook as a parent or as a caregiver with the responsibility for many children.

My heartfelt thanks to Lois, Kevin, and Karen Hertz ler for their talented,thoughtful help and to Jane Engels for setting up a number of the pictures.

38

LIntroducing the "How-to-do-it" Applications

Do:observe carefully.be alert for opportunities.be thoughtful.be enthusiastic and cheerful, it can be contagious for the child.be sure the child is a willing participant forcing an activity will be counterproductive.give full time and attention to responses from the child that will help yoube successful.take advantage of each opportunity that arises if at all possible - caution,this does not mean that the child should always have his/her way. It ispart of a family/group and needs to aware of that.encourage the child with hugs and praise.be flexible and sensitive enough to change the objective once the activitybegins if it is to the child's advantage to do so.be conscious of time - a child will tire of an activity and want to move on tosomething else. This is normal and should not be taken by the parent asfailure with the activity at hand.discuss both successes and failures with others-and learn together aboutthe best ways to care for those for whom you have the responsibility.remember, yours is a rare opportunity - to give a child an improved intel-lect for life - a gift no one can take away.be aware of the health, nutritional and other needs of the child not coveredin this book.read other authors, pick and choose those ideas that will be helpful in pro-viding a well rounded environment and opportunities for the growth of thechild.be aware of sight and sound, size and space, temperatures, textures, pat-terns and forms.observe and/or describe objects and activities from the child's orientation(i.e. think of the perspective from which the child is seeing and trying tounderstand the activity or object.)repeat some activities at various ages making them a oit more complexeach time.be on the alert for dangerous situations and dangerous toys and/or equip-ment.

47

NHOW-TO-DO-If APPLICATIONS - BIRTH TO 4 MONTHS 39

Touching 1

Be certain that any object achild plays with is largeenough so that it cannot beswallowed accidently orcause choking. Make surethat there are no loose stringswhich could unknowingly wraparound the child's neck.

Place her in a comfortable position facing you, either in an infant seat or onher back on the floor.Position your hand approximately 12" from her face and wiggle your fingers.Allow her to grasp, move, or pull your fingers to promote visual response.Reposition your hand in front of her face, slowly move your hand from side toside and up and down allowing time for her eyes to track your hand. Let herexplore your hand with touch and taste as she attempts to put it in her mouth.Repeat with other infant safe objects such as teething rings and/or rattles.

Playing Music

Introduce a variety of musicranging from classical to coun-try or jazz to pop. Relate thetype of music played to thetime of day, for example, softmusic before bedtime, or fast-er music at playtime. 0, .4`

Play music while the child is on his back.Move his arms up and down and back and forth in time with the music. Movehis legs in a bicycling motion. Roll him gently back and forth in time withslow music to introduce a new kind of body motion.Hold him in your arms and dance and sing to him.Remember sudden and loud music may frighten him.To save expense and expand the selection of music available, check tapesand CD's out of local libraries.

4c.

Visual Stimulationl

40 "HOW-TO-DO-If APPUCATIONS - BIRTH TO 4 MONTHS

Strolling/Walking

Be aware of the child as anindividual with whom you areconversing as you walk. Use anormal speaking voice as youtalk to him. He will respond inhis first attempts at commu-nication through his own babylanguage of gurgles and coos.

While strolling or walking, stop at plants, flowers, or store windows. Commu-nicate with him by using simple words that describe the color, size, or shapeof the object.Allow him to feel or touch objects when appropriate while describing the tex-ture, color and size.Museums, shopping malls, and grocery stores provide like opportunities.Brightly colored toys may be hung from the stroller to encourage him to reachout and hit or push (make sure he can not become entangled).

Children respond early to col-or in their environment andeven though too young to fullyunderstand all that has beenintroduced, new learning takesplace each time reinforcementoccurs. A familiar voice helpsincrease her awareness.

Cut simple shapes (triangles, squares, and circles) out of paper and hangthem within visual range but out of reach over the crib or changing table.They will move in the air currents and provide good visual exercise.Using fabric, cut two of each shape; sew them together then use stuffing ma-terial to give shape. Hang as before.Or purchase a mobile; many mobiles have music boxes, and move when themusic is playing. This will promote hearing as well as sight.Provide a visually stimulating environment using highly contrasting colors.

414.;

Grasping

MIL

"How-TO-DO-IT' APPLICATIONS - 5 TO 7 MONTHS 41

{_parts of the Body

Make a game of finding vari-ous parts of the body. Nevercontinue a game such as thisbeyond the child's capacity tostay interested. Remember itis normal for the attention spanto vary from child to child andfrom project to project.

Have the child lying down or sitting in an empty chair across from you.Point to your eye and say "eye", then take her hand and again point to youreye and say "eye", while still holding her hand point to her eye and say "eye".Repeat this with the nose, ear and mouth.This can also be done in front of a mirror so she can see her own eyes, nose,mouth and ears. For a change of pace you may want to use a stuffed animalor doll.This is an example of one activity that will be used for succeeding age levels.

At this age, the child will graspanything he can get his handson, and most of the time, theobject will end up in hismouth. Be sure he can reachonly clean, infant safe objectsthat cannot be swallowed.

Gently place objects such as a rattle or toy in the his hand to promote grasp-ing movements.Allow time for him to transfer the object from one hand to the other.Give him objects that have different sizes, shapes and textures to help him tolearn how to manipulate various objects with his hands.Place him on his stomach and put a bright toy just out of reach to encouragehim to crawl.Crawl beside him to give him the idea of how it is done.

1

42 "HOW- TO- DO -IT" APPUCATIONS - 5 TO 7 MONTHS

Playing Music

Never force the child in anyactivity. If he draws back,drop the issue and come backto it at another time when thereis readiness. Show your plea-sure when the positive re-sponse you seek isforthcoming.

Turn on music and place the child in a sitting position.Lift his arms up and down, and side to side in time with the music.Take him to the stereo and lay his hand on the speaker cabinets; encouragehim to feel the vibration as the music plays (make sure volume is at an ap-propriate level so his hearing will not suffer damage).Hold him, and dance around the room, singing to him as you dance.Vary the style and beat of the music exposing him to many sounds andmovements.

I Tasting

Meals can become a learningexperience as the child's abil-ity to recognize different tastesbroaden. Even though shemay show a preference forsome flavors and textures taketime to introduce new fruits,cereals and drinks.

Be sure you understand the current thinking about introducing solid foodsinto the child's diet.Mix two bowls of cereal, one with pureed fruit (banana or peach), one without.Feed her a spoonful from the first bowl, then the other explaining the differ-ences in flavor, texture and sweetness.Prepare two bottles or cups; in one breast milk or formula and in the otherwater, or different fruit juices.Alternate the drinks. Point out the differences in flavor and sweetness.

"HOW-TO-DO-le APPUCATIONS - 5 - 7 MONTHS 43

Strolling/Walking

Make learning a pleasurableexperience, use reinforcementtechniques to the childs ad-vantage by rewarding desir-able responses positively. Asanother caution, be aware ofthe limits of a small child's en-durance.

Take her to a playground, park, or sports activity to watch other children atplay.Cheer and clap using her hands in response to player success.Promote vocal interaction between the children and the infant to encouragebabbles and coos.If she can sit alone, now is a good time to let her swing in infant swings, or lether slide down a slide on your lap, or watch while she plays in a sandbox.Let her experience physically as much as she is developmentally ready to do.

Motor Skills

With all activities use commonsense and never put a child indanger in any way. This activ-ity will encourage the child tocrawl and to become increas-ingly aware of his developingphysical abilities.

Place him in the middle of a large blanket and carefully pull him around theroom to explore his surroundings.Roll up a small blanket lengthwise so it is wide enough to cover his tummyand chest, lay it on the floor and place him on it, stomach down. While hold-ing each end of the blanket, pull him into a crawling position to encouragecrawling.Get down on the floor with the child, play, roll, tumble and chase him. Givehim a chance to experience what his body is capable of doing.

5f

Strolling/Walking 1

44 "HOW-TO-DO-If APPLICATIONS - 7 - 10 MONTHS

Take time to reinforce thelearning experiences. Continu-ally expand and enrich thechild's awareness of the worldaround him by calling attentionto the many everyday soundsand smells that surround him.

Expand on previous excursions by identifying sounds such as a dog barking,a bird singing, a car honking, or a siren wailing.Point out and explain each sound as you listen.Indicate the abundance of color by stopping to touch a yellow flower, a greenblade of grass, or a white fence post.Awareness of texture can be reinforced by feeling the rough bark of a tree,the soft velvet of a rose petal, or the smooth surface of a metal sign.Periodically revisit those experiences encountered on previous strolls.

Bath Time

To help the child become ac-customed to bath time collectsuitable colored bath toys.Use this time to teach colorsand shapes by making a gameof identifying colored objects.NEVER leave her unattendedin the bath.

Use different brightly colored plastic containers, spoons, cups and blocks inthe bath.Hold up a red cup and say "red", then hold up a blue cup and say "blue".Hold up two different items that are the same color and say "red" for each.Introduce shapes and identify them in the same manner as you did thecolors.Review colors and shapes during each bath time.Add new bath toys periodically. Use the bath toys collected only at bath time.

5')

LPlaying Music

"How-To-DO-re APPUCATIONS 7 - 10 MONTHS 45

-....., '"

I, Exploring

Show that learning can be adelightful adventure by hug-ging and praising the childwhen an activity has gonewell. Never scold or lose pa-tience when a response isless than desired. Simply tryagain at a later time.

Lie on the floor so you see objects from the child's vantage point.Point out the colors, shapes, and textures of the environment around you, thesoft, blue carpet, the hard, brown leg of a table, the circles in the sofa fabric.Take the child's hand and place it on each object as you describe it; let hertouch and feel the textures.Make a game of crawling after the ball by rolling a ball across the room andencourage her to crawl for it. When she reaches it, roll it away again.Create tunnels with large boxes or cushions; encourage her to crawl through.

Opportunities aboundabound to guidethe child's natural physical andmotor skills while music isplaying. Although this activitymentions stereo systems thereare children's TV programs thatplay music as well.

Play, sing or hum different types of music for the child as you drive.Check out sing-a-along tapes from the library or purchase them from thestore to play for the childPick him up and dance, or if he can stand, hold his hands and move themwith the music.Hum or sing softly when you are rocking him.Sit and quietly listen to music sometimes.Clap in time with the music when it fits.

6 Learning During Ten to%, Eighteen Months

The child of 10 or 18 months is now reaching anage where he must have additional mind-stretching ac-tivities. He is not old enough to have formal periods ofinstruction, but his parents mu,3t be keenly aware ofthe necessity to stimulate him mentally, which must bemore systematic and more deliberately planned than itwas for the younger infant.

By the time the child has reached 10 months of age,he has greater physical and mental capabilities, indicat-ing that he is becoming a child rather than a helplessinfant. He should be able to sit whenever he wants andstand with some support. It is not uncommon to see a10-month-old baby pull himself to a standing position; afew even begin to walk at this age. Do not "push" yourchild to accomplish this if he is not able to do it byhimself.

The 10-month-old child is forming the capacity torespond more readily to mood and emotion. He willrecognize a tone of voice that implies approval or dis-approval from his parents and will be able to easilysense their moods. !n short, he will be responding andparticipating emotionally.

By the time the child is 10 or 11 months of age, hewill enjoy (and look forward to) playing and romping or"roughhousing." He will delight in throwing or shovingtoys off tables and other places so that he can watchthem fall. Because he will be very interested in manyobjects around him, this interest should be used forlearning purposes.

At tenmonths, thechild canrecognizeapproval ordisapprovalfrom yourvoice tones


The childshould learn

about animalsand other

forms of life

Vocabularydevelopmentis vital duringthis stage of a

child's life

Parentsshould teach

at least twentywords to thechild of this

age

At this age the child should have an opportunity toplace things inside containers and take them out again.He should be able to "stack" objects until they fall. Heshould be permitted to explore in the kitchen and otherplaces where he can become acquainted with the com-mon objects in his home. During all this, constant ex-posure to names of things and opportunities for him tolearn their functln will be very important. (Bear in mindall warnings on harmful products.)

The child is now old enough to have stories told himfrom pictures. These should be simple, stimulating ex-periences. He should have ample opportunity to learnto recognize objects in illustrations of books. Thislearning process will be slow at first, and much pa-tience must be exercised.

During this time the child should have an opportu-nity to learn about animals and other forms of life. Hewill be interested in dogs, cats, and other living things.Maximum exposure is very important through this par-ticular time of his life. His experiences should be ex-tended as broadly as possible.

Vocabulary Development

Vocabulary development is particularly importantduring the period from 10 to 18 months of age. By thetime the child is 18 months old, he should be on theway toward building a speaking as well as a recognitionvocabulary. The words he understands and is able topronounce in his own limited way comprise his "speak-ing" vocabulary. The words that he understands butcannot speak comprise his "recognition" vocabulary.

The child care providers should endeavor to build aspeaking vocabulary of approximately 20 or 40 or morewords by the time the child is 1 1/2 years old. A recog-nition vocabulary of from 50 to 100 or more words isalso desirable by this time. Such an attainment will bedifficult for young children who seem to mature slowly.Parents should not be worried if the child falls short ofthis goal. It is not in the child's best interest to pressurehim to reach this level. Rather, the child care providersshould seize opportunities to teach words and to en-courage and reinforce efforts to get the child to speak

2 5

Learning During Ten to Eighteen Months 49

as many as 20 words. This can be done by giving thenames of objects as the child comes into contact withthem. Parts of his body, eating utensils, toys, and com-mon object found in his room and in the home shouldbe mentioned frequently.

The words or sound symbols for objects found inhis everyday life require cognitive power from the child'spoint of view to develop associations between objectsand the sound produced by the vocal cords of his par-ents as a means of identifying these objects. By stimu-lating him to make these mental connections, the par-ent is helping to build the child's intelligence at thesame time that the child is acquiring useful informationand cognitive skills, Therefore, vocabulary buildingmust be a continuous process, and parents shouldvalue the moments they spend teaching the child andwatching his mental stimulation and growth.

Recognition Vocabulary

Building a recognition vocabulary beyond the levelof the speaking vocabulary can begin before the childdevelops the complex skill of making sounds with hisown voice as his symbol of communication. Child careproviders should enunciate clearly the proper wordsymbols for the names of objects being taught to thechild. As discussed earlier in this book, it is confusingto the child to hear several names. Later in his life, hecan learn that there are many names for some object;but in these early stages of vocabulary development,the child care provider should use one name until matu-rity makes possible the understanding of other namesfor a particular item.

Names of Objects

Eariy in the child's life, the parents should repeat thecorrect names of objects familiar to the child. The put-ting on or taking off of shoes or stockings or the use ofa spoon or cup at the dinner table can be the focus forvocabulary building. Many times before a child can saythe word "shoes," he will get his shoes for a parentwhen asked to do so. Repetition of the word by the

Stimulate thechild toconnect the

'okennames withthe objectsthey represent

Words shouldbe enunciatedclearly andthe correctnames ofobjects taught

Words can betaught ashouseholdchores areperformed


Frequentconversation

should bedirected at

the child byall membersof the family

The child willvery likely

have a wordsound for

certainobjects;

encouragethis by using

the correctword

parent will actually "program" the child to understandthe word "shoes".

Family Teamwork

Brothers and sisters or other persons having closecontact with the child should understand that the par-ents have a regular program of early childhood growthand development in mind, and these persons shouldbe asked to participate. They should be urged to enun-ciate clearly also and to use correct words for objects.Without undue repetition, the child can receive greatexposure to a vocabulary that can build intelligence andmove him toward the goals we aspire for him to reach.

Conversational Stimulation

During this period in the child's life, frequent conver-sation should be directed specifically to him. Short,distinct sentences should be spoken. He should havea response to his first efforts to try to speak. Jabberingincoherent sounds should be encouraged and rein-forced. When he calls out, respond with words that willencourage him to use his voice more often as a meansof communication and as a method for getting what hewants. Try to get him to point to objects that he wantsand to say the name of the object. Do not overdo thisto the point of frustrating the child -- for this will not beapplying the crucial principle of reinforcement.

Seize upon every opportunity to encourage him touse his voice as a means of communication. This maystart as single words and grow to simple three- or four-word sentences. The child will very likely have his ownword sound for certain objects. For example, he mayuse the word "baba" for bottle because he cannot pro-nounce the proper name. Parents should avoid dis-couraging him from speaking by saying: "It isn't 'baba';it is 'bottle.' " Rather, they should repeat the propername and reinforce the child by responding to his re-quest. Many parents make the mistake of repeating theincorrect pronunciation and adding it to their vocabu-lary. If spoken incorrectly often enough, the word soonseems correct to parent and child.


The parent must remember that, as the child's firstteacher, there is a responsibility to teach correct prin-ciples and facts. This can be done at the same timethat some laughing, playing, and enjoyment of learningtakes place. You can have fun with your child andteach him correct principles. You can get down to hislevel and have empathy and understanding for himwithout being frivolously foolish in using baby talk orresorting to an incorrect principle.

Be "vocabulary conscious" through his early child-hood months, but be particularly vocabulary consciousduring your child's first 10 to 18 months of life. Later onin his life, you can build upon this basic vocabulary,especially during the months before he enters school.But be sure that while his basic vocabulary is beingbuilt, your child gets the benefit of mental stimulationfor his growth in intellectual power. Read through thissection of your book many times and do everythingpossible to see that the child's heritage in your homeincludes a maximum opportunity to develop his mindand to build a powerful vocabulary in the process.

Building Listening Capacity andSound Discrimination Power

The child care provider is an observer as well as ateacher. During these formative months of a child's lifewhen his mind is particularly fertile, the parents shouldtry to build some listening as well as speaking ability.(This process is discussed later in this book. It is em-phasized here to alert the child care provider to seizeevery opportunity to teach auditory perception even atthis very early age, although we recommend a formalprogram when the child is more mature.)

As the child grows, he will need to distinguish be-tween "sound alikes" which have subtle differences; forexample, the letters b and d or i and y. He will needto recognize many other sounds as he begins to readand to build his basic study skills. Therefore, duringthe baby's 10 to 18 months, the parent should look foropportunities to build listening capacity and sound dis-crimination power. Because children are active andvigorous at this age, such opportunities may be rare.

6t)

Parents muststrive todevelop theirchild's mindand build apowerfulvocabulary inthe process

Child careprovidersshould try tobuild listeningas well asspeakingability in thechild

The childmust learn todistinguishbetween"sound alike"letters


Each childwill responddifferently tothe listening

activity

Child careproviders

should let thechild become

self-reliantand proceedat his or her

own pace.

When you see that the child is in an attentive mood,whisper to him or get him to respond in games thatrequire hearing perception.

When the child is ready for training in listeningskills, the parent should take advantage of it. Thecontinuity of the entire program requires a step-by-step,skill-building process. Each child will approach the lis-tening activity and respond differently. The child careprovider should recognize this fundamental law ofteaching: Teach when there is readiness to learn. If itcomes during this period of the child's development,use the program as discussed above.

Teaching Independence and Self-Reliance

Parents should be aware of the necessity to gradu-ally teach independence and self-reliance in the home.This should begin in the 10- to 18-month period in thechild's life. Give the child a chance to become self-reliant; have the patience to permit him to do things inhis own slow and irregular way. Often parents do toomuch for the child, thereby depriving him of the oppor-tunity to develop his own abilities and to build his ownself-reliance. You should seldom do for a child any-thing his is capable of doing for himself. The onlyexception to this instruction should come when neces-sity forces you to get something done in a hurry.

In the normal routine of the home, building self-reliance should be a high-priority item. More capabilitywill come later. If the child is to become independent,the parent must realize that to "help" is to take awaypotential for growth and development. Parents whomake children totally and helplessly dependent uponthem are depriving the youngster of development op-portunities. This fact cannot be emphasized too much.The ultimate object is to raise a child who will be ahappy, self-reliant, and efficient person.

Recognition ofThree Basic Geometric Shapes

When the child is between the age of 15 and 18months, parents should expose him to recognizing

6i


circles, squares, and triangles. If possible, acquire orcut out your own geometric shapes. If they are also ofvaried colors, they will be even more useful. Be sureto become familiar with these items and learn how touse them for the maximum educational benefit of yourchild. Take the time to either acquire or to build thesecolored geometric shapes, and as you play with yourchild several ideas for using them for playing andteaching will become apparent to you.

Additional Instructions andGeneral Comments forTen to Eighteen Months of Age

Although some educators argue that children of thisage are so lacking in maturity that it is hard to teachthem, there are some very simple things they can learneasily which will help them when they are more mature,when they have developed a vocabulary and can speakdistinctly, and when their minds have been developedmore fully. Educational outcomes are difficult to predictat this age.

Because the child has a limited vocabulary and anextremely short attention span, attempting to teach himpresents a great challenge. Keep in mind that our pro-gram is seeking to stimulate the child to build a power-ful intelligence and a good attitude toward learning. Heneeds a maximum opportunity to learn all he can dur-ing every month of the first five years of his life. If wecan start him at a high level of intellectual stimulationduring this younger age, he will start to build cognitivepowers, and his capability for learning later on will beenhanced. We are not merely seeking the basic skillsand educational outcomes, we are also seeking theresults of strengthening his intelligence as a human be-ing. This capacity, if established now, will serve himwell in later years. This is a great time of opportunity.Do not procrastinate and let precious teaching mo-ments pass you by.

The learning experiences of the child at this timemust be closely related to those things with which hehas physical or sensory contact in his day-to-day en-counters. For example, in building his vocabulary, be

c6 2

Teach thechild thecircle, square,and triangle

Educationaloutcomes aredifficult topredict at thisage

We are notseeking basicskills, but theresults ofstrengtheningthe child'sintelligence


Learningexperiences

must beclosely

related to thechild's

sensorycontacts

Simpleobjectives

must be keptin mind

sure to include words that name parts of the body.Touch his nose and say, 'This is your nose"; touch hisfoot and.say, "This is your foot." Introduce him to thenames of objects that surround him and that he canhold, touch, feel, taste, or smell. By using many ofthese objects and by touching, seeing, tasting, orsmelling them, he has a multi-sensory experience thatwill stimulate his interest and capacity to learn.

The child can also become familiar with actions andaction words. His total environment during this periodof time can be responsive and rich in learning opportu-nity for him. Although it will require additional work forthe child care providers, it will nevertheless yield greatdividends; but the child care provider must be con-scious of the child's capabilities to learn and must havesimple objectives in mind. Desirable objectives for thechild during this period of time are as follows:

(1) To have a speaking vocabulary of approxi-mately 20 or more words and a recognitionvocabulary of approximately 50 or more words

(2) To have an initial experience with three basicgeometric shapes and learn to place squares,circles, and triangles in receptacles of a similarshape and color

(3) To learn to sleep during relatively high noiselevels in the home

(4) To have a multi-sensory experience with manyobjects around the home by being able to see,hear, or touch them or to taste or smell themand learn of their uses

(5) To learn to respond to simple instructions("bring me your shoes"; "find your book")

(6) To learn to point to objects and say at leastsome of their names (an optimum number, 20objects; a minimum, about five)

(7) To have listening experiences with initial audi-tory discrimination that will be useful later in

learning phonics (learning the spoken value ofletters and letter groups) and how to read


(8) To have experiences in assembling simple ob-jects, such as putting lids on plastic bottles orscrewing caps on empty toothpaste tubes

(9) To be able to locate at least five parts of hisbody when asked to do so

Attitudes toward LearningAn important objective for the child care providers is

to learn to help the child have a positive attitude towardlearning. In the process, they should help him developa positive image of himself and feel competent in hisabilities. In addition, the parents should have learned agreat deal about how to teach the child. They shouldbegin to have some idea about his strengths and limita-tions. They should have learned some tricks abouthow to hold his attention and how to interpret certainresponses that he might make to the learning situation.They should be conscious of learning opportunities andbe striving to make the home a powerful, responsive,learning environment for the child where opportunitiesare always present to add to his growth experiencesmentally as well as physically.

The child care providers should be as conscious ofthe need to nurture the child mentally and intellectuallyand to provide him with a balanced learning "diet" asthey are to nurture him physically to make sure that hehas balanced physical nutrition. These first 18 monthswill lay the foundation for establishing the teaching andlearning relationships that will help the child becomeintellectually alert during the remaining years of his pre-school life.

in striving to reach these objectives, child care pro-viders must be wise in recognizing that there are wideranges of differences, even among very gifted children,in the time that the child is ready and interested inlearning certain things and the time when he will attaincertain capacities and skills. The fact that one child atone time may be considerably behind another in learn-ing a particular skill should not alarm the parents. Theymust take the child as he is and work with him in a waythat takes maximum advantage of his strengths andstimulates him to learn when he is ready and emotion-ally prepared.

An importantobjective is tohelp the childhave apositiveattitudetowardlearning

The firsteighteenmonths willlay thefoundation forthe teaching-/earningrelationship ofparent andchild

The childmust beemotionallyready to learn


Few childrenwill reach all

of theobjectives

at therecom-

mended time

Parents should not worry about a child's slowness,unless it departs from what is normal to such a drasticextent that it is obvious special attention is needed. In

such cases, of course, specialists should be called in,and extraordinary measures may be necessary.

Keep in mind that the suggested experiences in thelearning outcomes are quite ideal and optimum in thisprogram. Very few children will reach all of the objec-tives at the recommended time since the program isdesigned to stimulate and stretch the mental capacitiesof children having widely divergent backgrounds andabilities.

Playing Music

"HOW-TO-DO-IT" APPLICATIONS 57

1."

1

Strolling/Walking

When you return from yourstroll, try to recapture the tripby asking the child to tell youwhat sounds were heard. Ona rainy day, recall a previoussunny trip outside and contrastthe warmth of the sun with thecold rain.

As you walk, ask the child to listen for different sounds.When he hears something, ask if he can name what made the sound.When you have identified the sound, describe the source in some detail - thesound came from a school bus driving by, the bus is yellow, it has big, roundwheels, it has square windows, it takes children to and from school.Listen to children playing at a playground; describe the noise they make, loudor quiet, happy or sad or which child made the noise.Point out sounds coming from far away such as an airplane overhead.

Playing music is very importantin a child's life. It can be usedto motivate a child's physicalmovements. Slow, soft musiccan be used to calm a childdown. It can help a child ex-press himself by singing anddancing to the music.

As the child learns to walk, play games with music and dancing.Play slow music and instruct the child to dance slowly; dance with her andshow her how you move slowly.Then change to music with a faster beat and ask her if she can dance faster.Have her join you in clapping hands in time with the music, or to sing andhum along with the music.Lay down on the floor and roll with your child and hug her while music plays.Watch a ballet or dance on TV and encourage her to dance also.

661BEST COPY AVAILABLE

58 "HOW-TO-DO-if APPLICATIONS

Animal life

Children love to learn aboutanimals. Visit a farm or smallpetting zoo and teach the childhow to be gentle and kind toanimals. For her own safetyshe must be taught which ani-mals do not make good play-mates.

Check out books from the library about animals.As you point out the animals in the books, describe the noise they make,where they live, what they eat.Point out the parts of the body of the animals, compare them to us, "a cat hastwo eyes, we have two eyes....but a cat has a long tail, and we do not havetails".Show her pictures of animals and ask her to name them and imitate theirsounds.

ler

In /Out, Off/On

Now is a good time to desig-nate a special place for achild's toys in a special draw-er, closet or another conve-nient place. Make clear thatthis area is his, for his things.After playtime make a game ofreturning toys to their place.

Find a large, plastic bowl and use it to place child safe objects in, such asplastic spoons, plastic measuring cups, blocks, rattles, pieces of brightly col-ored fabric, or other eye-catching toys.Show him how to take the objects out one by one and then put them backone by one, encourage him to help you.Find a plastic bowl that has a lid that fits easily and show him how to take itoff and put it back on.Remember to find things that are easy for his small hands to use.

Shapes 1

"HOW-TO-DO-ITN APPLICATIONS 59

Parts of the Body

Learning about the body is anongoing process for you totake advantage of as the op-portunity arises. Magazines,7V, stuffed animals or dollscan all be used. A healthy re-spect for the human body is adesirable goal.

Continue to point out the major parts of the face; eyes, nose, mouth.Begin to point out other parts, hands, arms, tummy, legs.Place the child's hand on each part as you describe it.Hide each part with your hand or a blanket and ask "where are my eyes" thenuncover and say "there they are!" - " where is my foot, there it is!"When reading stories to the child, point out different body part in the picturesDolls and stuffed animals may be used as well.Body parts can be counted such as one nose and two eyes.

Shapes play an important rolein describing our environment.They are to be found every-where. As you begin to teachshapes to the child, keepthem simple, just circles,squares and triangles in thebeginning.

Take several magazines or books and sit down with the child.As you flip through the pages, look for pictures with circles, squares ortriangles in them.After pointing out a shape to her, ask her to find a similar shape.Point out shapes in many different environments: square windows on ahouse, circular plates in a table setting, and a piece of pie as a triangle.Take her finger in your hand and trace over the shape as you describe it.Be alert for shapes in the fabric design of her or your clothing.

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7 Learning during Eighteen toTwenty-four Months

During the period between the age of 18 and 24months, a child begins to attain more individuality. Shelearns to walk more confidently and is even able to run.As she approaches the age of two years, she begins toshow much better coordination in the use of her fin-gers. Her attention span remains short, but she willhave periods of great interest and enthusiasm for learn-ing.

At this age, the child seems to enjoy doing thingsexactly opposite from what her parents have in mind.For example, when asked to "come here," she may ei-ther stand still or run in the opposite direction. If theparent holds out her hand to have the child give hersomething, the child is likely to drop it or throw it in theopposite direction. One of the most often used wordsduring this period of time is "NO!" This does not meanthat the young child is deliberately being contrary, butmerely that she has mastered a number of abilities andhad a strong desire to show her independence.

The child has a short temper and is quickly frus-trated at this age. She seems to have no desire toshare or give. She definitely is not interested in obey-ing commands. She can understand many more wordsthan she can say; but keep in mind that her under-standing is also quite limited. She needs numerousoutlets for her seemingly limitless physical energy; thusteaching must be wedged in around her boundless ac-tivity and her desire to be constantly in motion. By the

(4 7o

The childattains moreindividuality,showsopposition,and has ashort temper


Child careproviders

should ex-pand the

child'svocabulary as

rapidly aspossible

In addition tonaming theparts of the

body, thechild should

be able toname objects

in the home

IIMNP111

Presentpictures of

commonobjects for the

child toidentify

time the child passes the age of two, she has movedinto another phase of activity that will not be so difficultfor adults to cope with and understand.

Teaching and Learning Activities duringEighteen and Twenty-four Months of Age

The most important area of concentration duringthis period of the child's life must be on vocabularydevelopment. Her ability to name objects and under-stand word symbols for most of the things around hershould be expanded as rapidly as possible. For ex-ample, by the time the child reaches age two, sheshould be able to locate such parts of her body as legs,knees, ankles, feet, toes, thumbs, fingers, hands,wrists, elbows, arms, shoulders, neck, chin, teeth,tongue, mouth, eyes, ears, nose, face, head, and hair.If she can locate and also name these parts of herbody, she has progressed very well. But in daily con-tacts with the child, the parent should repeat the namesof these parts of her body. As she is being dressed,the parent can ask, "What is this?" If she answersincorrectly, the parent should say, "No, it is (parentgives correct name)."

It is important to have fun with the child and to helpher learn the names of the parts of her body in a casualmanner. This can be accomplished incidentally whenthe child is dressing or eating or at other times when ateaching moment presents itself.

In addition to naming the parts of her body, thechild should learn the names of most of the items ofclothing that she will wear as well as common objectsaround the house. If she can identify these objects andalso name them by the time she reaches age two, shewill be doing very well in her vocabulary development.

Identifying Objects in Books

Activity with books and with pictures should be in-tensified during this time. Pictures of items familiar tothe child should be identified on the printed page. Forexample, the child should look at pictures of adults andchildren and be able to locate parts of the body. Pic-

7

Learning during Eighteen to Twenty-four Months 63

tures of common objects that are known to her fromher vocabulary development experience around thehome should be presented for her identification. Thesecan come in interested telling, talking, and explainingsessions.

Broadening the Range of Experiences

Children have a natural curiosity; moreover, theyhave a natural desire to learn and to work. Most chil-dren prefer learning activities that have real meaningrather than play that is solely for the purpose of enter-tainment. Children of the 18- to 24-month age span areusually very responsive to stimulating learning activitiesif these are presented in a challenging way that attractsthe natural curiosity.

Children at this age level should begin to have awider scope of experience. They should be taken tovarious places in the city and neighborhood where theycan see a wide variety of things and meet increasingnumbers of people. Parents should deliberately ex-pand this range of experience after the child attains theage of 18 months.

Building Self-Reliance

This broadening of experience should include in-creasing responsibility for the child. Encourage her todo everything she can for himself. Do only those thingsthat the child is not capable of doing. Your goal shouldbe to strive to make her self-reliant by letting her meetchallenges. This should be done without frustrating thechild or requiring her to do things beyond her capabil-ity. (The opposite usually happens, with parents doingentirely too much for their children at this age level.The constant expansion of the child's ability should bekept in mind, and the opportunity to gradually shiftmore responsibility to her should be fully utilized.)

The child should gradually learn to feed herself atthis age in her life. Parents often neglect providing thisdevelopmental experience because they dislike themess that is causes from the self-feeding experience.They should not, however, deprive the child of the sat-

72

Children atthis age levelshould have awider scopeof experience

Thebroadening ofexperienceshouldincludeincreasingresponsibilityfor the child


The child willthrive on

challenge andwill rise to

levels ofexpectation

Adjust itemsof equipmentand furnitureto the child's

size

isfaction and fulfillment that comes from this activity.Like the other practical experiences, it should beginwith the child contributing only a tiny portion of thefeeding responsibility. It should continue gradually untilthe child is feeding himself almost independently of theparent.

Remember that your aim is to help your child be-come independent, original, creative, and as self-reliantas possible. During these highly formative months,start helping your child to help herself. Learning willnot be superficial, and her life will be a challenging andstimulating experience if in these early months, parentsare aware that the child will thrive on challenge and willrise to levels of expectation if they are presented pa-tiently and with great thought and concern.

The Home as a Stimulating Place

During the child's age of 18 to 24 months, the par-ents should consider a specific place in the homewhere she can begin to receive some systematic learn-ing experiences beginning at age two. The time toprepare for this is during this 18- to 24-month period.

Begin to adjust many items of equipment and furni-ture to the size of the child. Now that she is able towalk and use her hands with greater agility, the oppor-tunity should be provided for her to get into drawerswhere toys and other items are stored. Additionally,some table tops and easels should be provided at herlevel of height. As much as possible, the environmentaround her where she will be working and playingshould be adjusted to a size proportionate to herneeds. All of these adjustments and preparationsshould be made in anticipation of more serious teach-ing and learning that will begin when she is two.

Some Physical Development Activities

During this period, parents should strive to provideexperiences that will develop physical coordination forthe child. She should be given plastic bottles to playwith. If possible, she should be helped to learn toplace lids on and take them off bottles. She should be

Learning during Eighteen to Twenty-four Months 65

taught to place items inside and then remove themfrom the bottles. She should have experiences instacking these items and in steadying them so that theywill not fall. A game of building a tower of some of theeveryday items around the home will help to stimulatethe child. Other objects around the home should alsobe used for teaching activities.

The 18-month-old child will want to scribble andmark indiscriminately on paper with crayon and pencil.She should be permitted to do this on specifically des-ignated areas and encouraged to refrain from markingon furniture and walls. A little guidance will usuallyhelp the child to understand that there are certain itemson which she is free to mark or scribble so that she canobserve the results of her hand movements when usingcrayon and pencil. At the same time, she should learnthat there are some places where she must not mark orscribble.

Parents should not attempt to teach writing at thistime. The child needs more growth and maturity beforeshe begins this activity. Be satisfied with giving her afew experiences with pencil and crayon as a form ofrelatively free play.

Also during this period, the child should be givenample opportunity to carry items from one place to an-other in the home. In situations where the damage willnot be serious, this can include the carrying of liquids.These kinds of experiences, if carried out over a periodof time, will add to the maturity and confidence of thechild it will build readiness for more serious learningactivities yet to come.

Incidental Teaching of Concepts

During these types of physical activities, if certainconcepts can be exposed for the first time, the parentsshould seize upon the opportunity. A simple color ornumber concept may be explained in an incidental way.Although children are too young to be formally taughtthese concepts at this time, initial exposure growing outof natural situations might be used by the parent.Other concepts such as heavy and light or hot and coldmight be taught. These should be done only inciden-tally and only as such opportunities might develop in

k.

7

The child willwant toscribble;teach her theproper placesto do this

Parentsshould notattempt toteach writingat this time

A simple coloror numberconcept canbe explainedin anincidental way


Teachingopportunitiesemerge fromtime to time;

seize them

Keep a flow ofconversation

moving inyour daily

contacts withthe child

the day-to-day activities experienced by the child andthe parent.

The point is that teaching opportunities emergefrom time to time, and parents should seize upon them,even if it is only to make a passing mention of a con-cept that may receive slight notice or cognizance fromthe child. Learning occurs from a host of varied andoften unrelated experiences. Exposure to cognitivestimulation can occur many times in the daiiy routine ofthe child. In this regard, living and learning can be oneif the parent is perceptive and alert to lead the child tolearn as she encounters new experiences each day --this can happen in the grocery store, in the kitchen, inthe back yard, or on the street while visiting a neighbor.The emphasis should be upon being alert to seize theright moment for these learning activities. These pointsare stressed here because the child from the 18- to 24-month period is extremely curious and is exploring sooften that incidental teaching experiences abound ingreat number each day.

Talking to Your Child

It is vitally important that vocabulary developmentduring this six-month period continue unabated. It isworth emphasizing again that you should be sure thatyou are speaking clearly and distinctly. Keep a flow ofconversation moving in your daily contacts with your18- to 24-month-old child. This is the time when she israpidly adding to language capability. Make sure thatyou do your part in helping her learn to speak, listen,and understand how words add power to communicat-ing. Help her by speaking clearly and distinctly and byadding daily to the things that she learns to identify andname. All of this will do much to help the child throughlearning activities that will follow in our study of earlychildhood education.

Reminder:


70

Strolling/Walking 1

'HUN-TO-DO-If APPUCATIONS 67

Take advantage of the manyopportunities to really experi-ence nature when strolling orwalking. Incidental learningtakes place on a daily basisand the alert care giver willtake full advantage of everyopportunity.

Have the child put her hand on the green grass and emphasize the cool feel-ing this brings to her hand.Find a sandy spot and put her hand on the sand to feel the difference in tex-ture between the sand and the grass.Put a tree leaf, a blade of grass and a pebble in her hand to let her see andfeel the difference between them.Use a rainy day as a learning experience, put her hand outside to feel the wetrainUrops. Put a paper towel outside and watch what the rain does to it.

Changing clothes

Keep a child's clothing neatand in a place (such as adrawer)set aside for him.Show him where the dirtyclothes go and where hisclean clothes are kept. Lethim help as you take care ofboth.

Encourage the child to pull his own clothes off and on.When changing clothes, point out buttons shaped as circles, or squares andtriangles in the fabric.Point out colors that appear in the various articles of clothing.Point out corresponding colors and shapes in the room where he is dressing,in the window coverings, bed linens, wallpaper and pictures on the walls.Let him pick a shirt to wear, then help him pick matching socks or pants.Ask him to find a color in the room that matches his shirt.

'U

68 "How-TO-DO-If APPUCATIONS

Rythmn

Help the child understand thatthis activity is confined to thepans provided. If he venturesinto forbidden areas with hisbanging spoon, divert his inter-est back to his assigned pan.There needs to be a time andplace for noise-making.

Let the child use a pan and a wooden spoon for noise makingIntroduce simple beats such as __- - or -, show him howto beat out these rhythms and let him bang away to his heart's content.Collect several pans and plastic containers of different materials and sizes.Give him a plastic spoon and a wooden spoon, and point out the differentsounds each makes on the pans and containers.Dance and clap to his "music" or let him "play" his drum along with his favoritemusical tapes or CD's.

Using Color

Prepare a special coloringarea for the child to use.When she has completed herpicture, compliment her on herwork. Cut out the finishedproduct and hang in a visibleplace for all to see and ad-mire.

Encourage her to color by putting a crayon (color of her choosing) in herhand and pushing it across the page, pressing down to make the color show.Use large paper so she has room to move the crayon as she learns to ma-nipulate it.Draw a simple line drawing of something visible in the room (a chair, a lamp)and let her color it in or let her choose what she wants to draw and color.Encourage her to talk about what she is "drawing ". Use this time to encour-age her to use her imagination to make up her own storyline.

"HOW-TO-DO-If APPLICATIONS 69

[Personal Hygienel

Provide the child with her ownwashcloth and towel and setaside a convenient place forher things to hang. Ownershipfor a small child creates asense of being part of the larg-er group.

Provide a stool where the child can see herself in a mirror over the sinkLet her watch in the mirror as you brush and comb her hair, give her thebrush and let her brush her hair, or let her brush your hairShow her, in the mirror, her dirty face and hands after a meal or anytime theyare dirtyLet her watch the dirt disappear as you gently wash her face and hands, thenpoint out the clean face and hands in the mirrorEncourage her to wash her face and hands after playing and before eating.

Setting the table

A small child is delighted to bepart of the adult world. Givehim things to do only as longas a high degree of interest isexhibited. Never overburden alittle child with chores nor taxhim beyond his ability to per-form.

Have the child help you set the breakfast table.Let him get the cereal boxes out, and carry them to the table.Show him how to put the bowls and spoons at each setting and let him placethem at his setting.Name each object as he puts it on the table and ask him to name them.Discuss the colors and shapes you see in the table settings.Let him help stack the dishes (if they are unbreakable) after the meal or snackis over, and otherwise help to clear the table.

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73BEST COPY MAIM E

8 Learning duringTwo to Three Years

As the child reaches the age of two, we are ready toteach him systematically and to stimulate his cognitivepowers. This is the time when great gains can be madeif parents will thoughtfully study this book and proceedwith the planned learning activities.

This also is a good time to review some of the basicprinciples and fundamental guidelines for teaching pre-school children. Reread chapters 2 and 3 wherein theattention span, the principles of reinforcement, andother basic concepts are described so that you willhave in your mind the crucial information that will helpyou be successful. Ask yourself how well you are do-ing in following the concepts that are emphasizedthere.

General Observations of Characteristicsof Two- to Three-Year-Olds

According to most child development studies,young children, when they reach approximately 24 to26 months of age, seem to shift to a phase in their liveswhen they have relatively sunny dispositions and anoutgoing attitude toward others. Unlike his inclinationsto be negative that came when he was about 18months, the two-year-old usually seems to be well ad-justed. At least he is more anxious to please and morewilling to cooperate. However, at about 30 to 32

S so

Parentsshould reviewthe basicprinciples andguildelines forteachingpreschoolchildren

The two-year -old is anxiousto please andwilling tocooperate


The two-and-a-half-year-old

displayschanging

moods

The child willbe a great

challenge tothe parents/

ccg

months of age, most children shift back temperamen-tally to a more contrary and antisocial disposition.Child care providers working in the early childhoodeducation program will want to take full advantage ofthis period when the child is at relative peace with theworld and has a considerable amount of emotional sta-bility compared with the time just previous and the timecoming up in a few more months.

The two-year-old child has more patience thanwhen he was 18 months old. He is self-centered andmay still have difficulty in sharing with others, but he willnot be so overbearing and temperamentally unstable.He will be quite loving and affectionate at this age if hefollows the norm. Therefore, he will be much easier toteach and to live with than he was a few months earlieror will be in six to eight months in the future.

Most child development textbooks cal ition parentsto be prepared for a considerable shift in the disposi-tion and emotional balance of the 30- 32-month-oldyoungster. At this age, he is more rigid and inflexible.He is unwilling to adapt himself and he is often domi-neering and demanding. He will insist upon makingmany decisions and will strong-mindedly demand to dothings that he is incapable of doing. There will beoutbursts of violent emotion if the child follows the nor-mative behavior pattern found in most two-year-olds.At this age most children are in conflict with themselves-- they will change their minds in opposite directionsquickly. They will change from "I will" to "I won't" in afew seconds.

Many children at this age object to being interruptedwhen they are doing something. They want to persistin doing what they are doing and will refuse to changeor adjust to suggestions from someone else. Childrenat this age seem to be less open to change and toadaptation to new ideas, new things, and new ways ofdoing things.

The 2 1/2-year-old will be a great challenge to par-ents, and this must be kept in mind as we proceed inour program of early childhood education. Parentsmay want to read some additional reference materialssince this age has been emphasized quite heavily in thechild development literature as a stormy period in thelife of a very young child.

Learning during Two to Three Years 73

Sometime soon after a child attains the age of threeyears, his disposition shifts and he will have a morecooperative and easy-going attitude toward life and to-ward his parents. The things to remember in workingwith the child during the period from two to three yearsof age is that the first six months of this period will bemuch easier than the last six. At any rate, this will bethe case if the child follows the typical or normativepattern of behavior.

Teaching Geometric Shapes

As the child reaches the age of two, he should be-gin to learn to recognize objects and to deal with ideasnot directly related to his day-to-day living. A goodapproach is to reinforce his understanding of the circle.the square, and the triangle and to introduce him toother geometric shapes if he is ready for more ad-vanced forms. Look for objects you can use and keepthem handy. This should include geometric figures thatchild care providers can use to play with the two-year-old. Games should help the child to form a mentalimage of a shape and to identify it by its characteristics.Comparison of the characteristics of certain shapeshelps the child to observe and draw conclusions.

Increasing Tactile Abilities

A second useful and stimulating game is playedwith a "guess what" bag, a small cloth bag into whichthe parent places a wooden geometric shape or a famil-iar object (some call this a "feely" bag). The child feelsthe shape in the bag, and through use of his tactilesense (sense of touch), is able to point to an objectsitting before him that is similar. To a parent, this mayseem to be an extremely simple exercise. For a two-year-old, it can be a very rewarding and stimulatinggame. It will help him build his powers of mental imag-ery. The game can be extended to include many every-day objects such as a spoon, a comb, a pencil, and soon. Parents should develop alternative ideas on howto expand these games and add interest and enhancethe variety of such activities.

The three-year-old ismore coop-erative andhas an easy-going attitudetoward lifeand parents

Reinforce thechild'sknowledge ofgeometricshapes

The gamewith the"guess what'bag willincreasetactile abilitiesand expandmentalimagery

74 I YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

Colors shouldbe taught

casually andthrough

careful use ofexamples

Many childrengrasp the

concept ofcolor easily;others find it

difficult tolearn

Child careproviders

should usesimilar

objects of onecolor when

teaching colorrecognition

Teaching Colors

Many two-year-olds are ready to learn colors. In-deed, many children at age 18 months may find anaptitude and desire to respond to color stimulation.Again, these experiences should be presented whenthe parent discerns that the child is ready and inter-ested to learn. Some perfectly normal children do notrespond to color identification experiences until theyare 2 1/2 or even three years old. Parents should teachwhen the child is ready to learn, and should not pushhim for a response earlier than is natural and easy forhim.

Colors should be taught on a casual basis andthrough careful use of examples. Get and use objectsthat are alike in every respect except for their colors.The parent can then say: "This is a red ball. Look atthis; it is also a ball. But it is a yellow ball."

The parent can then take an object such as a ball ora block and proceed by saying: "Is this blue? No, thisis not blue. It is red." It is important for a parent topresent only one or two colors at a time in teachingcolors. It is also important to concentrate on the mostvivid colors and use the fundamental colors of black,white, red, yellow, and blue. Teach these colors firstand then move to other colors.

Most children are able to grasp the concept of colorquite easily. Others, however, may have some difficultywith this. Educators have found that some relativelybright children do have, for some reason or another,difficulty in grasping the concept of color. Be sure tobe patient and give continuous exposure if your child ishaving difficulty in recognizing color. Keep in mind thatyou need not be in a hurry. Let the child's response tellyou when to proceed.

It is particularly important to remember that the con-cept of color is best recognized when two familiar ob-jects are used, with the only difference being that ofcolor. The child will then recognize that the word "red"refers to the color and is not the name of the object.Many parents fail to realize that if they present a newobject at the same time they present a new color, theyare adding to the confusion and making the instructiondifficult for the child. If your child is having difficulty


distinguishing among colors, use only one or two col-ors at a time. Crayon marks can be used; coloredplastic is a good tool. Other techniques can be devisedby the creative parent to help the child to learn colorconcepts.

In unusual circumstances, male children may be"color blind," This can usually be detected if the child isconfusing red with other colors such as brown andgreen. If you detect this in your male child, have himexamined to determine if he is, in fact, color blind.Color blindness in females is extremely rare.

Use color identification games to stimulate yourchild to learn his colors. Do not, however, move tocomplex games involving multiple factors that includecolor knowledge until your child has learned at least thefundamental colors. You will confuse him if you are notcareful in how you use some of the games.

Building Listening Skills

Earlier in this manual it was suggested that the childbe given some introductory experience in listening andin building skill in discriminating among sounds. Moreexperience in building this capacity should be providedduring two to three years of age. This effort shouldbegin immediately after the child passes the age of two.Following are suggestions in devising listening skillgames: Different objects are placed in plastic contain-ers, and the child is given an opportunity to hear thenoise that the objects make when the container isshaken. He then shakes a series of containers andlistens carefully until he finds an identical sound to theone he heard in the original container. Be sure to usevariations of games such as this to teach this skill.

Soon after the child reaches the age of two, heshould start learning the names for the letters in thealphabet, followed by some elementary phonetics.Therefore, it is important to begin at the age of twoyears to help the child develop the capacity to discrimi-nate among subtle sounds. For this reason, we em-phasize the use of games that will help build this skillprior to the time that the alphabet is taught.

Parents should play whispering games with the two-year-old child by softly whispering words that he knows

There is asimple way tocheck forcolorblindness

The childshould startlearning thenames ofletters of thealphabet

Teach thechild to listenintently


Child careproviders

should not"push" thechild to a

point that heor she resists

Most of thelearning

experiencesmust unfold

from playactivity

well. An approach that has worked well with children ofthis age is to place four or five well-known objects be-fore the child, sit behind him, and whisper the names ofthe objects. He should pick up the object as it isnamed. The parent should whisper very softly so thatthe child will learn to listen intently, thus helping to buildlistening capacity and ability to make auditory discrimi-nation. Be sure to provide him with ample practice inlistening.

Are You Pressuring?

Feelings and attitudes have a tremendous impactupon learning. Throughout this entire program of earlychildhood education, it is extremely important that weemphasize the fact that the child must not be pressuredto learn. More important than any skill and capacitythat he might develop is the need for the child to have awholesome and positive attitude toward learning. Heshould look forward to the educational games that willbe played with him. He should ask for opportunities toplay them. Parents should not, in their eagerness tosee their child advance, "push" the child to a point thathe resists, cries, and objects to the whole matter oflearning. This point cannot be emphasized toostrongly. If you are sensitive and careful, the child'sresponse will be wholesome, and the effort joyful.

Child care providers are urged to read once morethe section in chapter 3 on reinforcement theory andhow to apply it in the teaching and learning situation.Make sure that you have this fundamental principleclearly in your mind as you proceed to teach the child.Most of the learning experiences must unfold from playactivity, and child care providers must develop the skillsthat make learning joyful. If the child is not learning,the fault usually does not rest with the child but with thechild care provider. Thus if you are having problems,look to yourself first for a solution. You can be almostsure that your approach is not casual enough and thatyou are not making the process a pleasant experiencefor the child.

Parents who go through this program of early child-hood education and succeed in making it joyful willestablish a relationship with the child that will endure

65


for a lifetime. On the other hand, parents who fail inthis regard many do considerable damage to the atti-tude and emotional response of the child. Teach withunderstanding, in a casual manner, as you and yourchild work and play together. Avoid pressure . . . berelaxed. This is not to say that parents should notdiscipline the child and expect and get certain levels ofbehavior and response that are reasonable and proper.It is to empathize that discipline and correction of be-havior should usually come at a time other than theteaching and learning situation. Make the learning timethe playtime in the home -- it can be this and also auseful and productive endeavor.

Teaching the Function ofVarious Objects around the Home

Parents often take for granted the various appli-ances and gadgets around the home that contribute tothe quality of family life. They also assume that childrenwill learn about these appliances and machines andthat there is no need to formally teach their functions.However, if we are going to accelerate the understand-ing of the child so that he learns as much as possibleas early as possible, it is important that attention begiven to some deliberate instruction. Such teaching ispart of our total plan to stimulate awareness and togenerate intelligence and early sensitivity in the child.

After the child has reached two years of age, par-ents should teach functions of such things as the refrig-erator, washer and dryer, vacuum cleaner, kitchenrange, sewing machine, heating system, water heater,pipes and plumbing system, and other appliances andgadgets that will attract the interest and generate curi-osity in the child. It is important to emphasize that weare interested in teaching the function. More details onhow they work may be left until later. Parents shouldseek opportunities to expose the child to these con-cepts about the functions of the equipment and appli-ances around the home so that the child can realizethat in our modern age, certain machines work for us.

Parents should use this opportunity to teach safety.The danger of playing with electric power outlets, light

Parents willestablish arelationshipwith theirchild that willendure for alifetime

Parentsshould teachfunctions ofhouseholdappliances

Use thisopportunity toteach safety


Deepen theexperience

background ofthe child

Childrenshould learnto return toys

and otheritems to theirproper place

bulbs, and sharp objects such as knives or scissorsshould be taught very deliberately and carefully at thistime. Simple tools such as hammers and screwdriverscan be profitably introduced to the child. When themother or father is opening a can, the opportunityshould not be missed to explain the function of the canopener. This can be particularly useful if the mother orfather is opening a can to get food for the child whenhe is hungry. Similarly, when it gets dark and you turnon the light, explain to your child that the bulb lightsup to help us see in the dark. If there is a piano in thehome, the parent may want to show the child howpressing a key can make a sound and then show himthe various tones on the piano. All of these experi-ences give depth and breadth to the intellectual expo-sure that the child receives.

These teaching and learning experiences will alsoprovide an opportunity to expand the child's vocabu-lary. The concept of such contrast as hot and cold canbe taught while explaining the plumbing system. Thetaste of cold milk or fruit from the refrigerator providesanother ideal opportunity to teach, demonstrate, anddeepen the experience background of the child.

Parents should be alert to seize upon these oppor-tunities to broaden the experience and total exposureof the child through additional concepts and ideas.Rules about touching and playing with certain appli-ances and conveniences around the home should beset up at this time. If properly done, this understandingand rule making will help to make the home a safeplace for the child.

Practical Experiences inHelping around the Home

At the time that the child is being exposed to theuses of appliances and gadgets around the home, heshould begin to learn that there is a plk.ce for the thingshe will be using and that he will know where to findthem if they are kept in the proper place. He should,for example, be taught how to open and close drawersand in what drawers to look for objects that he will wantto get. Be sure to demonstrate several times how to


place his fingers on the handles or knobs of drawersand how to pull them open without spilling things.Have him practice this several times and repeat con-stantly until you are satisfied that he has mastered thissimple technique.

This is a good time to begin to teach your child howbuttons and zippers work and to help him button andzip up his clothing. Board frames with cloth attachedcan be used to help the child practice the buttoningtechnique. Likewise, the function of the zipper can betaught, and the child can have the opportunity to prac-tice on a sample item specifically designed for that pur-pose. A practice frame can be made, or some oldclothing items can be used.

At this time, the child should also be encouraged tohelp dress himself. Many parents make the mistake ofdoing too many of these things for the child for too longin his lifetime. Even if he puts his stockings on back-ward or with the wrong side out, he should be practic-ing how to do this for himself. The same thing appliesto shirts, blouses, dresses, underpants, and manyother items. Encourage the child to be independentand to do as much as he can for himself. Needless tosay, this should not be carried too far -- parents shouldbe available to help. Avoid frustrating the child by de-manding more than he can do. At first, the oarentsshould do part and the child part of the work in thedressing and undressing process.

The lacing of shoes and the explanation that certainshoes go on certain feet can also be initiated at thistime. This should be done gradually, with the childmaking a tiny contribution at the first experience andgradually growing in ability until he can place his feet inhis shoes and even lace them up. Needless to say, itwill be some time before the child will be able to tie hisshoes. However, experiences h threading the laces inthe shoes will be a useful developmental exercise atthis time. The parent may desire to prepare an oldshoe for demonstration and teaching purposes. Thiscan be made more attractive and interesting by usingsome bright paint and some colored laces. Largewooden toy shoes are available on the market forteaching purposes, but an old adult-sized shoe willwork as well and will cost nothing.

Avoidfrustrating thechild bydpmandingmore than thechild can do

Threadinglaces in ashoe is auseful devel-opmentalexercise

80 NI YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

Teach thechild to

handle aglass or cup

with liquid in it

At this time,the child

should learnthe concept of

sweet andsour

Self helpexercises willaid in building

the child'svocabulary

Learning to Handle Liquids

This is a time also to teach the child how to handleliquids and to pour from a pitcher into a cup. Theparent should begin by having the child pour rice froma pitcher into a cup. After he has practiced to a pointwhere he is adequately skilled, real liquids such as milkor water can be used instead of the rice.

Teach the child to hand a glass or cup with liquidin it. When spills are made, have the child clean themup with your assistance. Do not do all of these clean-up tasks for him. When he is unable to do it totally byhimself, participate with him and allow him to do asmuch as he is willing to do. Do not pressure the child,chastise him, or lose your patience when he spillsthings at the table. Work with him gradually and praisehim when he successfully handles liquids without spill-ing. If the positive reinforcement approach is used, thechild will grow in this capability and attain a valuableskill that will be useful around the home.

Vocabulary Building

As the child is learning to feed himself, the childcare providers should also look for opportunities toteach other concepts. The idea of making things sweetby pdding sweet tasting juices can be taught at thistime. It is easily demonstrated, and the sense of tastepresents a wonderful opportunity to put over the con-cept. The contrasting taste of something sour (such asgrapefruit) can also be taught at this time. These wordsand concepts added to his vocabulary will comequickly and easily in connection with the eating andself-feeding experiences.

New words such as "handle," "glass," "cup," "spout,"and "pitcher" can also be taught at this time. This is agood time to teach about such items as napkins andhow to fold them, to demonstrate how a sponge or acloth can absorb liquids, to show the child how wastefood is disposed of and how food can be saved for useat a later meal.

Additional concepts can be given as the child learnssuch things as how to fold a napkin. He can learn how


to make a triangle, a rectangle, and a square while hehas an interest in folding the napkin. His attempts atdoing this will be very untidy for some time. Child careproviders should not insist on perfection; the conceptand the independence are the important things.

Parents should use these experiences to teach howto set a place at the table and where the various eatingutensils should go. In addition to the vocabularyteaching experiences, the child can be shown how toproperly set a table and how to arrange different ob-jects on the table. The washing and storing of dishescan be taught at this time. This can include the use ofsoap and the demonstration of the entire process. Thechild's participation should be encouraged to the extentthat his maturity will permit it.

Avoiding Boredom and Pressure

In teaching all of the foregoing practical skills andcapabilities, the parent and child care provider shouldbe very careful to avoid letting the child become bored.Parents and child care providers should remember thatchildren of this age love repetition if it isn't overdoneand should be alert to challenge the child. Do notproceed so slowly that he loses interest. On the otherhand, do not move forward too quickie in introducingnew materials, concepts, and skills. Adjust the expo-sure and the teaching moment to the interest and atten-tion span of the child.

Be sure that your demonstrations are thoughtfullyprepared and that they are presented when the interestof the child is high. Leave one item and go to anotherwhen interest is fading. Stop all teaching when it ap-pears that the child is becoming frustrated and irritable.Adjust the learning situation to the interest and readi-ness of the child. Remember that it is important to letthe child often choose wnat he wants to work with andto let him repeat what he is doing or permit him to stopwhen he so desires. Encourage the child to followthrough, and teach as best you can the value of finish-ing a task once it is started. The skillful child careprovider will be able to do this without pressuring orfrustrating the child.

Participationin householdchoresshould beencouragedto the extentthat maturitypermits

Adjust theexposure andteachingmoment to theinterest andattention spanof the child


Observecarefully to be

sure that thelevel of

difficulty isadjusted to fit

your child'sability

Use therepetition

method toteach the

child to count

Adjusting the Level of Difficulty

Earlier in this manual we noted that the level of diffi-culty for the child should be adjusted in such a way thathe is succeeding and doing properly those things thathe is being taught most of the time. Remember thatwhen the child is succeeding in approximately 80 per-cent of his attempts, the level of difficulty is approxi-mately correct. This ensures that he is having correctresponses often enough to give him adequate rein-forcement and encouragement, thus giving him fulfill-ment in knowing that he is meeting most of his trialswith success. Moreover, if approximately 20 percent ofhis attempts are incorrect, he is encountering a level ofdifficulty sufficiently challenging for the parent to knowthat he is continuing to learn. Be very observant tomake sure that the challenge and level of difficulty areadjusted to fit these general guidelines. Since interestebbs and flows from one day to another and from onesituation to another, the child care provider must beconstantly adapting and adjusting the learning situationto the varying circumstances. This will not be as diffi-cult as it may seem once the child care provider andchild are acquainted thoroughly with the temperamentand technique of the other.

Teaching Counting and Number Concepts

By using the simple repetitions method of instruction,parents should teach the child to say "one, two, three,four, five." The child will soon learn to repeat thesenumbers. After the child has mastered this capability,parents should begin to give him experiences that willconnect the number that is said with the concept of thenumber. This is done by helping the child to under-stand that the last number sound that he makes withhis vocal chords tells him something about a quantity ofobjects. This should be demonstrated, of course, byusing like objects (such as three spoons).

The parent may want to deepen the significance ofthe experience by using a "guess what" bag with threespoons in it. Devise your own by preparing a smallcloth bag with a draw string. After the child has felt thebag with the three spoons, it can be opened when the

9.i

...

p


interest level is high, and the parent can help the childreach in and pull out "one, two, three" spoons. Thiscan be repeated with other numbers. Make a delightfulgame out of this experience, and the child will be moti-vated to learn to count.

Parents should find incidental and casual ways toteach numbers and counting to small children. Theauthor was interested to learn from a parent about thesimple game of counting that was played by parent andchild while walking up or down stairs. This is a goodexample of teaching while doing something else. Manynumber concepts can be learned by creative use ofsituations such as walking up a stairway and countingthe steps as you go.

These number concepts should be taught graduallyuntil the child can count to 10 and can also associatesome of the numbers with the concept of the samenumber of objects. Child care providers should re-member that number concepts are difficult to grasp.Since we are so thoroughly familiar with this simpleconcept, it is often easy for us to forget that to a persontotally devoid of these concepts, a fairly high aware-ness is required to grasp the association of a numbersuch as five with five objects.

The child care provider should devise a numbergame from use of objects around the home to motivatethe child to learn numbers. Be sure to follow throughwith the repetition and drill that is needed. You will bemore successful if you develop number games thatcombine the sense of sight and the sense of touch.Number games will be of additional use later in thiscourse when numerical symbols are taught to the child.

Teaching the Child toSpeak in Sentences

By the time the child has reached 2 1/2 to threeyears of age, he should be able to speak in a few shortsentences. Most of these should be simple statementsof fact. For example, the parent may, at a particularteaching moment, ask the child to repeat the sentence:'The water is hot." The child should be urged to beginto speak in more than one- or two-word utterances.

,. 0. .1 ,.G 4,

Child careprovidersshouldrememberthat numberconcepts arehard tounderstand

Use objectsfound in thehome toreinforce thechild'scountingcapabilities

The childshould beurged tospeak in morethan one- ortwo-wordutterances


The child careprovider

shouldencouragethe child to

answerquestions as

well as to askthem

Encouragethe child to

viewchildren'stelevisionprograms

Teach theconcept of

numbers withgreat patience

This experience can be expanded to include short andprecise sentences that will help him to communicate.You will help his communicative and cognitive power asyou do this.

When looking at pictures, the parent or guardianmay want to encourage the child to say: "Dogs havefour legs." This simple spoken experience can applythe power of visual discrimination and the newly devel-oped number and counting skills, and gives the child achance to use what he has learned.

Using this conversational approach to teaching, theparents should encourage the child to answer ques-tions as well as to ask them. Begin to ask questionsand encourage responses that state a simple fact in afew short words. Strive to get simple, short-sentenceanswers. Be careful not to frustrate expression. En-courage use of words and conversation, but do notinsist on senten -es if it keeps him from speaking.

Using Children's Television Shows

In homes where parents have access to television,the child should be encouraged to view children's TVprograms as an additional enrichment experience inlearning number concepts. Parents will find that theinstruction in this book, the number games, and TVshows for the preschool child (wherein numbers aretaught) are all designed to fit well together.

Some Cautions to Followin Teaching Numbers

Some children have groat difficulty in moving fromthe concept of merely repeating the sounds of numbersto understanding the basic idea represented by eachnumber sound. Child care providers should take timein teaching this particular skill. Be sure to approach thetask in a free and easy manner. Make it a playful game.Do not be too eager. Plant an idea here and there.Repeat often and with great patience. Remember thatyou have a full year from age two to three years. Evenif the number games are not mastered by the age ofthree, it will not be a serious matter.

Ca.. 4-5AI


Since this is the child's first experience with math-ematics, be sure that it is a pleasant and successfulone. Remember the rule of reinforcement. (Rememberthat 80 percent of all the trials should be successful.)Avoid pressure. Teach counting and numbers onlywhen the child is ready and eager to learn. Watch forthose moments when you can stress a concept duringthe day-to-day activities of the child. Above all, makethis first exposure to arithmetic a pleasing and reinforc-ing experience for the child.

Make the firstexposure toarithmetic apleasing andreinforcingexperience forthe child

Hidden Objects II

86 "HOW - TO-DO -IT" APPLICATIONS

Strolling/Walking

The outdoors presents a multi-tude of opportunities for rein-forcing concepts of shapes,letters, and colors. A solidfoundation of useful knowl-edge is being formed as youhelp the child to become ob-servant of his surroundings.

Take a stick and draw letters in sand, dirt or snow, as you do, ask the child toidentify the letter, let him trace over the letter you have drawn.Draw shapes and ask him to identify the shape.Look for signs or ads of different shapes with large lettering, ask him if he canpoint to an "A" or any letter he is familiar with, or ask if he can find a square.Color is in abundance outdoors, point to a red sign and ask the color.Ask him to find a yellow flower or a green leaf.Make a game of finding a "round" petble or a "square" sign.

Remember children progressat different speeds with vari-ous skills. Pushing her be-yond her limits can impedeprogress. Let your pride in heraccomplishments show butwhen she tires of a game, putit aside fora later time.

Find a child safe bag, one of sturdy cloth the size of a grocery bag.Select two each of various objects such as a spoon, small book, or acorn.Put one of each object inside the bag and the other out on a table.Point to an object on the table and ask her to reach in the bag, without look-ing inside, to find the matching item.Alternatively, you can put all the objects except one in front of her.Place the one object inside the bag and have her feel the object, and withoutlooking in the bag, have her identify it.

9 5

"How-To-DO-If APPLICATIONS 87

Counting

Children do learn through re-pitition but as the chapters inthis book continually point out,let the interest of the child de-termine the length of timethese activities consume sothat learning becomes a joy forail involved.

Line up 2 to 5 stuffed animals or toys one at a time in front of the child.Count out loud as you point to each object, "1", "2", "3" and so on.Have her count out loud as she points to each one.Pick the animals up ons by one and count out loud as you pick each one up.Then put them back on the table counting as you put each back.Have the child count as you do it again.Use different objects as well as opportunities to practice counting when play-ing, walking, or reading.

[Guess Who I Aml

Let your enthusiasm show inyour voice and in your actionsby giving the child a hug whena correct answer is given.Children find great delight inpleasing those adults withwhom they interact.

,w.

Ask the child to listen very carefully as you describe an animal and see if hecan guess what it is.Give descriptions such as "I have sharp claws, a long tail, soft fur, and I saymeow, who am I?" Let the child guess what animal you are describing.You might say, "I have four paws, and a tail that wags when I am happy, whoam I?", if his answer is incorrect add another clue such as "I say bow wow".Use animals you have seen on a recent trip to the zoo, or read about.Let the child describe an animal for you to guess.

,


BEST COPY AVAILAKE

a Additional Learning forTwo- and Three-Year-Olds

From the age of two to three years, the child has anamazing capacity for learning. The challenge for theparent is to assist and stimulate the child to build herintelligence. This 12-month span is truly the "goldenopportunity" to help the child build cognitive power thatwill be with her the remainder of her life. Be especiallycareful to make all experience a happy time of teachingand learning; use every day of this 12-month period tomaximum advantage. Enrich the learning environmentin the home and everything in the home in such a waythat it will make the total environment surrounding thechild a learning and growing laboratory. Keep in mindthat you are working with a highly absorbent mind.Your finest opportunity to teach your child is when sheis eager and responsive.

The instructions that follow will help you to teachabstract concepts and ideas, the names for the lettersof the alphabet, relationships, and positions. Study thematerial carefully and prepare to use the suggestionsand instructions to the maximum advantage of thechild.

Teaching Names of Letters

The learning of the letters of the alphabet will likelybe the most difficult task that the child has faced so farin her early childhood education career. Child care

9

At this age,the child hasan amazingcapacity forlearning;stimulate thechild to builda greatintelligence

Learning theletters of thealphabet islikely the mostdifficult taskthe child hasmet so far


Children learnthe letters ofthe alphabet

by sightcharacteris-

tics

Casuallyexpose the

child to lettersand move

along as he orshe learns

ANN

Teach onlythe names,

not thesounds of

letters

providers should begin by teaching capital letters only;lower-case (small) letters will be taught later.

The child care provider should remember that thechild has been experiencing since birth how to recog-nize and name different objects in her environment.She has to name them. She has looked at commonobjects around the home and learned how to identifythem. In like manner, she will learn (by sight character-istics) the letters of the alphabet. She will not know thefunction of letters in the alphabet at this early stage inher development. But if she can recognize that theletter A is called "A" and has certain physical features bywhich it can be identified, she will have attained a firststep in mastering this skill. Experience has indicatedthat the child may be ready to learn the letters of thealphabet at two years of age. Some, however, may notbegin until 2 1/2 years of age; some children may re-quire additional time -- and this instruction could easilybe delayed until the child is three years of aae.

Child care providers should begin teaching whenthe child is ready for such abstract learning. Do not beoverly anxious about this. Casually expose the childand move along as she learns. At the outset, the les-sons should be very short. Usually a five-minute expo-sure to letters will he sufficient. It is better to start witha very minimal exposure time and to stop when interestis still high.

Using Television Programs

Television programs, aimed at the preschool young-ster, can provide extremely valuable enrichment mate-rial. The Children's Television workshop's "SesameStreet" series presents in an ingenious and stimulatingmanner the concepts of letters. If the child has beenviewing programs of this type for some months, theparent may need to adjust the instruction level to thechild's competence -- for she may already have learnedseveral letters' names.

In teaching the names of the letters of the alphabet,be sure to refer only to the names and avoid teachingthe sounds th,t) letters can make. Such TV fare as the'pop up" commercials on children's cartoons teach thevarious sound of vowels, but this is aimed at the child

Additional Learning for Two- and Three-Year Olds 91

old enough to go to school where such abstract con-cepts are taught to the older child. Unless you find thatthe preschool child is being confused by such pro-grams, ignore these TV lessons, and your child will dothe same. Presentation of both name and sound con-cepts will be confusing to her at this age.

Child care providers should not commit the com-mon mistake of beginning by teaching that "A is theword 'apple.' " You should teach the simple conceptthat A is "A" because it is shaped like the letter A. Thechild is not ready to read words, and you will confuseher if you associate "apple" with the letter A becauseshe will not understand that "apple" is an abstract sym-bol representing a food she eats. Avoid confusion bysimply teaching the letter as such and the name for it.

Strategy of Teaching

Teach three or four letters at a time in each session.Repeat and review often. Begin a new lesson by re-viewing what was taught the time before. Dc' all youcan to play games as you teach the alphabet. This willbe a particularly difficult learning experience for thechild, and the parent must move along very slowly. Thelessons should be extremely brief but repetitious.There should not be long gaps of several days betweenthe lessons. Try to arrange a small amount of exposureeach day.

As you draw the letters on paper point out the char-acteristics of the letters by showing the different partsand by indicating how one letter differs from another.For example, show how the capital letters C and D havepart of a circle and show how they are different as wellas alike. The same thing can be done with the letters Fand E, and so forth. Think through different ways toteach identifying characteristics of each letter.

Remember that it is easy for children to confuseletters because many are similar. For example, X looksmuch like K to the unpracticed eye; R resembles B.Parents should anticipate trouble with some of thesetypes of letters and show the subtle differences. Youmay point out, for example, that R has a "leg" that is"straight" but B's is "round" or "bent." This can be illus-trated with chalk on a chalkboard or with crayon or

IUtj

The child isnot ready toread words atthis time

Child careprovidersshould do allthey can toplay games asthey teach thealphabet

Point out howthe lettersdiffer fromeach other insound andstructure


Take extratime to

show thedifferences in

letters thatresemble

each other

Be sure torepeat and

review whathas alreadybeen taught

Teach lower-case letters

with the sameprecision thatcapital letters

we ro taught

pencil on paper. Be very patient and teach the lettersslowly, gradually, and systematically. Think throughhow similar appearing letters could be confusing, andpoint out the differences in them. Use such terms as"humps," "bars," "curves," and "legs" in describing differ-ent characteristics of letters. By doing this, you canindicate that the letter S has two curves in it. You canshow that the letter H has two legs with a bar connect-ing them. You can show that the letters C and G looksimilar and that they sound much alike, but you mightindicate that G has a "shelf' on it. Continue to teach asyou point out the differences.

Be sure to repeat and review. As you go throughsome practice and drill, try to make an interesting gameout of your activity. As you look at books around thehome and at signs and. billboards when you are drivingin the car, encourage the child to practice looking forletters. This will help to keep her interested and will callher attention to the tact that she is surrounded withthese letters that have messages for people.

Teaching Lower-Case Letters

As you begin to teach lower-case (small) letters, itwill become obvious that nearly half of these have thesame difficult learning characteristics as capital letters.The letters that will take some drill to teach are thefollowing: a, b, d, e, g, h, 1, n, q, and r. These lettersshould be taught with the same precision that the capi-tal letters were taught. Some lower-case letters (suchas b and d) are so much alike that it may take a longtime for the child to master the subtle differences. Donot spend too much time on them. Try to teach thedifferences and move along to other, more interestingthings.

It will be a profitable review and practice experienceto have the child now look for both capitalized andlower-case letters as she looks at books, signs, andposters. When traveling in the car, you may play agame by looking for letters on signposts, etc. Be sureto avoid teaching the sounds they make at this particu-lar time. This will come later in our course of instruc-tion.

0i


Goal in Teaching Letters

The goal of our program of instruction during theperiod from two to three years is to have the child beable to identify all of the capital letters and almost all ofthe small letters in the alphabet by the time she is threeyears old. It may be possible, however, that the childwill not be able to distinguish between the small lettersb and d or p and q. Parents should avoid spending toomuch time on this problem. The ability to distinguishbetween these subtle differences will come later formost children.

Children who are constant viewers of programssuch as "Sesame Street" will likely learn the letters ofthe alphabet more rapidly and may be ready to moveon earlier than age three to additional !earnings that willbe suggested for the period of time from three to fouryears. Parents are advised to let the child move alongas rapidly as possible. But you must avoid being overlyambitious and avoid pushing when helping your childmaster these basic concepts.

Be sure to bring variety into the instruction. Lookfor teaching opportunities and for chances to :arnindand review in your day-to-day experiences with thechild.

Reading, Telling Stories, andBecoming Familiar with Books

Most children of this age enjoy looking at pictures inwell-illustrated books. They enjoy bedtime stories.From the age of two years, children should be read toregularly. Be sure that you provide your child with thisopportunity to share with you the exciting world of read-ing and the joy of learning and discovering through theprinted page.

It is important that the child care providers look foropportunities for vocabulary building during this time. It

is also important that some of the illustrations in thebook be called to the attention of the child. Be sure toshow the child some of the details in the illustrationsand explain to her how these pictures depict some partof the story that is read to her. After you have read thestory, give the child the opportunity to explain it to you.

The goal is tohave the childrecognize allcapital andsome smallletters by thetime he isthree yearsold

Childrenshould beread toregularly

Show thechild some ofthe details inpictures; helpbuild thechild's vo-cabulary atthe same time


Without tryingto teach

reading at thistime, instillthe child an

understandingof the concept

of reading

Devise gamesfor building

auditorydiscerning

powers

Avoid teach-ing too many

words at atime

Draw her out with leading questions. Ask questionsthat will help the child identify with the story and be-come a part of it. Teach her to be observant and towatch closely for meanings in illustrations that are famil-iar to her and will help her have identity with the story.The ability to get meaning from illustrations and pic-tures will be useful to the child when she enters school.

As the child is learning the alphabet, the parentsshould explain that the words being read to the childare made up of these 26 letters. Without attempting toteach any reading at this time, instill in your child anunderstanding of the concept of reading; it will be im-portant to her in future years. Use this reading time asa period when some of the other learning activities canbe supplemented and reinforced. Watch for number-teaching opportunities and for correlation of other sub-ject matter during reading and story time.

Teaching Descriptive Words andWords to Help the Child Follow Directions

Another important component of the early child-hood education curriculum is for the parent to orallyteach comparative and descriptive words and thosewords that will help the child understand and followdirections. Such concepts as big and little, fast andslow, hot and cold, soft and hard, tall and short, rightand left, inside and outside, on and off, in front of andback of, above and below, first and last, and other setsof words that provide comparative and descriptive vo-;:abulary power should be taught.

Those words that have to do with position relation-ships, size relationships, and location can be easilytaught if you devise some games that will accelerateinterest. See the practical applications section that fol-low for some ideas.

These vocabulary concepts about comparative anddescriptive words should be worked in with other in-structional activities throughout the 12-month period.Try, however, to avoid teaching too many of thesewords at a time. By using a gradual approach over aspan of 12 months, you will be able to make consider-able progress, and most children will have an under-

03


standing of these words by the time they reach the ageof three.

Additional Instruction in Listening Skills

It is important that parents continue to teach listen-ing skills to the child during this period of her life. Usethe sound discrimination games. Try to devise otherdrills that will be interesting and fun for the child and willhelp her to have auditory discerning powers. This skillwill be useful when she moves into phonics in the el-ementary school reading program. Be sure to work onthis skill and do all you can to teach your child to rec-ognize the subtle differences in sounds such as F andS.

Review of Reinforcement Theory

Parents should review often the material containedin chapter 3 on the educational value and power ofreinforcement. As you move along to this stage in thechild's development, it is particularly important that shehave positive, reinforcing, joyful experiences in learn-ing. This vital educational principle cannot be empha-sized too strongly. It is recommended that you reviewthe basic instructions on reinforcement and think aboutthe strategy you have been using. Think through someadditional strategies that may help to improve your ap-plication of the principles of reinforcement. Make surethat your child is enjoying her learning experiences bybeing casual and by avoiding the pressure of formalteaching as it is traditionally practiced. Be relaxed, andteach as you work and play together.

Need forCommitment of Time from Parents

It may seem that the early childhood education pro-gram recommended in this book requires a greatamount of time from the parents and guardians. If youdevelop the ability to teach while you perform othertasks, the act of teaching will not seem so demandirg.

It is particu-larly importantthat the childhave positive,reinforcing,joyfulexperiencesin learning

If you developthe ability toteach whileyou performother tasks,the act ofteaching willnot seem sodemanding


Child careproviders

shouldremember

that they aregiving the

child apriceless gift

when theyhelp build an

apt andpowerfulintellect

Somechildren

progressfaster than

others

Accept thechild as she

is and do notbe alarmed ifshe is behind

in therecom-

mendedlevels

It is important, however, for parents to persevere insystematically helping the child build a more powerfulintelligence during these years when her mental capac-ity is so malleable. Parents should remember that theyare giving the child a priceless gift when they help herbuild an apt and powerful intellect. If this is done earlyin the child's life and if she is given every possible op-portunity to expand her cognitive powers, the parentswill be rewarded in the knowledge that the child is sys-tematically gaining confidence and gradually acquiringskills and capabilities that far exceed the infant not in-volved in such an active and dynamic learning environ-ment. The time spent in studying the contents of thisbook and the time spent in learning how to apply theideas in the practical applications that follow eachchapter will be well worth the effort. Parents are urgedto give the child the total program. They should persistin their efforts each day and strive for the patience andinsight necessary for success in teaching the veryyoung.

Individual Differences

Because there are great differences in the growthpatterns of children, it is difficult for a book of this typeto take into account the broad span of abilities andreadiness at all age levels. Some children will be ableto progress faster than is recommended in the book;others may move along more slowly. Some children --in fact many children -- have intermittent patterns oftediously slow progress followed by a great surge ofinterest and learning growth.

Parents should accept the child as she is and workwith her on whatever level of ability she may have atany particular time in her life. They should not bealarmed if the child is behind the recommended levelsof accomplishment contained in this book. The levelsof skill are very challenging, and some children will notbe ready at the suggested age for a specific activity. Inalmost all cases, if the parent is patient and under-standing, the slow phases of learning will pass andrewarding learning experiences will unfold later in thechild's life.

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[ Contrasting

Many opportunities will arisefor this activity. Comparativedescriptions can be found dai-ly in many situations. Alwaysmake certain that you test anyobjects temperature and avoidanything either too hot or toocold for the child.

. ....6

Select a group of comparative descriptions to concentrate on for a length oftime (one day or a week) and point them out when the opportunity arises.If you are using hot and cold, let her feel a "cold" air conditioner vent and thencompare it to the "warm" sun coming in the window. Remark on the "cold"drink for snack time as compared to the "warm" vegetables on her plate.Or concentrate on fast and slow until she understands. Point out a fast carverses a slow truck. Compare when you walk slowly to running.Tall and short can be compared in trees, or cups, or children.

The Library 1

A trip to the library can be arewarding experience. Herechildren's books on otherlands, animals, nature, othercultures, and farm and city lifecan be found. Instill the impor-tance of books and readingearly. Read to him daily.

Introduce the library to the child, tour the children's section to show him whatis available.Most libraries have many activities for children such as story time. Find outthe schedules for such events and take advantage of them.Obtain a library card for him and let him choose a few books on each visit.While at the library, give the child the freedom of choosing some books tolook at, for as long as he is interested.Demonstrate proper care in handling books.

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Painting Letters

You can be certain that thechild will spill or knock oversome paint eventually so beprepared with old towels toclean up. He should have onappropriate clothing as well.When a spill occurs, wipe it upand proceed.

Set up an area or table for finger painting. Use large sheets of paper and 2 or3 different colors of the paint.While drawing capital letters in the paint, ask the child to name them.As you draw the letters, describe each part of the letter's physical characteris-tics, such as, the line is curved, or straight, or bent, or crossed.Then let the child try to draw the letter or trace your lines in the paint.Show him how some letters are similar in appearance, yet different. Draw an"F" and then show him how the "F" turns into an "E" by adding one line.

L

Left/Right

Understanding the differencebetween left and right is notonly important, it may make thedifference between life anddeath in an emergency whenverbal instructions are given bythose in charge at the time.

AMMIL-aMMIIMI=.

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Trace the child's hands and feet on construction paper and cut them out.Write "left" or "right" as appropriate on each one so that she keeps the correctside up.Use the cutouts to help identify the difference between left and right.For example, when standing, the big toes of each foot are side by side.Also when teaching body parts, use the idea of "left arm" or "right eye", etc.

Use left" and "right" in a variety of situations until the concept is understoodand becomes a habit in everyday usage.

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1 00 YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

E

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1A Learning duringLi Three to Four Years

Most authorities on early child development con-sider age three to be a delightful stage in the life of achild. He has outgrown the negative, resisting behaviortypical of the 2 1/2 -year-old. He is becoming some-what less self-centered and domineering in behavior,and is more willing to give and take and to cooperate.

The physical capabilities of the three-year-old alloweasy movement and quick actions. He can success-fully play many games that were baffling and difficult forhim six months earlier. This increased physical capabil-ity adds confidence and helps the child gain more satis-faction and release from his tensions through vigorousphysical activity and play. This same capability maylead him away from interest in the quiet type of activitynecessary for learning.

The three-year-old is an extremely social personand will want to engage in activities and conversationwith others. His language capability adds to the enjoy-ment he gets from this. He is learning new words veryrapidly and is trying them out regularly.

Changing Behavior

Typical of the ups and downs of childhood is thechange in the child when he reaches approximately 31/2 years of age. At this time, he shifts his behaviorpattern considerably; another period of uncertainty andinability enters his life. Some children begin to show

1 1 0

The physicalcapabilities ofthe three-year-old alloweasy move-ment andquick actions

The three-year-old is anextremelysocial childwho islearning newwords rapidly

Ai.


Try tounderstandthe phasesand cycles

that runthrough the

growthpatterns of the

very young

Teach thedays of the

week and thetime-of-day

conceptcasually but

carefully

signs of stuttering at the age of 3 1/2 . . . other fearscreep into the child's mind and are manifested in hisbehavior. He will seem to be more awkward and un-certain of his physical capabilities than he was a shorttime earlier. Other activities irritating to parents such asnail biting, nose picking, thumb sucking, and twisting offacial expressions often appear at 3 1/2 years of age.

The child's uncertainty causes him to be jealousand at times belligerent toward parents and other mem-bers of the family. His emotional extremes and insecu-rity need patience and understanding. These facts ofhuman growth and development should be kept inmind as parents proceed with the program of home-based, early childhood education. The child's need foradditional affection and security should be provided bythe parents, and teaching and learning activities shouldbe adjusted to this stormy period in the child's life-cycleof growing.

There is no doubt that the feelings and emotionalresponses of children influence learning. Althoughspace limitations in this book make it impossible todetail the physical and emotional development of thechild, parents should understand the phases andcycles that run through the growth pattern of the veryyoung. As we focus our concern on the child's mind,we must remember that our total concern is the all-important education of the child. We want the child tobe mentally active and to have mentally stimulating ex-periences that will result in a permanent increase inintelligence and learning capacity.

Teaching the Concept of Time

The three-year-old should begin to form son. ideasabout time and how we measure and live by the clockand the calendar. Parents should begin to talk aboutthe seven days in the week and to teach the child topronounce the names of the days and repeat them inthe proper sequential order. Although he is not readyto learn to tell time, he should know that we haveclocks and watches that help us to meet our commit-ments and to do things when they should be done.

The child should learn that there are seven days in aweek and that a day relates to daylight and darkness

Learning during Three to Four Years 103

that come regularly one after the other. The childshould also learn that there are certain things that wedo in a regular and routine manner . . . that some daysare for some functions and others are for other func-tions.

The child should also be taught the concept of yes-terday, tomorrow, and today. He should know, for ex-ample, that tomorrow is always the day that followstoday. If he has learned the names of the days of theweek in proper order, he will be able to conclude thatthe terms "yesterday" and "tomorrow" are also specificdays of the week, depending upon what today is.

For children having difficulty understanding what to-day, tomorrow, and yesterday mean, parents shoulddevise a method of giving concrete illustrations. Byplacing cardboard squares (with the names of theseven days of the week printed on them) on the floor,the parent can ask the child to stand on one square.Then if the child has learned to repeat the names of thedays consecutively and in proper sequence, it will beeasy for him to look behind himself and conclude thatyesterday was Thursday because he, is standing on to-day which is Friday.

Parents may want to follow this teaching and learn-ing experience by teaching the months in the year;however, these lessons can be delayed until the childhas more maturity and can more readily grasp the con-cept. (It will be easier for him to understand about daysbecause they come and go often enough to becomepart of his awareness.) Because months of the year donot repeat in a cycle, from the child's point of view, it isharder for this concept to be taught. The responseshould let the parent know if the child is understandingthe idea of the months of the year.

Teaching and Learning Experiencesabout Numbers

As parents teach additional arithmetic skills to thechild three to four years of age, they should rememberthat abstract thinking is very difficult for him at this time.Since mathematics is almost pure logic, methods mustbe devised to illustrate through the manipulation of ac-

Focus extraattendion onteaching theconcept oftoday,tomorrow, andyesterday

If the child isready, teachthe names ofthe months

Sincemathematicsis pure logic,methods mustbe devised toillustratetheseconcepts


Cognitivepower is

developedthrough theexperiencethat comes

from acquiringkinowledge

More thaneighty percent

of the intelli-gence that a

human has atmaturity is

formed priorto the time heenters school

Be sure tocount to thechild so that

he canunderstand

tual objects the mathematical concepts that are beingintroduced to the child.

Building Cognitive Powers

The experiences in gaining mathematical conceptsearly in life will be extremely valuable to the child. Par-ents should keep in mind that our primary purpose is tobuild a more powerful intelligence. The gain from pur-suing the knowledge and attaining the skills in this earlychildhood educational program will be of more worththan the knowledge itself. This cognitive power is de-veloped through the experience that comes from ac-quiring knowledge.

It would be much easier, from the child's point ofview to simply gain knowledge, to wait for him to be-come more mature before teaching him some of theabstract facts of mathematics. Such experience wouldoccur after he has passed the age of six. However, thiswould be too late for the parents to take full advantageof nurturing his basic intelligence. Keep in mind thatresearch has proved that more than 60 percent of theintelligence a human has at maturity is formed prior tothe time he enters school. It is the initial care and thesystematic development of this intelligence which weseek to instill in the parents with this program of earlychildhood education. Moreover, knowledge and skillare valuable to the child as he enters his school experi-ence.

Understanding Numbers

From the time a child is three to four years old, besure to count to him so that he understands. Childrenwho can repeat the names of numbers in sequentialorder may not be able to count with understanding.Parents should make sure that this ability has beenacquired from the learning experiences given to thechild.

Groups of identical objects should be counted to-gether by the parent and the child in order to gain thisskill. The important thing to remember is that the childmust know that when he is counting a group of objects,


the last number he repeats in his counting will tell himsomething about all of the objects he is counting. If, forexample, he is counting to six, he should rememberthat the sixth square or circle tells him that the oneimmediately preceding it was five and that the first onehe touched and counted was one. This seems simpleto a parent, but it is a difficult concept for a young childto grasp.

Over very brief periods of time lasting not more thanfive or six minutes, the parents should work regularlyand systematically with the child in helping him with hisknowledge of numbers. Be sure to ask questions andparticipate in the experience in a way that will keep thechild interested and excited. Be patient and do notassume too quickly that the child has understood whatyou are trying to teach. Children are skilled at mimicry,and parents are surprised many times to find that whatthey have taught as a matter of logic was only reiter-ated by the child by his repeating or mimicking whatthe parent said.

In difficult circumstances, it may be helpful to placeobjects to be counted on the living room floor with sixinches to a foot of space between them. The spacingshould be even, but the objects should be well spaced- systematically arranged in a way that will not confuse.

The child should learn to count up to 10 objectsand to have the actual understanding of the concept"ten" when he counts out 10 objects. Be careful aboutthe naturtl inclination of a child to count one objectmore than once. He needs to follow certain rules ofprocedure established by the parent in all of the count-ing games.

Watching the Attention Span

Parents should remember that the attention span ofthe three-year-old is not long. Also, he can becomeengrossed in something besides the mathematical con-cept very easily. If, for example, you have him pickingup and counting squares or circles, the child may be-come absorbed in manipulating the blocks or other ob-jects that you are using. It is often wise to play with thechild for a while to help him become familiar with ob-

Do notassume tooquickly thatyour childunderstandswhat you aretrying to teachaboutnumbers

The attentionspan of thethree-year-oldis not long


The childneeds to learn

the rule thathe stops aftercounting to a

specificallygiven number

Repetition isimportant for

boys and girlsof this age;

reviewnumbers often

Teach a fewnumbers at atime until the

child cancount to thirty

jects as such before having him shift to the countingexperience.

Additional Mastery of Numbers

After the child has learned how to count and has themeaning behind what he is doing, he is ready to learnsome other important concepts about numbers. Heshould be given a certain number of objects and asked"How many?" Then one object should be taken awayand he should be asked "Now, how many?" Thisshould be followed by the practice of g!ving him a largenumber of objects and saying "Give me three," Heneeds to learn the rule that he stops after he hascounted to the number three. This will take some timeand will not be as easily mastered by the child as manyparents think. Considerable repetition will be useful tothe child and should be provided when the child isanxious and ready to play the counting game.

Repetition is important for children of this age. Atbedtime and at other convenient times, the parentsshould spend a moment or two reviewing numbers.This should be done casually and almost incidentally asa means of providing enough drill and repetition formastery. A great amount of practice will be very valu-able at this age. Provide the review experience at everyopportunity and give as much practice as the child isable to absorb without frustrating or pressuring him.

Counting to Thirty

As soon as the child has attained mastery of num-bers up to 10, the parents should help him to count to25 or 30. This can be done in somewhat the samemanner as the numbers from one to 10 were taught.Teach a few numbers at a time, beginning with 11 andgoing on from there. The child should understand howthese numbers fit with the others and that the samecounting experience can be applied. Through repeti-tion, practice, and teaching approximately five morenumbers at a time, the child will soon be able to masterthe additional numbers.


Learning Number SymbolsOnly after we know that a child can count to at least

10 and only after we are certain that he understandsthat the sound symbol made with the vocal cords repre-sents a number, will we be ready to teach written num-ber symbols. Parents should think about the soundsymbols made with the voice and the written symbolsof the numbers. The child has often learned that thesound made with the vocal cords for the number threerepresents that number. He knows that this soundmeans something, and he knows what it means. It isthen a simple matter to teach that the written number"3" is merely another means of communicating the ba-sic idea of three.

At a particular moment when the child is interestedand it appears that his attention span is right, the writ-ten number symbols can be presented. The parentshould explain certain distinguishing characteristics ofeach number. Use some of the same techniques uti-lized in teaching the letters of the alphabet in chapter 9.Do not present too many concepts at a time, and useopportunities to repeat when the child is interested andwhen you have his attention.

Using TV Shows andGames Using Household Items

The written symbols for numbers are interestinglypresented in "Sesame Street" and other TV shows. Par-ents may want to use this means for follow-up, tutorialsessions with the child. Games may be devised thatuse common items found around the home to teachwritten number identification. Look for ideas in the prac-tical applications to provide definite and concrete expe-riences that use two or three of the senses. Our pur-pose in teaching numbers and number symbols is tohave the child become thoroughly familiar with num-bers zero (0) through 10 and to have him be able torecite the numbers from one to 30.

As you play number games with your child, try tohelp him do the following:

(1) Make sure that he is capable of number recita-tion from one to 30. This simply means that

Teach thewrittennumbers asyou taught theletters of thealphabet

Use televisionprograms asfollow-up inteachingnumbers

The childshould beable to countto thirty fromany givennumber


The numbermatching skill

should havebeen

acquired bynow

The childshould have

numberrecognition

skill

The childshould be

able to look ata number and

recite itsname

he can recite the numbers in consecutive or-der and is able to count from one to 30 flaw-lessly. In addition, his number recitation skillshould make it possible for you to give him astarting point among these numbers, and heshould be able to count from the number yougive him to any given higher number. For ex-ample, if you gave him the number three andtold him to court !*1 eight, he would be able tocount from thee tc eight by naming numberfour and going on, stunping at number eight.

(2) The child should have number matching skills.When you give him. a printed numeral, thechild should be able to select an identical nu-meral or number from a set or group of printednumbers.

(3) The child should have number recognitionskill. When you give him the verbal label orsymbol for a number, the child should be abletc select the appropriate number from a set ofprinted numerals. For example, when you saythe number four, the child should be able togo to a set of printed numbers and select "4"from this set. You may want to give him drilland practice in this by devising some interest-ing games where he will be successful most ofthe time and where you can give him somepraise for his accomplishments.

(4) The child should have number labeling skill.This is the opposite skill from number recogni-tion. It means that when you give the child aprinted numeral, he will be able to look at itand give the verbal label or say what theprinted numeral is; for example, you hand himthe number "6" or you point to the printednumber "6" and he is able to say "six."

Through numerous games and repetitious expo-sure to concepts, the child should have these skills wellmastered. Our objective will be for him to reach thiscapacity by the time he is four years of age. (Some

I


children may take longer than this, and parents shouldadapt to the child's level of interest at the time withoutundue concern if a f!yi extra months are required toreach this capability.)

Another skill should also be mastered: The childshould be able to enumerate. When he is given a setor subset of up to 10 objects, he should be able tocount them and then tell how many there are. Forexample, if you pour seven blocks from a box onto theliving room floor and ask him to tell you how manyblocks there are, he should be able to count them andcome up with the number seven. This requires him tobe able to recognize that the last number reached in hiscounting is the total number in the set of objects. Yoursuggestions should be "Count the blocks. How manyare there?"

Although it is not esslntial, parents should also tryto teach some additional counting skills. For example,when you arrange a group of objects in a circle, thechild should be able to identify the first object that hecounts by marking it or moving it out of the circle sothat when he finishes counting, he will know that he hascounted all of the objects. The same strategy can beused when counting a group of objects in a stack byteaching him to pick them up and place them, one at atime, in another stack.

The child must also develop the ability to recognizeequality in numbers. He should be able to associate agroup of four objects as equaling the number four. Heshould be able to match a group of five objects with anequal number or grouping of identical objects.Through practice in games, he should attain the con-cept of equality.

Teaching Visual Discrimination

In preparing the child to have all the skills that willmake learning to read less difficult, you must keep inmind that it is very important for the child to learn torecognize objects that are almost the same except forone or two subtle differences. In working with thesimple geometric shapes, parents should draw tri-angles, circles, and squares with slight deviations inthem. The child should be taught to recognize quickly

1,

- 118

The childshould beable to countitems youhave placedbefore him

Children mustbe trained torecognizesubtledifferences inobjects

110 YOUR CHILD'S INTELINTELLECT

Children ofthis age

should beable to

recognizeparts of the

body inpictures

Be alert tovaluableteaching

situationsgiving the

childpractice inpicking upinformation

with his eyes.

Children ofthis age love

rhythm

that one of the geometric shapes has a slight differencein it.

A child should be given exercises in finding objectsin a picture. Since he has learned the parts of thebody, he should look at pictures of mothers and fa-thers, boys and girls and point out such details asnose, ears, knee, and so forth. He should be taught tolook for expressions on people's faces on a picturepage that may depict happiness, anger, crying, etc.

Parents should strive to help the child pick up infor-mation quickly with his eyes. Practice at this time in hislife will give him an extremely valuable skill. Such prac-tice does not always need to be in formal teachingsituations. Opportunities (in the grocery story or whiletraveling in the automobile or walking in the neighbor-hood) will arise when the child can be taught to look fordetails that will help him build visual discriminationpower. If the parent has this objective in mind, numer-ous opportunities will arise to develop this skill in thechild without much effort or pressure on him. It is a skillthat can be acquired almost incidentally if parents arealert to use valuable teaching situations.

Building Additional AuditoryDiscrimination Skills

Earlier in this book we suggested activities to buildskill in auditory discrimination. As the child approachesfour years of age, the parents should provide additionalexperiences that will help to build this important skill asa prelude to reading instruction. The parents shoulddevise games that will help the child to copy rhythmicpatterns. Children of this age love rhythm, and they willrespond readily to rhythms and beats that have a pat-tern to them. For example, rhythmic patterns can betaught by the parent speaking or singing a pattern to berepeated by the child. Following is an example:

The parent will say:"Da da, dot dot, da."This is said in rhythm with the "da" soundsspaced out long and the "dot" sounds spokenvery quickly -- one rapidly after the other.(This is done similarly to telegraphic codes of

Learning during Three to Four Years 1 1 1

dots and dashes, where the dots are rapidlytransmitted and the dashed are more slowlygiven.)

Other rhythm patterns such as the following can begiven for the child to repeat:

(1) Dot dot dot dot, da da. (Say the fours "dots"rapidly and the two "das" slowly.) You mayneed to repeat this several times at first.

(2) Da da da, dot dot, da. (Say the three "das"slowly, the two "dots" rapidly, and the last "da"slowly.)

Any number of similar patterns will give the child prac-tice in hearing and giving back rhythmic patterns. Theparent may also want to invite the child to give therhythmic pattern for the parent to repeat back to thechild.

The child should also be taught to rhyme words.This simple exercise can be carried out by giving thechild two or more words and stimulating him to selector supply a third rhyming word. This activity may beassociated with the rhythmic activities described above.

Describing the Properties of ObjectsBefore the child reaches the age of four, he should

also have some experience in describing what educa-tors call the properties of objects. Properties are thedistinguishing characteristics of an object. For ex-ample, the child should be able to look at several differ-ent triangles cut from plastic or wood. He should thenbe able to give the object's color and describe its rela-tive size as compared to a number of other trianglesthat may be larger or smaller. He should also be ableto examine its thickness and distinguish this character-istic from other triangular-shaped objects presented.

The child should have experience in describing theproperties of other things with which he comes intocontact. This may range from objects of wearing ap-parel to different dogs and cats in the neighborhoodthat may be alike but different in some respects.

Following is an example of the child's description ofa ball that he has just examined as compared to an-other ball that he owns:

11.20

The ability todescribe theproperties ofobjectsshould havebeenacquired bynow


The childshould beable to de-

scribe objectsand then to

makecomparisonsto things that

are familiar

"The new ball is red and my ball is blue. Thenew ball is softer because I can press it ineasier with my hands. The new ball bounceshigher. The new ball will go flat because it isfilled with air. My old ball is more solid, and itis not filled with air. The new ball has triangleson it, and my old ball has stars and circles onit."

The child should be taught to describe all of theproperties that can identify a particular object, andmake comparisons with other objects familiar to him.

As the child practices building this capability, he willalso have an opportunity to continue to build his vo-cabulary. He needs to be able to express himself, andhe needs to be able to observe and describe what heobserves with a considerable amount of accuracy. Bybuilding the skill to distinguish among different objectsand to describe the properties of them, he will developa number of capabilities that will be useful to himthroughout his entire lifetime of learning.

Reminder:


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Strolling/Walking

Habits of observation begun . ,4

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now will provide for a life long ,. , it"24.k ,, ,.-%., i;Irkt** t

experience of learning. Our , 5 ' . ' .0.-1.4!I

everyday world is brimming ,. r_s

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tin j 1with excitement just waiting to

.be experienced. As you walk .

with the child concentrate on ..,, T- Vone sense a day. V_

7One day concentrate on smell; compare a flower that has a strong smell toanother one that does not, smell freshly cut grass, or a backyard barbecue.Ask her to tell you when she smells something; identify the smell together.Another day, listen for sounds and let her identify them. Compare quietsounds to loud sounds and the whispering wind in the trees verses a dogbarking.Let her touch and compare the textures of nature, the rough bark of a treeverses the soft petal of a flower.

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Descriptive Words1

Always remember to have funwith any activity. If the child isbecoming bored let him playwith objects of his own choos-ing. Later you can continuewith the descriptive wordswhen he may be more recep-tive.

Combine a mixture of items that are easy to handle and place them in a largecontainer or grab bag. Use things such as a "rough" rock and a "smooth"rock, a "big" ball and a "little" ball, and a "soft" toy and a "hard" toy.Ask the child to get a "soft" toy from the container, then a "rough" rock.As soon as the correct item has been found, return it to the container beforeasking for the next one.Try hiding the same items in different places and ask her to look "behind" thechair for the "big" ball, or "under" the table for the "hard" toy.

"HOW-TO-DO-IT" APPLICATIONS 115

Calendar

Find a highly visible place,such as on the refrigerator, tohang a calendar that you havecreated by letting boxes repre-sent each day. You may wantto revisit the calendar at a mo-ments notice as an opportunitypresents itself.

Using crayons/markers and a poster board, create a week's calendar.Daily, let him mark and then explain how the marked box represents "today".Continue each day until the week ends, then create next week's calendar.Continue until he understands that 7 boxes represent a full week.Introduce the concept of yesterday, today, and tomorrow by making a simplesketch or placing a picture of a particular activity or event on each day's box.Discuss the events to show they relate to the current day, "this happened lastnight, and that was yesterday' or "we will do that tomorrow after breakfast".

Rhyming Words

Many children's books containphrases that rhyme. You maywant to apply the techniqueexplained below to the readingof a book by asking the childto tell you when he hearswords that rhyme.

Ask her if she wants to play a game of finding words that sound alike.Call attention to the words "man" and "can" and how they sound alike.Next ask if she can think of a word that sounds like "hat".If necessary, help her with some clues "I know a word that sounds like "hat", itis an animal that has whiskers and says meow". Continue to provide cluesuntil she can come up with the correct answer, "cat".Ask her to choose a rhyming word from a group of 3 by saying "what wordsounds like chair?... dog, hair or tree?"

112


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Additional Learning forThree- and Four-Year-Olds

Not only should the child three to four years of agebe able to recognize the letters of the alphabet, sheshould develop the ability to recite the alphabet from Athrough Z. She should also be able to recite the re-mainder of the alphabet when given a particular letter;for example, if her parents give the letter 0, the childshould be able to continue, in consecutive order, theremaining letters in the alphabet to Z.

Additional Skill Buildingin Learning Letters

In addition to alphabet recitation skill, the childshould also have more practice and drill so that shecan flawlessly do the following:

(1) The child should have letter matching skills.When given a printed letter, she should beable to select an identical letter from a set ofprinted letters set before her.

(2) The child should have letter recognition skills.When she gets the verbal label for a letter, sheshould be able to select the appropriate letterfrom a set of printed 16tters; for example, if sheis given the letter Q, she should be able to goto a group of letters and select a Q. This

The three- tofour- year-oldchild shouldbe able torecite thealphabet

The childshould havelettermatching,recognition,and labelingskills


Phoneticsounds of the

alphabetshould be

started

Words shouldnot be taught

at this time,only letters

and sounds

Make surethat eachsound is

producedproperly

should be done after the parent repeats theletter "Q" verbally.

(3) The child should have letter labeling skills.When she is given a printed letter, the childshould be able to look at it and verbally givethe name of the letter; for example, whenhanded the letter K, she should be able to lookat the letter and say, "This is K."

Teaching Elementary Phonics

Some children, before the age of four, will be readyto learn the phonetic sounds of the consonants. Theymay also be ready to learn the long vowel sounds (thesounds of the vowels that "say" their own names a, e,

o, u).After the child has mastered the letter recognition,

letter labeling, and letter matching skills describedabove, she is ready to begin a few elementary phoneticsounds. These should be taught very casually, withgames devised to make fun out of learning. It is easyfor parents to press too hard in teaching phonetic skills.The light-handed, casual touch is recommended.Teach in an incidental and off-hand way as you talk,play, and work with the child in her daily routine.

The parent should begin teaching the sounds thatletters make by explaining to the child that, in additionto a letter having a name, it also makes a sound.(Later, the parent may want to explain that some lettersmake more than one sound.)

Parents should not teach words at this time, butmerely repeat the consonants (b, c, d, f, g, etc.) andhave the child learn through practice and drill andthrough continuous games to give not only the name ofthe letter but the sound it makes. Although the longvowel sounds are easily taught -- since these letters saytheir own names -- they can be taught more easily andcasually after the sounds of the consonants have beenmastered by the child.

Make sure that each sound is produced properly.Pay special attention to the fact that some letter soundsare spoken and some are whispered. For example, thesounds for F and S are whispered sounds. However, L,

127

Additional Learning for Three- and Four-Year Olds 119

M, N, and R require voice sounds. Games and drillsthrough use of books and toys will help to motivate thechild to learn while she acquires her first phonetic skills.

Caution in Teaching Phonetic Skills

Some children will acquire phonetic skills readily,while others may have a difficult struggle. Child careproviders should delay teaching these skills if the childencounters problems. The emphasis should be on thecasual and almost incidental teaching of some phoneticskills as you play with your child. It is not essential thatthe child master these rudiments of phonetics by theage of four if she needs a few more months to beready. Avoid pressure, but teach as you live and playwith your child in your home.

Keep in mind that our program is an ambitious oneand that the child is receiving many stimulating learningactivities. Be careful not to press too hard. Permit thechild to move along at a natural speed for her.

Additional Strategiesin Teaching Phonetic Sounds

As you teach the child the sounds of letters, you willfind yourself using vowel sounds with consonants; forexample, B has the sound of "bee." The strategy is toteach the child to drop the final vowel sound. Make thesound and teach her that the sound is "bbb." In likemanner, when you give the name for D, you say "dee,"but when you teach the sound for this consonant, say"ddd." The same applies to such letters as T, V, J, K,and others.

In teaching the sounds of letters such as F, L, M, N,R, and S, remember that the name of each letter startswith a vowel sound and ends with a consonant sound.For example, F is pronounced "eff' and L is "ell." Youpronounce S as if it were "ess." In teaching the soundsof these letters, teach the child to drop the vowel soundand merely say the sound that is left when the vowel isomitted. Practice this several times and be ready tohelp the child avoid confusion when you teach these

12S

Child careprovidersshould delayteachingphonetics ifthe child hasproblemslearning thisskill

The vowelandconsonant

sounds can

be taught

Simple drill onthe varioussounds of "c"and "g" canbe touchedon at thispoint

O


Parentsshould teachthe child her

name andaddress

Child careproviders

shouldencourage

ccrwersationby the child

Proceed withcaution in

challengingthe mind of arapid learner

fundamental phonetic concepts. (Be sure you under-stand these concepts as you teach.)

The child should be taught that there is a group ofletters which mcke more than one sound. Tell her thatthe letter C sometimes has a "sss" sound (as in theword "cent") and that G sometimes sounds like "jjj" (asin the word "gentle"). Tell her that these letters andothers sometimes make different sounds, but do notspend too much time explaining this because she willlearn them later and should not be confused at thistime. (The only purpose in mentioning these excep-tions to her here is to prepare her for subsequent in-struction so that she will not be bewildered but willremember later in her learning experiences that excep-tions were mentioned to her.)

Conversations between Parent and Child

Research on learning has taught educators to rec-ognize the value of response and action in learning.Parents and guardians should encourage the child tobe responsive and to participate through action andthrough initiation of activity. Many simple facts andmany mind-stretching experiences can emerge from analertness to learn vocabulary, conversational skills, andthinking processes all at once. The child should betaught her name and address. She should know thename of her parents. She should learn concepts suchas brother, sister, mother, father, husband, wife, aunt,uncle, grandmother, grandfather, son, daughter, grand-son, granddaughter, and cousin. All of these relation-ships to people will be helpful to the child in stimulatingher vocabulary, her thought processes, and her conver-sational skill. Parents should keep a steady flow ofconversation that adds facts and enriches the body ofknowledge for the child.

Ready for a Game of Checkersor even Simplified Chess?

Some children with unusual ability may be ready fora stimulating and competitive game of checkers orchess. A parent who finds if difficult to challenge the

120

Additional Learning for Three- and Four-Year Olds 121

mind of rapid learner may want to experiment cau-tiously to see if the child at this age would benefit fromthe mental stimulation of checkers or even a simplifiedgame of chess. If you decide to try at this early age, becareful about pressure. You don't want to harm yourchild's eventual readiness (see Chapter 14) at a latertime in her growth and mental development.

The idea is to challenge the child with opportunitiesto reach the outer limits of potential. This suggestion is"tossed out" at this time for those few who may needthe additional challenge.

SummaryThe child who has been exposed to the full range of

learning experiences recommended in this book (toage four) will have had an opportunity to grow intellec-tually far beyond that of the typical child of this age.These experiences should greatly enhance her intelli-gence and her ability to learn.

We have emphasized a number of times that learn-ing should be fun, and have placed considerable em-phasis upon learning through creative play. We havecautioned against pressure and emphasized the needfor successful experience and for wide application ofthe reinforcement theory. We have stressed the neces-sity for adjusting the level of difficulty to the capacity ofthe child and again emphasized that the child, throughher responses, should indicate to the parent how toadjust the teaching and learning program.

We have emphasized that individual differences andvariations in the growth cycles of children make it im-possible to recommend a standard of performance ap-plicable to all children. Therefore, we have attemptedto recommend those tasks and outline those learningskills that will meet the needs and match the capabili-ties of the typical child. The parents should adapt andadjust.

Children love to play and interact with others. Thisprogram of early childhood education assumes thatplay can be creative and that learning can be a game.Therefore learning and play can be one if the parentjudiciously uses the natural inclinations of the child forthis purpose.

13 0

Theseexperiencesshould greatlyenhance thechild'sintelligenceand ability tolearn

Makeadaptationsandadjustmentsas you teach


Assess yourexperiencesto this point

with the child

As we conclude the fourth year in our program ofearly childhood education, we recommend that the par-ents review some of the fundamental principles ofteaching and learning for the preschool child. Assesyour experiences to this point with your child, keepingin mind that you have another excellent year before thechild is ready for kindergarten and formal schooling.Be prepared to make the most of this final year in yourprogram of home-based, early childhood education.

131

123

'EST COPY AVAILABLE 132

124 °HOW-TO-DO-If APPUCATIONS

[Letters/Numbers

Learning to recognize lettersand numbers in written form isa gradual process and willcome with time. Remember itis normal for different childrento learn at different speeds.Be patient and relaxed whenteaching this skill.

This is a good time to teach the ABC song if it is not already known.While looking at a book point to a "B"; see if the child can find another "B".Make a game of finding and gradually teaching the entire alphabet.After success with the above, use the idea that "I see a B, can you find a B?"Reverse roles, let the child pick out a letter, name it and ask you to find it.Find a 'T' and ask the child to find and count all the 'Ts" on that page.Or point to a particular word and ask how may 'Ts" are in that word.Do similar things to teach identification of printed numbers as well.

AN.

Family

This activity will increase vo-cabulary, encourage thoughtprocesses and enlarge con-versational skills. It will alsogive you an opportunity to ex-plain what a "stranger' is, howto identify one and how toreact to one.

Help your child make a "family album".Collect photos of family members, parents, brothers and sisters, grandpar-ents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.Draw your house on a large piece of paper using simple shapes.Paste pictures of family members living in the house to the windows in thedrawing. Write the names and relationships below each picture such as "mysister Brittany" or "my brother Ryan".Revisit this activity often. Occasionally have her explain it to special visitors.

.L

"HOW- TO-DO-IT' APPUCATIONS 125

Family Cont'd

This activity will also providethe opportunity to introduceother ideas that can begrasped at this age, ideas thatmay be unique for your familyor circumstances. Create areal sense of the joy in the ex-tended family.

Write your address below the house in the drawing; take him to the mailboxand show how the number of the address match the numbers on the mail-box. Take him to the neafest street sign to show him the street name.Then make a drawing of another house for the grandparents, or others impor-tant to the family. Place their photos in the drawings again with the names

and relationships.Below the house, write the name of the city and state where they live. Showhim where that city is compared to the city he lives in by looking at a map.

Conversation

It is important to encouragethe child to express himselfthrough conversation. Givehim plenty of opportunity todiscuss feelings and to askquestions without interruptionsfrom TV or other distractions.

As you are getting the child ready for bed, encourage him to discuss what he

did during the day.Ask leading questions about activities and events such as, "which of yourfriends did you play with today, and what did you do with them?"Ask him to explain different feelings he had during the day. Was he happy atthe playground, or sad when his friends left?Plan for tomorrow. Discuss what day it will be and anything that has to bedone. e.g. "Tomorrow we will go to the grocery store; what do we need?"

13. ;.

YOUR CHILD'S INTELLECT

I

q ...7,I. .,o, i <

144,

13'5' BEST COPY AVAILABLE

1 2Learning duringFour to Five Years

By the time your child is four years old, he will havereached a level of capacity and performance that willmake it possible for him to learn at a very rapid rate,particularly if you have worked with him through theearlier months of his life and if you have presentedmost of the stimulating and nurturing experiences de-scribed in this book.

Characteristics of the Four-Year-Old

The four-year-old is very independent and, if he istypical, will also be a bit defiant of parental instructions.By the time he has reached this age, he can converserapidly. He will have picked up some "earthy" languageif he has been permitted to play with older children whouse profanity. He will also be prone to express hisfrustrations and to blame his parents for his own mis-takes.

Most four-year-old children have very unusual flightsof imagination. Studies of early childhood developmentdescribe the four-year-old as a "teller of lies." Sincemost four-year-olds enjoy fiction more than fact, theyenjoy telling of things created purely from their imagina-tion.

When the child is four, it is time to begin a pattern ofslightly stronger direction and to teach reasonable rulesof behavior. The exuberance of the four-year-old must

With theproperbackgroundfor learning,the child willbe able tolearn rapidly

Now is thetime to begina slightlystronger set ofrules ofbehavior


Childrenthis age

experienceextremes of

behavior: frominsecurity to

obedience

The child offour is able to

controlhimself, and

will cooperateand

participate ingroup

activities

Many childrendevelop fears

that needattention fromthe child care

provider

be controlled, at least to a limited extent, and mostparents find they must exert a substantial amount offirmness. The four-year-old should be given opportuni-ties to test his abilities and to expand his limits of explo-ration out-of-doors and around the neighborhood. Thiswill provide an outlet for the aggressiveness typical ofthis age.

Studies of child development and child personalitygrowth indicate that in the early years of life, most hu-man beings experience extremes of behavior, typifiedby insecurity and rebelliousness and followed by peri-ods of obedience and a strong desire to please. Thesefluctuations in behavior seem to be nature's way ofhelping the child develop and expand his capabilities.As he gets older, these extremes of behavior diminishto a more even pattern representative of an attitude ofaccepting life and the rules of living.

By the time the child reaches 4 1/2 years of age, hewill have moved into another phase of behavior that willbe less volatile and challenging to the parent. The childat this age is improving in his control and in his abilityto cooperate and participate in family affairs. He ishighly motivated toward conversation and will want todiscuss many things with his parents. This is especiallytrue if he is on easy terms with his parent or guardian.The child will be full of questions and anxious to receiveexplanations. This presents an unequal opportunity forteaching, and alert parents and child care providers willwant to take full advantage.

Watching for Fears and Apprehensions

Many children, during the age from four to fiveyears, develop fears and concerns that need attentionfrom parents. It is not unusual for children at this ageto have nightma-es and cry out in the night. Somechildren under stress bite their fingernails and urinate inmoments of emotional excitement.

All in all, this period from four to five years of agewill prove to be a challenging time for parents and childcare providers involved in early childhood educationprograms. It is a time for parents to be thoughtfullyconcerned about helping the child develop good habitsof cooperation and participation in family life. It is a

1 3

Learning during Four to Five Years 129

time for firmness mixed with loving understanding.There must be an adequate amount of both with specialattention to loving understanding.

Children constantly need parental love, but the four-to five-year-old is in particular need of the security andassurance that he is loved by his parents. Review yourrelationship with your child. Show some extra affectionand concern at this time. Love is a powerful force inteaching and learning . . . use its power to advantage.

Vocabulary Development for the Four-Year-Old

During the time that a child is four to five years old,child care providers should strive to develop his vo-cabulary as rapidly as possible. Research indicatesthat between the ages of two and five years, a childadds approximately 500 to 600 new words each year tohis vocabulary, indicating the great receptiveness thatpreschool children have for learning. During this finalyear before the child enters school, you will want to usethis receptive power to help him build a rich vocabulary.

The four-year-old is particularly fascinated by words.He is learning to express ideas and feelings throughuse of a vocabulary. At age four, most children havelearned to talk quite clearly. Four-year-olds are avidconversationalists, and parents should use this greatinterest and desire to converse to maximum advantage.Throughout this book, we have attempted to emphasizethe great value in stimulating vocabulary development.At no period in the child's life is this more importantthan from the ages of four to five.

Along with his vocabulary development, parentsshould be conscious of helping a child to enunciateproperly. Be sure to speak clearly and simply to yourchild. Do all that you can to help him speak in com-plete sentences. Encourage him to express himselfclearly, but to do so by using complete sentences.

Age four is a time of great natural curiosity. Parentsshould use this to maximum advantage in building vo-cabulary and understanding of the world surroundingthe child. Be sure to continue to expand his contactwith books, and do all possible to help him have satis-fying experiences so that he will have a good outlookand attitude toward them.

1 3 S

It is time for acertainamount offirmnessmixed withlovingunderstanding

Be sure tospeak clearlyand simply tothe child

Age four is atime of greatnaturalcuriosity


The four-year-old is full of

questions

The child ofthis age isanxious to

explorethrough

touching,tasting,

smelling,hearing, and

seeing

Give the childas many

opportunitiesas possible to

meet otherchildren of the

same age

Parents will find the four-year-old full of questions.There will likely be times when the child will ask morequestions than the parent may consider reasonable.Be sure that you are not impatient with this questioning.It is part of his great curiosity, and you should be doingwhat you can to cultivate an attitude of wanting to knowrather than discouraging him by refusing to answer orignoring his questions. Be sure to respond and makeexplanations to questions as simply and directly aspossible. Your behavior should encourage mind-stretching conversation. Keep the conversation flow-ing.

The child at this age will be particularly anxious tohave multi-sensory learning experiences. He will ex-plore through touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, andseeing. Be sure to encourage this and expose him toall of the senses as a means of bringing his mind intocontact with the real world around him. Most parentsunderestimate the capability of four-year-old children.The child at this age is much more capable of absorb-ing information than many parents realize. Be sure tohelp your child take maximum advantage of this time inhis life when he will be eager to learn and will be filledwith curiosity and enthusiasm.

Attaining Social Maturitythrough Play with Others

Most children will be entering the formal schoolstructure shortly after they turn four. It is therefore im-portant that parents pay particular attention to the so-cial maturity of the child. Give your child as manyopportunities as possible to meet other children of thesame age. Provide opportunities for sharing, playing,and working together with others. This will help thechild make a better adjustment to school life. It willhelp him develop wholesome attitudes toward, andhave respect for the rights and feelings of others.

Introduction of Reading to the Four-Year-Old

When the child is four years old, parents shouldencourage him to review the letters of the alphabet and


to practice drawing the letters with a pencil or crayon.He will develop some hand-eye coordination and con-trol as he traces or tries to form a rough approximationof letters. Use the letters as you say them so that hissense of hearing can also make impact upon his mind.Through these multi-sensory experiences, he will rein-force the knowledge he has and will be able to apply itas he builds upon this background. Parents shouldcontinue to teach and to review, through practice, thesounds the letters symbolize. (You may want to rereadthe material in previous chapters to make sure that yourchild has a solid background in this area.)

After the child has completed a good review of theletters of the alphabet and understands some of thebasic sounds of the letters, he is ready to be exposedto a few simple words and to learn that the alphabet isthe building material for words and that written wordsare useful in his life. The formal and systematic teach-ing of reading is a job for professionally trained teach-ers. In this book it is suggested that a few word recog-nition experiences be provided. Some children willwant more word recognition experience, and othersshould wait for further maturation. Help your child tosee words as symbols for objects with which he is fa-miliar. Do this casually, and do not try to teach byformal instruction.

When the child's interest is high in some simpleobject or in some possession of interest to him, takethe opportunity to form a simple three- or four-letteredword. Show him the letters and remind him of thesounds for them. Through this, you can present to himfor the first time the idea that a group of letters standsfor something. For example, if the child has a cat ordog in which he has a great interest, you may, at anappropriate time, introduce him to the word "cat" or"dog." This can be followed by pictures that may havecaptions identifying the objects.

Casual Exposure to Printed Words

In introducing the child to his first experience inreading, be very casual about it. Present the conceptsas incidentally and naturally as possible. Slip an ideain here and there in your daily experiences with him.

140

The child willdevelop hand-eye coordina-tion with drillin writingnumbers andletters

Expose thechild to a fewsimple words;teach him thatthe alphabetis the buildingmaterial forwords

Create aresponsiveenvironmentso that thechild willcasually pickup themeaning ofwritten words


Create wordlists that are

labels offamiliar

objects in hisenvironment

Play wordmatching

games withthe child

This is a good time to print some simple cards andlabel a few of the common objects around the home.Put the word "bed" where he sleeps at night. In acasual way, show him the word and remind him of theletters that he has already learned which make up thatword, and also remind him that the word represents thename of the thing he sleeps in at night. Do the samewith other objects, such as the toys he plays with, theeating utensils he uses, and so forth. Tnis is all part ofcreating a responsive environment around the home toexpose the child to ideas in a very casual and naturalway, free from pressure but full of rich and meaningfulexperiences at any time the child is ready to absorb anew concept.

Parents should be extremely cautious to teachthese few, simple, introductory, word-meaning ideas ina manner that will avoid any possibility of the child'sdeveloping an adverse attitude toward reading. Re-member that it is important to teach causally and al-most incidentally a few simple words at a time. (Do notdemand or insist in any way that a word be learned.Simply expose the child to the word and let him absorbwhat he will from casual contact. His formal teachingwill come at school.)

Coordination with Television Programs

The lessons on word exposure and preparation forreading in such TV programs as "Sesame Street" willsupplement the casual approach of introducing readingto the child during the four- to five-year-old period. Fol-low up the TV lessons with some relaxing play, with thechild using the subject matter that was presented.Words commonly used in television word recognitiondrills are as follows:

bigmetelephoneexitran

love stop birdstreet bus mopdanger pat thepet up funUS I school

walk is sit youlet spot

Parents should develop their own word lists that arelabels for common objects found around the home and

.t4


familiar to the child. Keep word cards on the objectsand refer to them often when working and playing withthe child.

Another word recognition skill is to help your childmatch a printed word on a card with an identical wordfrom a set of printed words. Let him practice this, buthelp him by giving clues. Try to make a game of itwhile remaining casual and relaxed. Remember thathis attitude and outlook toward the entire matter ofreading is more important than his merely learning aword.

You may want to expose the child to some decod-ing skills as shown on TV programs. For example, youmay want to teach him to recognize and point to thefirst and last letters in a word. Words, to a child justlearning to read, are strange symbols that, he is told,have meaning. He must learn to pronounce a printedword when he sees it. He needs to learn how to usecertain clues to help him know what the word is. Bylooking at the consonants and vowels and by thinkingof the sounds they make, he will have some clues tohelp him. By looking at a word he knows, such as"man," he can learn to recognize the word "ran" simplyby substituting the letter and sound of "r" for the letterIlm.11

Later, as he advances to where it will be useful, youcan even show him how to recognize the first and lastwords in a printed sentence. This may also be donefrom a book while you read to him. Practice in decod-ing related words will help the child acquire a usefulreading skill. In addition, the child should be taught torecognize words in sentences. Help him during read-ing and story-telling times to find words that he haslearned. (You should use the incidental approach andavoid any temptation to get into formal teaching.)

The child should be taught to recognize printedwords in a sentence by realizing that the space be-tween words indicates where one word ends and an-other begins. Practice this element of learning withhim. The test will be when he can look at a sentenceand point to each word in it. He should also be taughtthat all reading moves from left to right. This is usiiallylearned incidentally, but parents should be careful topoint it out and make sure that the child understands.

1 1 4 42

We cannotover empha-size theimportance ofattitude andoutlooktowardlearning

Drill indecodingrelated wordswill help thechild acquirea usefulreading skill

Teach that thespacebetweenwords showswhere oneword endsand anotherbegins


By implantingseeds ofinterest,

progress canbe madewithout anegativereaction

A formalizedand

systematicapproach to

teachingreading is not

recom-mended

at this time

The ability of four- to five-year-old children to learn afew simple reading skills will vary considerably fromone child to another. Parents should continue to teach,using the play and game approach. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of attitude and outlook to-ward reading. Parents will help the child immeasurablyby teaching through the incidental and casual approachthat reading is fun. The child is not mature enough tohave a rigid situation thrust upon him or to receivereading instruction as it is taught in school. We areseeking exposure, using the home or child care centeras a responsive environment for teaching through thecasual method.

Some children, by the time they reach the age offive, will have a reading vocabulary in excess of 500words. Others may not respond at all but will be readya few months later. The important thing is to follow thedictates or mood of the child and avoid all pressure. Avocabulary of 500 reading words is exceptional, andparents should accept whatever can be attained from aprogram of instruction described in this book.

The best strategy for parents to follow in readinginstruction is one of casual exposure, following the sys-tematic teaching of the alphabet recognition skills de-scribed in the previous chapters. If the child respondswith great interest and quickness in reading words (us-ing the letter recognition and sound decoding skills), bealert to take advantage of the readiness and learningability that he displays. If, however, the response issomewhat confused, the parents should use the "softsell" approach, avoiding pressure and teaching accord-ing to the response of the child. By implanting seeds ofinterest, the parent can make progress without negativereaction.

Making Sure The Child Is Ready forReading Instruction in School

You will note from the foregoing discussion that aformalized and systematic approach to teaching read-ing is not recommended at this time. Our purpose is toprepare the child for formal reading instruction and toexpose him to opportunities to begin reading if his apti-

1 4


tude and progress are such that he is ready. With thetype of background information and alphabet recogni-tion skills presented in our pre-reading program, yourchild should enter school with skills and capabilities farexceeding that of the typical kindergarten child.

Systematic and formalized reading instructionshould be left to professionally trained teachers. Weshould avoid confusing him with a varied approach.We have thus limited our effort to attaining certain pre-reading goals and to teaching word recognition, decod-ing, word matching, and casual exposure to a few lim-ited words.

If a gifted or talented child is ready to learn to read,the parent will be able to recognize this. We recom-mend that each child be encouraged to move along asfar and as fast as he desires. A few children will actu-ally be reading from these experiences. However, thetypical child will only be able to master the pre-readinggoals and attain the skills that we recommend as beingvaluable to him as he enters school.

Teaching Relational Concepts

During the period from four to five years of age,parents should strive to give the child a solid under-standing of a number of relational concepts. The mas-tery of these will provide mind-stretching experiencesas well as basic skills that will be useful in school.

Through the use of educational games and otherteaching opportunities in the home and neighborhood,the parent and child care givers should strive to helpthe child understand such concepts as "same" and "dif-ferent." In addition, the child should learn to under-stand size relationships such as tall and short; big, big-ger, and biggest; small, smaller, and smallest. He

should be taught some quantitative relationships suchas more, most, all, less, some, and none. This basicteaching in relational concepts should move on to in-clude positional relationships such as up, down, begin-ning, end, first, next to, around, under, over, on, andthrough. The child should be taught distance relation-ships such as near, far, close to, and away from. Thenhe should be taught temporal relationships such asfirst, last, before, after, next, beginning, and end.

Y. 14;

Avoidconfusing thechild with avaried andcompetitiveapproach

The childshould beencouragedto move alongas far and asfast as hedesires

Teachrelationalconcepts: big,bigger, big-gest; sameand different;tall and short,etc.


Use actualobjects to

illustrate theconcepts

In teaching these relational concepts, one shoulduse concrete illustrations as much as possible. Forexample, in teaching the size relationships of big, big-ger, and biggest, the parent should use actual objectsto demonstrate. Understanding the meanings of thesewords will be much easier for the child if this is done.Positional relationships -- under, over, above, and be-low -- can easily be taught.

It is important to strive to lead the child's mind tocomplete mastery of these concepts. The mind-stretch-ing experiences of mastering these concepts and thebenefits derived there from will be most useful inschool.

Reminder:


I 14 5

rd

414;

;11%4

A

4e1

138 "HOW-TO-DO-1T" APPUCATIONS

Words

There is no need to rush thisactivity. If you find it con-sumes too much time, do halfof the alphabet one day andthe other half another day orcarry it over for several days.Never carry on an activity long-er than she is interested.

ti

I

r

Get a large piece of co _auction paper and using a bold marker or crayonhave the child draw two letters each of the entire alphabet.As you move along, review the names of the letters with her.Using child-safe scissors have her cut out the letters in rectangular shapes toform "cards" of the individual letters.Start to form simple words with the letters like "dog", "cat" or "toy".Then let her form the words by finding the letters herself. Let her concentrateon her name, the name of the street she lives on, or the name of her town.

RIM KA

alga&

Strolling/Walking

Take advantage of your child'seagerness to explore and learnabout his environment. Now isa good time to review an earli-er activity where the idea ofleft and right was taught.Make sure this concept is thor-oughly understood

Draw a neighborhood map with street names, some addresses such asneighborhood friends and other landmarks clearly shown.If he will be walking to a neighborhood school make sure he knows how toget there. Using the map point out to him how you travel from street to street.Help him to get firmly in his mind a picture of your neighborhood and the nec-essary directions to get around in it.With the map in hand and a place in mind take him on a neighborhood tourand let him try to find his way by using the map.

1.47'

4

"How-T0-130-1T2 APPLICATIONS 139

Basic Concepts

These are some of the basicconcepts that are important forthe child to have mastered be-fore entering school. Comfortin using these and other re-lated concepts will ease thetransition from home to school.

As the child is out playing with a group of children, line 3 of the children upand ask "who is tall, taller, tallest?"Ask 3 children to each find a stone, then place them together and ask "which

stone is big, bigger, biggest?"Point out 2 trees to the children, ask "which tree is short and which is tall?"Using the same trees, ask "which trunk is thicker and which is thinner?"Draw 3 lines in the dirt or sand, 2 straight and one wavy. Ask which are thesame and which are different. Ask why.

Conversation

Vocabulary development dur-ing the last year prior to schoolis important. The child will beopen to learning at this time. Itis necessary to continue tochallenge and encouragewithout pressuring him.

r sa.1

Make up stories with the child.Start out with a few sentences to begin the story. Encourage him to use hisimagination by asking him what he thinks will happen next.Ask him to explain to you the story from one of his favorite books or movies.Pretend that you are one character from a favorite book, and he is another,

and have a conversation between the characters.Let a group of children act out a play of a favorite story.Help him to enunciate properly and use complete sentences.

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11

0 Additional Learning forFour- and Five-Year-Olds

This chapter is for four- to five-year-olds who havemastered the previous chapters but need an additionalchallenge. It offers abstract reasoning and problem-solving experiences for children who have demon-strated complete mastery of the curriculum content ofthis book. Parents are advised to review the progressof the child and spend additional time on this chapteronly if it is apparent that the child is ready to proceedwith the learning experiences that follow.

Developing Reasoning Powerthrough Classification Practice

The child should be given opportunities to work withgroups of objects, to sort them out according to varioustypes of classification. She should, for example, prac-tice classifying objects according to their size. Sheshould then have groups of objects that she can clas-sify according to their functions or the purpose forwhich they are used. When presented with a group ofgeometric shapes, she should be able to classify themaccording to their forms as well as to other aspectssuch as color, thickness, etc.

A typical exercise in classification practice is to givea child a can filled with nails, screws, nuts, bolts, andwashers. She first arranges the objects into fivegroups. She then puts the finishing nails (those withvery small heads) in one pile and the box nails (those

45 )

Children thisage should beable toclassifyobjects andgroups ofobjects as tocolor, size,thickness,etc.


The childshould know

thefunctions of

objects

Learningarithmetic canbe made easy

for a child ifcare is usedto adjust the

level ofdifficulty to

the child

with larger, flat heads) in another pile. She then classi-fies and sorts them further by size. She may even betaught to classify them for outside use (those that aregalvanized) and for inside use. She goes on to do thesame with the screws, nuts, bolts, and washers. Thisexperience helps her organize and make decisions ac-cording to what she can see and how she can reasonabout the functions and properties of the objects.

An additional exercise to develop this ability shouldbe presented to the child by having a number of likeobjects, except for one. The child is then stimulated "toreason" as she approaches the question: 'Which ofthese things belong, and which do not?" Several itemsof wearing apparel and one object such as a spoon ordish will provide a basic experience in this regard. (Thechild should be able to see that the object used foreating does not belong in the group.) As she practicesthis, she should be given more complex groups of ob-jects to identify and classify.

The child should then have practice in classifyingobjects on the basis of more than one characteristic.She should be able to see a group of geometric shapesand classify them by color, size, shape, and thickness.The complexity increases as she learns to identify, forexample, a group of triangles that are yellow and of thesame size and thickness. Other sorting and classifyingexperiences can easily be created by the parentthrough use of items around the home.

Learning Experiences in Arithmeticfor Four- to Five-Year-Old

Possibly no other subject area in the school curricu-lum causes more children to feel inadequate and instillsa dislike for learning as much as mathematics. Sincearithmetic is such a systematic and logical subject, itlends itself to organization and arrangement into regu-lar instructional sequences. Therefore, learning arith-metic can be made easy for the child if care is exer-cised in observing the response of the learner and ad-justing the level of difficulty to her needs.

The fundamental precept of adjusting the level ofdifficulty to a point where approximately 80 percent of

Additional Learning for Four- and Five-Year-Olds 143

the responses are correct should indeed apply in theteaching of arithmetic. Children should be success ori-ented in arithmetic with even more care than in anyother subject area. The most frequent mistake of aparent is to eagerly press the child into levels of diffi-culty far beyond her capability. This will cause need-less stress and will make arithmetic seem more difficultto her.

As you stimulate the child's mind to casually attain afew basic mathematical understandings, be careful notto move too rapidly. Resolve to help the child to have awholesome experience so that she will be positive inher attitudes and will begin with the impression thatarithmetic is fun.

Strategy of Teaching

At its point you should review the level of attain-ment of your four-year-old. Go over the material inchapter 10 and make sure that your child has attainedthe counting skills and learned the recommended num-ber symbols. Review the specific skill capabilities out-lined in chapter 10 and patiently work with your child onthem before proceeding to the recommended materialthat follows.

Teaching Addition and Subtraction

You can teach addition and subtraction as you workand play with your child around the home if you will beconscious of opportunities to stimulate her thinkingabout numbers. In placing knives, forks, and spoonson the table as you prepare a meal, be sure to involveyour child in the activity. Ask her to add two additionalspoons and then get her to tell you the total number.Follow this by indicating that three spoons plus twospoons equal five. Use concrete illustrations such asthis. Let the child have manipulative experiences thatwill help her think arithmetically. She will soon get theidea that simple addition is the same as counting andthat simple subtraction is just counting backward or inreverse. By having the casual approach used on her,she will learn addition and subtraction without beingaware of her efforts.

V 152

Help the childhavewholesomeexperiencesso she willhave apositiveattitudetowardlearning

You can teachaddition andsubtraction asyou work andplay with thechild

As you enjoygamestogether,devise waysfor her tosolve simplesubtractionproblems


Teachaddition and

subtractionsymbols

Help the childbridge the

gap betweenmerely

counting andadding or

subtracting

Help the childto realize that

we aresurrounded

withmathematics

in our dailylives

Place objects on the living room floor when youhave playtime with your child. As you enjoy gamestogether, devise ways for her to solve some simple sub-traction problems. If, for example, you are playing with10 blocks, spread them out in an orderly fashion on thefloor and follow through the logic of concluding howmany blocks you have after you subtract three from thetotal group. Go over a number of subtraction combina-tions in this way to provide the child with a broad rangeof experience in thinking numerically as she works andplays.

After you have determined (through play experi-ences) that she has the skill to solve simple additionand subtraction problems, you may want to begin toteach games in which she can quickly solve simpleproblems using addition and subtraction signs ("+" or"-"). Through continuing practice with printed cards,she will respond immediately after thinking through thesolution. You should offer this opportunity only if thechild has been successful in the previous experiencesof working with addition and subtraction problems bycounting certain objects. Keep in mind that it is muchmore difficult for her to read one number and then an-other and mentally arrive at an answer to a problem.

You must help her bridge the gap of merely count-ing objects and then adding or subtracting and beingable to understand the written numerals and then add-ing or subtracting. Do not press your child to obtainthe latter skill unless she has done well in the previousactivity and unless she is obviously enjoying the stimu-lation. Remember to apply the 80 percent correct re-sponse principle here, making sure that you adjust thelevel of difficulty so that eight out of 10 responses arecorrect. This method is extremely important in teachingarithmetic, particularly for the preschool child.

Watching for Teaching MomentsOutside the Home

You should be watching for opportunities to stimu-late the thinking processes of the child in experiencesoutside the home. Watch for numbers and other itemson road signs as you travel in your car. Help her realize

1 5l ti


that we are surrounded with mathematics in our dailylives. Teach her in a manner so subtle that she will belearning arithmetic without realizing she is doing so. Inthis way, her skills and mental capacities will grow natu-rally. This experience will be particularly pleasing forher if you are clever in your approaches and if you keepthe level of difficulty adjusted to 3r unique circum-stances.

As you look at magazines, books, and illustratedmaterials, watch for opportunities to teach arithmetic.Show her such things as a mother animal with her off-spring or a train with cars attached and talk about thenumbers involved. Opportunities will abound for thecasual, incidental, and very natural method of arith-metic instruction we advocate in this book if you areaware that yours is the responsibility to stimulate themind of your child with these subtle approaches. Manyof these kinds of natural experiences will provide thereadiness for a more formal use of arithmetic with writ-ten number symbols.

For some children, the challenge of learning fromlists of written addition and subtraction problems maybe appropriate at this time. Such formal practice ses-sions will not by any means be the proper approach forevery child. You should, however, progress to suchactivities if your child is showing high promise andgreat interest. Let the child's response tell you what todo. Most of all, be very careful not to generate negativeattitudes or create a failure complex. Keep in mind thatthere is plenty of time and that it is not essential thatyour child master simple addition and subtraction atthis age. Teach with love, care, and optimistic recogni-tion and reinforcement for whatever progress the childis ready to achieve.

Learning to Reason through Arithmetic

Because mathematics is almost pure logic, our pur-pose in early childhood education is not only to teachvaluable skills that can be used in school but to de-velop the cognitive powers of the child and help her tobuild a more powerful intelligence. When a child is fouryears of age, child care providers should create experi-

,

Opportunitieswill aboundfor casual,incidental,and naturalmethods ofteachingarithmetic

Be careful nottogenerativenegativeattitudes orcreate afailurecomplex

Be sensitiveto the childand asaware aspossible toher thoughtprocesses


Use amultisensoryapproach in

teaching;have the child

use all of thefive basic

senses

Let your childgive you

problems tosolve

ences for the child to think about problems and to men-tally project outcomes and solutions.

In your daily play and work activity with your four-year-old child, try to follow her thought processes. Par-ticularly in the area of arithmetic, be alert to diagnosewhat her problems are if she is having difficulty. Striveto be sensitive to your child and as aware as possibleof these thinking processes by talking about how shearrives at solutions to problems and challenges yougive her. If you are keenly aware of your child's learn-ing difficulties, you may get a valuable clue that youcan use as a key to helping her over a hurdle in learn-ing.

Using Several Senses in Teaching

Be particularly careful to use a multi-sensory ap-proach in teaching. This can be done in teaching arith-metic, especially with children who are having difficultyin learning. Many experts recommend, for example, theuse of plastic or paper numbers. The child's tactilesense can be used as an input to her mind if she getsthe "feel" of numbers by pasting them on squares ifused as a part of your daily playtime.

After she has created her plastic or paper numbers,you can add to the tactile experience by having herplace a number of objects beside the actual numeral.For example, three buttons could be placed on the floorunder the plastic numeral three. The child who is hav-ing number and arithmetic difficulties could, in this way,uses her sense of touch and her actual manipulativeability to give further input into her mind as a means ofreaching an understanding about quantities repre-sented by the numeral symbols.

To help the child build her ability to reason and uselogic in problem solving, give her experiences in creat-ing problems for you to solve. Have her present num-ber equations to you by placing on a table or the floor agroup of three buttons and then (spaced a short dis-tance away) a group of four buttons. Let her ask youhow many there would be if you combined the twogroups. Your response would demonstrate throughanalysis of the two separate quantities and throughcounting procedures how you arrive at the answer.


Additional experiences forAdvanced Children

For children who apparently demonstrate great in-terest and considerable aptitude in arithmetic, parentsshould move on to teaching equations. Such equa-tions can be written on paper with a blank to be filled in.For example, you may want to give the child practice inaddition problems where the answer is supplied butone of the key numerals is missing. By writing 6 +=9, you introduce the child to simple equations that willbe stimulating if she enjoys this particular type of exer-cise. You may want to go on where three numbers areadded to equal a larger number. For example, youcould present an equation such as: 3 + 2 + =9.(The child would then be stimulated to supply the an-swer of the number "4" in filling out the blank number.)

Such experiences with equations can even be dem-onstrated with objects on the living room floor. Merelysubstitute a number of objects for the written numeralsymbol and have the child pick up the number of ob-jects and insert them in the blank space in the equa-tion. Such experiences are particularly useful for chil-dren who have aptitude and interest. Most four-year-old children will likely not be ready for such an experi-ence at this particular time. In keeping with our desireto help every child attain her full potential and advanceas far as she can when ready, these suggestions onequations are presented in this book as an enrichmentactivity. Be very careful as you experiment with equa-tions. Use them only if you learn that you will havesuccess and little frustration.

Group Games in ArithmeticFor those homes in neighborhoods where children

can play and learn together and for children in childcare centers, some group games using arithmetic todevelop logic to solve problems can be devised. Forexample, a game of baseball could be played whereinchildren advance around the bases by responding cor-rectly to arithmetic problems. Three errors on a sidewould be three "outs," and the other side would cometo bat. Obviously, parents sponsoring these types of

-1

Lie

If the childhas masterednumberconcepts,give hersimpleequations tosolve

Simple gamesthat involvearithmetic canbe devised forthe child


Although theconcept of

"zero" is hardfor the child tounderstand, itcan be taught

Child caregivers shouldoften changeroles with thechild so she

can do theasking

group activities will need to adjust the level of difficultyto the abilities of the children. It will require some in-sight to recognize that some children are not ready foradvanced problems but will have to be given a problemequal to that particular child's ability to answer.

Many other games can be developed, limited onlyby the imagination of and children. Since chil-dren love to play and enjoy group activities with others,it is wise to take advantage of this natural inclination toprovide another opportunity for the child to learn natu-rally and incidentally as she enjoys her association withothers.

Teaching the Concept of "Zero"In teaching arithmetic reasoning, parents may want

to introduce and teach the meaning "zero." Strange asthis may seem to adults, young children seem to havea particularly difficult time understanding what zeromeans. It is hard to teach that it means "nothing" be-cause you cannot demonstrate it as easily as showingthat three buttons or three blocks represent the numeri-cal symbol three.

As you work in your counting and number gameswith your child, you may want to place a number ofbuttons or marbles in some pans or dishes on the floor.While doing this, try putting one empty dish out. Showyour child this dish (after she has counted and an-swered your questions concerning the number of ob-jects in the other dishes) and ask her to tell you howmany buttons are in this dish. When she replies thatthere "aren't any," use this particular opportunity to ex-plain that "zero" means "none" or "nothing."

Some children have difficulty in understanding that6 + 0 = 6. This can be illustrated in a more concretemanner by having six buttons in one plate and no but-tons in another. You can then illustrate that the sixbuttons in the one dish and zero buttons in the otherequal a total of six. The same type of demonstrationcan be used in teaching subtraction where zero is in-volved. By using such demonstrating opportunities,you can teach this simple but often difficult concept.

Give the child opportunities to develop problemsand equations using addition, subtraction, and zero in

1157


the thinking and answering processes. Parents shouldtake care to change roles so that the child has thepleasure of developing questions and providing theleadership in some of the games. She will be moremotivated to learn if she has an opportunity to be theleader once in a while. This will also give her thechance to think and to formulate in her mind somequestions and equations. Give her an opportunity toparticipate in this way and help to provide all of thevariety you possibly can.

Review and Practice in Arithmetic SkillsIt is important to review frequently the number con-

cepts that the child has mastered. Remember that thiscan be done while riding in the car or when she isoutside the home with you in the grocery store oraround the neighborhood. Use these opportunitiesalso to help her review as well as learn new concepts.Until these basic skills are firmly rooted in the mind ofthe child, she will need constant opportunity to use herabilities and exercise her mental processes in so far asmathematical reasoning is concerned. Give ample op-portunity to practice and demonstrate what she haslearned, and be sure to praise her and to recognize heraccomplishments.

Teaching the Days, Weeks, and Months

In chapter 10, we suggested that you introduceyour child to the concept of time. After she has hadconsiderable experience in arithmetic reasoning, sheshould be ready to learn more about how we recordtime and the terminology we use in telling days, weeks,and months. Since the child has some ability with num-bers, she will now be able to look at a calendar and begiven some instructions on how we record and keeptrack of our days.

Help your child understand that time is valuable.Talk to her about the life span of different living things.Explain to her the length of time that most human be-ings live. Explain the expected lifetime of her favoritepet. Through use of an encyclopedia, you -say be ableto get some valuable information that will be useful in

f!, 11 5S

Use everyopportunity toreview thearithmeticskills of thechild

Teach thechild how torecord andkeep track oftime


Explain theconcept of

time: day andnight; weeks;

months

Teach yourchild the days

of the week

Teach themonths of the

year

describing how time is measured. You may also beable to get some information that will be useful in ex-plaining the life expectancy of different animals.

After you have had opportunities several times tohave incidental conversation on the concept of time,teach your child that a day is made up of the period ofdaylight when she is awake and the period of time atnight when all of the family are asleep. Explain that anew day has been born each time she wakes up in themorning. You may want to explain how the sun fur-nished light. (The solar system is too complex to ex-plain at this time.)

The important concept to get across is for her tounderstand what a day is. Be sure to take as muchtime as necessary in this explanation. Over a period ofseveral days, you may want to talk to her about it andcall her attention to the fact that it is early morning,midday, afternoon, evening, time to go to bed, andthen time to get up in the morning to begin anotherday.

Through a conversational approach to this over aperiod of time, the child will soon get an understandingof what we mean when we talk about a day. Sheshould then receive some explanation that will help herunderstand that there are seven days in a week. Helpher to be conscious of the fact that we begin a newweek on a particular day, and through the activities ofthe home, we go through a routine in a week, culmi-nated by a weekend and the beginning of another timeperiod that is somewhat repetitious of the previous one.

If she has not previously learned them, teach herthe names of the days of the week and help herthrough practice and drill to be able to name them inproper consecutive order. You may want to help herbecome familiar with certain things that are unique toyour home that have to do with work that is accom-plished on a particular day of the week. All of this willhelp her gain a concept about time.

After the child understands the concept of days andweeks, teach her through use of a calendar to under-stand the concept of a month. Show her that there are12 months in a year. Explain the seasons of the yearand call her attention to the fact that in her short lifetimethere have been changes in the weather and in the


climate outside that have affected her life and the rou-tine activities of the home. Although it is not essentialto do so, you may want to help her learn to repeat inconsecutive order the names of the 12 months. Youshould not spend too much time on this because in themind of a child, a month is indeed a long time. She hasnot experienced very many of these periods of time inher short lifetime. The important thing is for her tobegin to get the concept about time and how it is mea-sured.

Teaching How to Tell Time

Teaching children of this age to tell time by theclock is difficult. It will be useful, however, to teach thechild to recognize the hours and tell the approximatehour by identifying the number to which the small handon the clock is pointing. Since she now has an under-standing of number concepts and can read numbers,this will not be particularly difficult to do. With today'sdigital clocks, parents may also use a digital timepieceto show by comparison how a clock with hands keepstrack of time.

It is somewhat difficult for a child to understand howthe large hand on a clock functions in indicating time.She must be able to count by fives and to grasp anumber of abstract principles before the full ability oftelling time will come to her. It is recommended thatthe child understand the value of telling time and attainthe ability of telling the approximate hour by looking atthe face of the clock. (This can be done by your callingher attention to the fact that the small hand is the hourhand.) However, with the exception of children withextremely high interest and considerable ability, teach-ing the actual skill of telling time may be delayed untilafter the child has entered school.

Teaching Measurements and Measuring

Another useful and beneficial activity applying someof the skills learned in arithmetic is to help the childunderstand and apply various measurements that weuse around the home. Since all measurements are

6116

It will beuseful for thechild to knowsomethingabout tellingtime by clockor watch

The childshouldunderstandthe value oftelling time

Show thechild howdistances aremeasured


Introduce thechild to the

measurementof volume

The child isalso ready to

learn aboutthe

measurementof weight

quantitative and involve the use of numbers, this is anatural follow-up activity that will broaden the conceptsand basic understandings of the child, at the same timegiving her additional opportunities to apply what shehas learned.

Begin your activity of exposing the child to the con-cept of measurement by showing her how distancesare measured. Through the use of a ruler or a yard-stick, show her how to measure the length of an objectthat is familiar to her. If you are measuring the length ofthe kitchen table, for example, point out the numbersand introduce her to the terms of "inch" and "foot."Show her how you can mark the space for one foot orone inch with a pencil, and help her understand thatwhat she has learned about numbers will be useful inthis type of activity. You may want to follow this bymeasuring her height on the wall, using a yardstick,ruler, or tape measure. Give her many concrete experi-ences in the use of linear measurement.

Next, you should introduce your child to measure-ment of volume. Most household kitchens have ampledevices, and the parent has numerous opportunities todo this. Let her participate in following a recipe fromyour cookbook. By doing this, she could learn thenumbers in your book that indicate certain measure-ments, and you could help her grasp the idea that an-other measurement similar to linear measurement is themeasurement of volume in terms of ounces, pints,quarts, gallons, and so forth. You may want to give hera problem where she would measure a given quantityof water through application of the knowledge that youpresented her.

Your child is also ready to learn about the measure-ment of weight. If you have a bathroom scales, let herweigh herself and also weigh other objects around thehome. Help her realize that this is another importantmeasurement used in our everyday lives. She can ap-ply more of her arithmetic ability through actual experi-ences that you can plan for her, and she can broadenher understanding and extend her vocabulary at thesame time.

Teach measurements gradually and incidentally asthe occasion presents itself in the home. Be alert foropportunities to remind the child that we live in a world

16,


where numbers and quantity are important. If it is con-venient and useful, you may want to introduce her tothe concept of the units that make up our money sys-tem. This can be done by showing her various coinsand demonstrating how many coins of different value itwill take to make a dollar. All such activities willbroaden the experience and extend the depth of under-standing of your child. Expose her to as many mea-surements and experiences in becoming familiar withquantities and with the application of numbers andarithmetic as possible.

Value of Incidental Teaching

The importance of incidental teaching and casualinstruction as it emerges from the natural situation ofliving in the home and neighborhood cannot be over-emphasized. As contrasted to formal and disciplinedlearning experiences, the casual, incidental methodtakes advantage of practical teaching moments andeliminates the necessity for discipline and formal study.In teaching measurements and the application of arith-metic skill around the home, the natural, incidental ap-proach will be productive only if the parent is con-sciously alert to seize upon opportunities.

Teaching thevalue of coinscan be fun

Casual,incidentalteachingis mostimportant tothe child'slearning

154 "How--0-D0-11"" APPLICATIONS

[ Numbers 1

Because the numbers con-cepts seem difficult for manychildren to understand, it isnecessary to review exercisesthat involve numbers often andin many different ways. Clarityof purpose and patience willhelp.

Prepare a snack placing 3 apples in a row on the table, Count the appleswith the child; take one away and ask, "How many are left?"; take away anoth-er and again ask, "How many are left?"; then, add the 2 apples back to therow and ask "Now, how many do we have?".As you set the table say: "We have 3 place settings but 4 people will be here.How many more settings do we need?" Use other variations of this idea.On the playground, there are swings to be counted. As you walk there arefence posts and as you drive there are "red" cars to be counted.

77;

it.411

fo.mat

Classifying

The child should be givenmany opportunities to classifyobjects into groups accordingto size, shape, color and func-tion. Opportunities abound ineveryday activities to reinforcethis learning experience. Useit to advantage.

Place 4 items in front of the child, all having a specific use at mealtime withthe exception of one, for example, a dish, a cup, a spoon, and a glove.Ask her if there is anything that would not be useful in eating dinner, ask herto tell you what it is and what that object is used for.Or use a shirt, a sock , a scarf and a plate, and ask what does not belongand why.Let the child separate her toys into various groups of her choosing and haveher explain how and why she separated them.

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LMeasurement 1

.How-TO-D0-17' APPUCATIONS 155

Calendar

By now the concept of "today',"tomorrow", and "yesterday"should be well understood. Itis now time to expand hisknowledge of the calendar bycreating a full month.

Draw a large monthly calendar with the days blocked off.Have the child help you number each day in the appropriate blocks.Each morning, have him " X" out "today" and remark that "today is Friday".Draw or attach pictures of events that you know will happen each day.As you begin new weeks, point out how certain things happen on certaindays every week such as church on Sunday.Familiarize the child with the concept of how days repeat each week, andteach her the order of the days.

Teach measurements gradual-ly as the opportunity arises.Such exercises will give thechild a chance to apply whathas been learned about num-bers in relation to his everydaylife and activities. 0)-

(

te

Find two objects that are similar, one heavy and one light. e.g. a plastic toytruck and a metal toy truck.Have the child hold each truck, one at a time and ask which is heavier.Take the trucks to a scale to show the difference in the numbered weights.Weigh both yourself and the child. Explain.Provide a ruler and show how to use it. Measure and compare various items.Make a height chart to see how much he has grown. Mark his height whenhim was born and compare that to how tall he is now.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 1 6,-,

)

156 "How-TO-DO-If APPLICATIONS

t

BEST COPY AVAILABLE16,,

4. Preparing Your Child1 for School

As the time approaches for your child to begin hisformal schooling, it is important that steps be taken tomake this adjustment as easy as possible on him. Thischapter will outline some procedures that should befollowed in preparing your child for school. It will alsoinclude some instructional activities to be carried out bythe five-year-old in the home.

Teaching Directions andGeographical Relationships

By the time he is ready to enter school, your childshould be aware of the geographical relationship of hishome to other places in the neighborhood. Moreover,he should have some information about the communityin which he lives and how it relates to his neighborhoodand home.

Sometime after the child has reached 4 1/2 years ofage, begin talking to him about the neighborhood andthe community in which you live. Help him find his wayto places of interest in the neighbort.Jod. Show himyour house number, and teach him how streets arenamed and how houses are numbered. Help him togain an understanding that certain places and specifichomes can be located because they have addresses.Teach him your family address and help him be able torecall and repeat this without difficulty.

Make theadjustment toformalschooling aseasy aspossible onthe child

Help the childto gain anunderstandingof the locationof his homein theneighborhood


Watch foropportunities

to teach asense ofdirectionwhile the

child is thisyoung

Show thechild the best

route toschool

Explain to the child the concept of the four basicdirections of north, south, east, and west. Explain thatthe sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Makesure he understands that these are general geographi-cal directions which will be important in finding his wayin the community and neighborhood. Help him throughrepetition and incidental reminders to understand thefour basic directions by identifying them with certainlandmarks that can be recognized from his home.

Explain to your child that when he is facing east andputs his hand out to the left, he is pointing to the north.Explain that directly behind him is west and that byputting his hand out to the right, he will be pointingsouth. If your child has not learned to distinguish be-tween his left and right hands, you may need to reviewthis casually and incidentally over a period of days untilhe understands this concept.

Your child will learn that the directions of north,south, east, and west are constant. He should knowthat wherever he might be, the identification of thesebasic directions will be important to him. As you go tothe neighborhood grocery store, take a few moments topoint out the four basic directions so that he will under-stand that orientation of himself to these directions re-quires a different identification when he is outside hisown home. Watch for opportunities to teach a sense ofdirection while your child is this young. As you travelwith him in the car and as you move about the commu-nity, look for additional teaching moments when yourconversation can lead to pointing out these importantconcepts to him.

If you have access to a compass, you may want touse it as a teaching device as you teach direction.

Teaching Your Child to Walk to theNeighborhood Elementary School

If your neighborhood elementary school is withinwalking distance of your home and if your child will berequired to walk to and from school, you should availyourself of the few months before he enters school toteach him how to get there and to return home safely.Show him the best route to follow. Walk along with him

167'

Preparing Your Child for School 159

to school and back several times. Point out some safeplaces to cross the street, and teach him awareness oftraffic. Be sure to emphasize safety. Help him to be-come self-reliant and independent in this matter.

Small children often feel insecure in school if theyare confused or if they have doubts in their mindsabout their ability to return home. It is particularly im-portant that the small child enter school with full confi-dence that he can find his way home without any assis-tance if necessary. He will feel secure and will findhimself confidently oriented if he attains this capabilityby the time he enters school.

Be sure to avail yourself of the opportunity to pointout the four basic directions to the child while at theschool. From school, you might also point to otherplaces that are familiar to him, such as the neighbor-hood grocery store, the drugstore, the post office, andother places where you have often gone together. Doall that you can to make him feel properly oriented andsecure in his surroundings at school where he will soonbe spending a large part of his time.

Getting Acquainted with the School Building

After your child has become thoroughly familiar withthe task of finding his way from your home to theschool and back to your home, you should take a brieftime to help him become familiar with the inside of theschool building. From the viewpoint of the child, theschool building is an enormous structure. He may feelfrightened and lost inside it unless he becomes familiarwith the internal surroundings. Some time spent on thiswill help your child feel more secure when he enrolls forthe first time in the school.

Walk around the school building with your child andpoint out the important places that he will soon be us-ing in his formal educational experiences. Explainabout the classrooms and how the corridors serve as"inside streets" in getting from one room to another.Explain the responsibilities of the school principal andthe teachers. Show your child the school lunch roomand the rest rooms. Help him become familiar with theinternal surroundings of the school building beforeschool begins.

Help the childto beconfidentlyoriented sothat he canfind the wayhome fromschool

Take yourchild to theschoolbuilding

Explainabout theclassroomsand thecorridors


Many childrengo through a

sense ofshock andfrustrationwhen they

enter school

Most schoolswelcome

visits fromfuture school

pupils

Keep in mind that your child will be entering into anew world when school starts. He will be surroundedwith friends and competitors in the classroom. He willhave many social adjustments to make. If you haveadequately oriented him to the physical features of theschool and have helped him feel comfortable and famil-iar inside the school building, he will not have thisadded burden of adjusting in addition to the social ad-justment that comes during the first days of school.

This emphasis upon the orientation to the schooland upon finding a safe and secure pedestrian routefrom your residence to the school may seem to you tobe unnecessary. Some children get along very wellwithout this extra type of precaution and preparation.Many children, however, go through a sense of shockand frustration when they enter school. They cry andinsist upon leaving for home in the middle of a schoolday. In extreme cases, they even resort to imaginaryillness, bed wetting, and other avenues of psychologi-cal escape. Much of this can be avoided if parentssystematicacy prepare the child for entering into theschool system. Such orientation and preparation isanother safeguard to make sure that the child is prop-erly launched into his formal educational career andthat the amount of adjustment and stress upon thechild is kept to a minimum. He needs to feel secureand confident. This will be greatly enhanced if the par-ent takes the time to teach him.

Most schools welcome visits from future school pu-pils. If you find that you are welcome, take the opportu-nity to help your child get acquainted with the kinder-garten teacher, the principal, and other individuals inthe school. Keep in mind that the school is a very busyplace and that most of the staff members are workingunder considerable pressure. Arrange your visits at atime that will be convenient for the school. Call in ad-vance and adjust your situation to fit the circumstanceof the staff members that you want to visit.

Teaching GamesThat Require Abstract Reasoning

During the summer months before school opens,your child should have an opportunity at this stage in

16,9


his development to practice using his intellect to thinkahead and project alternative outcomes from possibleactions that he might take. He needs to be able to formin his mind what might happen if he does one thing ascompared to what might happen if he elects to do an-other thing. Games such as tic-tac-toe, checkers, andsimplified chess are excellent approaches to teachingthese intellectual capabilities. After your child haspassed the age of 4 1/2 years, you should plan to intro-duce him to these three games and to teach himthrough creative play experiences to use his intellect inabstract, situational reasoning circumstances. Betweenthe time your child is age 4 1/2 and the opening ofschool, be sure to offer him numerous opportunities tomatch wits with you through use of these games. Thefollowing discussion of the games may be useful inyour teaching and learning experiences with your child.

Teaching Tic-tac-toe

As you introduce your child to tic-tac-toe, plan yourstrategy to attract his interest and to make sure that hehas an enjoyable experience at the outset. It will take anumber of weeks to lead your child to a place where hecan play this game effectively. Whether he enjoys itand gains mind-nurturing experiences from it will becontingent upon how clever you are in making the ex-perience a rewarding and reinforcing one for him. Becareful not to correct his errors in a way that damagesthe pleasure of the experience for him. Permit him towin and to have .4 successful experience, but do notmake it obvious that you are being excessively chari-table with him. As he learns, he will give you morecompetition, and the competitiveness can be moregenuine. Play the game as often as the child's interestand initiative will permit.

Teaching Your Child to Play Checkers

The game of checkers is a bit more complex thantic-tac-toe. Teach it after the child has learned the firstgame, or teach them alternately. You should explain toyour child that he is now growing up and becoming

170

Help the childto think aheadand to projectalternativeoutcomes

As you playtic-tac-toewith yourchild, be surehe has anenjoyableexperience


Try tointroduce

checkers in acasual way so

the child willnot feel

compelled toplay

Be sure thatthe child has

successfulexperiences

from the gameof checkers

quite powerful in using his mind. Try to introduce himto the game in a very casual way so that he will not feelcompelled to play, but will have a curiosity and a desireto reach this level of competence and sophistication.Parents often have great success in teaching checkersby drawing on paper or cardboard a 16-square check-erboard. By using only two or three checkers on eachside, the child is then confronted with a much moresimplified approach to the game than would be thecase with the full-sized checkerboard and the challengeof managing 12 checkers at a time. By using the 16-square checkerboard and two or three players, the par-ent and the child can experience the handling of thecheckers and learn the rules of the game before usingthe more complex, full-sized game.

In teaching your child to play checkers, be sure thathe has successful experiences. Let him make mistakeswithout very much instruction from your side. You maycasually point out an error at the same time you indi-cate that you make errors in the game. It will be usefulif you can discuss the game with him in a mature waywherein you can analyze the strategy and think throughways to improve. Remember that your purpose is tohelp project his thinking into future consequences ofany actions he might take so that he will learn to envi-sion an outcome of such actions and arrive at decisionsbased upon this ability to plan ahead in his mind thepossible consequences. Let him learn by trial and errorwith some gentle suggestions from you. Be very care-ful not to "come on too strong" with instruction, correc-tion, and finger pointing that will decrease his interestand pleasure. The game is for fun and intellectual de-velopment. Be sure that you work with him in such away that he gains this from the experience he is having.

As you move to the larger game of checkers, beskilled in adjusting the level of competition so that he ischallenged at the same time that he has successfulexperiences in winning and in capturing some of yourcheckers on the checkerboard.

Teaching Simplified Chess

Needless to say, chess is a highly complex gamerequiring an alert, analytical, and objective mind. It will


be an excellent intellectual accomplishment for yourchild at this age to learn to play the simplified game ofchess. If he has had successful experiences with theprevious games, he may be ready for simplified chess.

You may help your child want to play the game byexplaining how "grown up" the game of chess is. Youmay show him newspaper articles written about chessand chess situations diagramed in the newspapers.

Ca,ually teach the rules of the different players onthe chess board. Practice different movements withhim so that he will understand the different movementsof rooks, knights, bishops, and so forth. Gradually andsystematically introduce him to this very fine game. Becasual and relaxed in your teaching strategy. Do notinsist on playing chess unless he wants to. Then, whenyou do play, make sure that he has a successful experi-ence and that he is permitted to quit when he desires.Watch his responses and adjust your teaching strategyto meet his needs.

It will be quite an outstanding accomplishment ifyour child at this age learns to play and enjoy the gameof chess. Do not be eager to teach it if he has nointerest -- for learning chess is not essential. It will be,however, an avenue to further intellectual developmentif the two of you learn to enjoy playing the game.

Additional Suggestionsin Preparing for School

As the time for the opening of school approachesfor your child, think through all of the preparations thatwill help to enhance his initial experiences at school.Check the condition of his health and make sure thathe has had the proper immunizations and eye and den-tal examinations. You will want your child to be in goodhealth and ready for the physical rigors of formalschooling.

Help your child to be tolerant and understanding ofothers who may not have been as fortunate as he inreceiving this program of instruction. Explain the needto be considerate of others. Help your child to antici-pate with a positive outlook the new experience of en-tering school for the first time.

174

Casuallyteach therules of theplayers onthe chessboard

The childshould be ingood healthand ready forthe physicalrigors offormalschooling


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A Final Word

This manual has described an approach to home-based, early childhood education that teaches withoutformal, disciplined instruction. The program assumesthat the child will increase her learning ability throughabsorbing what her parent teaches while at play, eatingor dressing, helping around the house, or participatingin regular family activities. The emphasis has beenupon full use of those fleeting teaching moments thatrise incidentally as the child interacts with parents andother adults. The book has described techniques andemphasized procedures designed to keep the childconstantly exposed to a stimulating, mind-nurturing en-vironment.

The parent and child can build a lifetime relationshipif this program is followed faithfully during the first fiveyears of the child's life. The opportunities for observingand contributing to the intellectual growth of the childwill create a bond of trust and experience sharing thatwill continue far beyond the age of five. Let the homebecome a child-centered place where the parents,guardians, and child care workers will be totally awareof the educational progress through the developmentalprocess of nurturing the infant's intelligence and prepar-ing her for a promising school career.


As the parents learn to employ reinforcement theoryand as the reactions to learning efforts are observed,they will become very knowledgeable about thestrengths and weaknesses of their child. They will be-come wise teachers as well as close companions to thechild if this program is followed with true fidelity.

As parents, most of us want the finest opportunitiesfor our children. In this aspiration, we often neglect theobvious need to make the home a learning laboratoryand a supportive place for developing the attributes de-sired for a successful life. The home is the most power-ful source of stimulation and motivation for the child.This program places the home squarely behind thechild's long road to growth into full maturity throughmaking an early commitment to develop the infant's in-telligence. This strong commitment at the beginning oftheir child's life will reap untold dividends for the childand the parents throughout the entire lifetime of theirchild.

In terms of heritage and true environment for thechild, there can be no gift of greater worth or lastingvalue than that of developing the latent tale; its of thechild to full fruition. This is a gift within the reach of themost humble home with the most limited financial re-sources. The gift comes from the parents to the childthrough commitment to teaching as they live, work, andplay together, and share many varied experiences. Thegift comes from parents who care enough to take thetime to provide truly creative play, mind-nurturing con-versation, and experience-broadening activity in thehome, neighborhood, and community. The gift comesfrom the parents who teach, with loving concern andunderstanding, and who realize that feelings and atti-tudes are of foremost importance. It comes from par-ents who observe reaction from the child and makewise adaptations to her needs. It comes from parentswise enough to teach each child a love of learninobased upon successful experience from birth to agefive and beyond.

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Selected References

Bloom, Benjamin. Stability and Change in Human Characteristics. NewYork: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1964.

Boyer, Ernest L Ready to Learn: A Mandate for the Nation. Princeton,NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1991.

Bradley, Robert H., and others. "Home Environment and Cognitive De-velopment in the First 2 Years." Developmental Psychology v15 n3 p.246-50, May 1979.

Bruner, Jerome S., Studies in Cognitive Growth. New York: John Wileyand Sons, Inc., 1966.

Carew, Jean W., "Predicting 10 From the Young Child's Everyday Experi-ence," Report published by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, May,1976.

Christie, James F., and E. P. Johnson, "The Role of Child Play in Social-Intellectual Development." Review of Educational Research, v53 n1 p93-115. Spring, 1983.

Clark, Barbara, "Early Development of Cognitive giftedness." Journal ofChildren in Contemporary Society. v18 n3 p5-15, Spring, 1986.

Coleman, Marilyn and Lawrence H. Ganong. "Parent-Child Interaction: AVital Prototype for Parent Education." Home Economics Research Jour-nal, vi 1 n3 p 235-44. March, 1983.

Englemann, Siegfried and Therese. Give Your Child A Superior Mind.New York: Simon and Schuster, 1966.

Friedman, Sarah L, and Tracy L. Sherman. "Mothers as Mediators ofCognitive Development" Publication of the National Institute of MentalHealth (DHHS) Bethesda, MD: February, 1985.

Hick, Thomas L "The Effects of Parent Involvement in a PrekindergartenProgram on Children's Cognitive Performance." Technical Paper No. 9.New York State Department of Education: Albany, August, 1979.

Irvine, David J., and others. "Parent Involvement Affects Children's Cog-nitive Growth. New York State Department of Education. August, 1979.

Sternberg, Robert J., "Novelty-Seeking, Novelty-Finding, and the Devel-opmental Continuity of Intelligence." Intelligence, v5, p149-155.

White, Burton L., Human Infants: Experience and Psychological Develop-ment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Prentice Hall, Inc., 1971.

Wynn, Karen, "Five Months-olds Show Skills With Numbers," report ofresearch at the University of Arizona, reported by Associated Press, Au-gust 27, 1992.

. INCIDENTAL TEACHING FOR PRESCHOOLERS.

Preparing all children to enter school ready to learn is the firstctsbc major goats for American education that were adopted bythe President of the United States and the nation's fifty governors.-This book is dedicated to assisting parents, child care centers,and schools in the. full realization of this first and most important

gqMoots end head start program sponsors have a new role to

play in helping all children to enter school fully prepared to learn.They should persuaded parents of preschoolers and child carecenter workers to come to school to be taught (in four or fivesessions) about incidental teaching and how to use the contentsat this handbook to endow children with more powerful intellectsan they will enjoy learning.

This handbook has been written for the use of parents andthose who work In childcare centers. It describes a teachingtechnique called Incidental teaching as a method of nurturing theinnate intelligence of Infants and preschoolers so they can reachthe full potential of their minds. During the first sixty months of life,as the human brain is rapidly growing in size and weight, thosewho work and play with these children can help make the differ-ence between a struggling learner who will receive grades of Dand- C hr school and a strong and confident learner earninggrades.of B and A-, It all depends on how mentally active thesechildren are during the first months of their lives.

Through applying the principles and techniques of incidentalteaching during these early months we can raise a new generationof academically capable children ready to learn and be fully pre-pared to meet the challenging world of the 1990s and the 21stcentury.

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