|
Sign the Declaration | Build ECE News | Build the Case | Learning is Everywhere | Tell a friend
Learning Is Everywhere
Lots of fun ideas and activities for families!
Each month offers activities families can do together in a variety of settings.
The activities within the Learning is Everywhere Calendar
and on the website are aligned with the
Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards (ELS).
These guidelines can be used to determine what
infants, toddlers, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten children
may know or be able to do within specific age ranges.
Please find the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standard
referenced after each activity.
|
|
Is
In the Kitchen
|
|
Activities for Infants:
Give a clean kitchen towel to your baby to play with as you work in the kitchen. Encourage her to wave the towel, feel it in her hands, explore it with her mouth, or use it to cover a small toy on a highchair tray. (Approaches to Learning through Play)
Let your baby share the vision and smells while you’re cooking. Let her smell the herb or spice you're about to put in the sauce, name fruits and vegetables, point out shapes or colors, or explain to her what you're doing. (Social & Emotional Development)
|
|
Activities for Toddlers:
Your toddler can use foods—like crackers and slices of cheese—to build a tower. Can he make it taller by adding a layer? What happens to the tower if he eats a layer? (Mathematics Thinking and Expression)
Make fun instruments from pots and pans with wooden spoons, or two saucepan lids for cymbals. Together, play a song. Can you play a loud song or a soft song? What types of sounds are made if she bangs hard on the pan? Does banging on the top of a pan make a different sound that tapping on the side of the pan? (Creative Thinking & Expression)
While grocery shopping, help your toddler select a special food that you both can prepare later. Provide him with his own shopping bag to carry home the item, and then when home, together you can use the item to make a snack or be included in a meal. Check out our list of child-friendly recipes for helpful hints. (Approaches to Learning through Play)
Explore a set of kitchen tools – strainer, turkey baster, potholder, garlic press, spatula, slotted spoon, rolling pin, etc. After your child has explored the tool, place the item in a bag, and have her reach in and try to guess which one she feels. Ask her to describe what she feels—is it hard or soft? Is it cold or warm? Is it big or little? Does it move? (Approaches to Learning through Play)
|
|
Activities for Pre-Kindergarten:
While your child helps set the table, help him count the number of plates needed. How many forks will be needed? (Mathematics Thinking & Expression) How many different ways can he fold a napkin? Does one person get a tall glass and another person a small cup? (Approaches to Learning through Play)
Have your child close her eyes and guess what different smells are. Items to smell might be vanilla (extract), lemons, oranges, apples. Have her open her eyes and smell them again. Do they smell different or the same? What happens if she smells two things at once? Next time you fix a meal, see if she can guess what you’re cooking by its smell. (Scientific Thinking and Technology)
While grocery shopping, help your pre-kindergartner select a special food that you both can prepare later. Talk about what he is selecting and how it will be prepared and eaten. Provide him with his own shopping bag to carry home the item, and then when home, together you can use the item to make a snack or be included in a meal. Check out our list of child-friendly recipes for helpful hints. (Approaches to Learning through Play)
Explore a set of kitchen tools – strainer, turkey baster, potato masher, potholder, garlic press, spatula, slotted spoon, rolling pin, etc. Have your child guess what the items is for, then tell him. After he has looked over the items, place one in a bag, and have him reach in and try to guess which one he feels. Ask him to describe what he feels—is it hard or soft? Is it cold or warm? Is it big or little? Does it move? Is it made of wood or plastic? How does he know? (Approaches to Learning through Play)
|
|
Activities for Kindergarten:
Use cooking to talk to your child about how food can change. What happens when you bake cookie dough? Or scramble eggs? What happens if ice-cream gets too warm, or if cereal is left in milk? (Scientific Thinking and Technology)
While following a recipe, have your child help you prepare food. Have him read the information from the recipe that he recognizes (like the numbers for the measurements, quantities and temperature), then have him match the number on the measuring cup (like 1 cup), or count out the number needed (like 2 eggs), or identify the number on the oven (350 degrees). (Mathematics Thinking and Expression)
When grocery shopping, help your kindergartner select a special food that you both can prepare later. Talk about what he is selecting and how it will be prepared and eaten. Ask him what he likes about the food he has selected. Provide him with his own shopping bag to carry home the item, and then when home, together you can use the item to make a snack or be included in a meal. Check out our list of child-friendly recipes for helpful hints. (Approaches to Learning through Play)
Explore a set of kitchen tools – strainer, turkey baster, potato masher, potholder, garlic press, spatula, slotted spoon, rolling pin, etc. Have your child guess what the items is for, then tell him. After he has looked over the items, place one in a bag, and have him reach in and try to guess which one he feels. Ask him to describe what he feels—is it hard or soft? Is it cold or warm? Is it big or little? Does it move? Is it made of wood or plastic? How does he know? (Approaches to Learning through Play)
|
|
Print January's Activities from the Learning is Everywhere Calendar!
|
|
Wash the Germs!
This activity is designed to demonstrate how to wash hands and can help your child remember what needs to be done to make germs disappear.
Put a small amount of hand lotion or petroleum jelly on hands—this will represent body oils. Sprinkle with a little bit of cinnamon—this will represent germs. Then, have your child to try to wash with just cold water (no soap), and then just warm water (no soap).
- What happens when you wash with cold water and no soap?
- What happens when you wash with warm water and no soap?
Then add soap and scrub, making sure all parts of the hands are washed—the backs of hands, and in between fingers, etc. Watch the germs disappear! Sing the ABC song or Happy Birthday while washing. When the song is finished, it’s time to rinse!
|
|
|
Idea Spotlight
January is National Mentoring Month
Do you know a grandparent, a special teacher, a pastor, a friend or neighbor? All of these can be a mentor! A mentor is someone who is willing to take another under his or her wing, give advice and suggestions to help another cope or improve their skills, show how they do something, and provide encouragement and support. Mentors can enrich our lives and be anyone who provides guidance and support as we make our way through the easy, and difficult, times. For families with children, having a mentor who has “been there and done that” can provide an example or a shoulder to lean on when needed.
Can you be a mentor to a family or child?
Know what you can offer another. Mentors build committed, trusting relationships. They listen. They offer understanding and respect. They help others overcome challenges and disappointments and celebrate successes. What can you provide as a mentor?
Formal or informal? While mentoring can be as informal as sharing a conversation and support with a friend while at an early care provider, or as formal as volunteering as a “Big” in a Big Brother Big Sister program, decide how involved you would like to become.
It’s not about the answers. To be a mentor, you don’t need all the answers, and you don’t need to be an expert. Keep in mind, the purpose of a mentor isn’t to provide answers, but to provide support, understanding and respect. Sure, share your experiences if asked, but keep in mind that your most valued role is that of a friend.
Could you benefit from a mentor?
Do you want a “different way” of doing something? Or want help finding a way? A mentor may provide helpful suggestions, tips, examples and supports for finding and learning new ways of doing things, like coping with demands of a new baby, the “terrible two” stage, or balancing work and family time.
Would you like to have a support system? Do you often wish your family lived closer, or were more supportive? Would you like to have friends that you could turn to for advice? If so, you may benefit from having a mentor.
What kind of mentoring could you use? Would you want someone as a formal mentor—like through a program, or that meets with you at a specific date or time—or would you want someone you could turn to every now and then on a more informal basis?
How to become a mentor or find one
It’s important to consider all possibilities when it comes to mentors and mentees. A person you may not have thought of originally may turn out to be the mentor of your dreams. Likewise, for those seeking to mentor another, keep open to the possibilities of the type of person who might benefit from your support and guidance.
- Check out our list of Resources! (see below)
- Ask around. Ask your child care provider, friends, church members, pediatrician, etc. if they know of someone who might be a good mentor.
- Look around you for examples of someone you’d like to learn from. Is there a fellow parent who demonstrates a particular skill you admire? A friend who always seems to know what to do or say? A teacher who seems to have more than enough patience? Ask that person to share with you how he or she does it!
- Reach out to others. See someone you think could use a helping hand or support? Start small with a way for the other person to identify with you. “I remember when my son was going through that stage. Two year olds can be challenging!”
Mentoring resources
|
|
|
|
Program Spotlight
Parent to Parent of PA
"Thank you for all your help. It is a huge relief to know there is someone out there who understands, firsthand, what my husband and I are experiencing with our daughter,” states a caller to the Parent to Parent of Pennsylvania program. Obtaining support and information from another family who has experienced the joys and challenges of raising a child with a disability or special need is what our program is all about.
Parent to Parent of Pennsylvania program is the largest mentoring program in the state that links families of children and adults with disabilities or special needs to a volunteer Peer Supporter for purposes of support and information. Our program makes matches based on the family’s specific request which could include but is not limited to; physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, special health care needs, behavioral/mental health concerns, foster care or adoption and educational issues.
Our program is unique in that our six offices located across the state are staffed by Regional Coordinators who are all parents or family members of a child or adult with a disability or special need. Once a Regional Coordinator completes an intake with a caller, the database which houses over 1,350 volunteer Peer Supporters is searched for a match.
“We were so blind when our daughter was first diagnosed, we did not know where to go. It is so amazing, because we now return that gift and offer support.” stated a former caller who has since become a Peer Supporter. Our program often comes full circle when a family who has been supported realizes they would like to give back and become a Peer Supporter.
When a Peer Supporter agrees to offer one- to- one phone support the Regional Coordinator facilitates the match and follow up and the confidential information is exchanged. We ask our Peer Supporters to commit to two to three phone calls but the future of the relationship is determined by the caller and the Peer Supporter. Sometimes one phone call is all that is needed but other times lifelong relationships develop!
If you are interested in receiving the kind of support that can only come from another parent who has traveled the journey before you, there are several ways to contact us: call us Toll Free at 1-888-727-2706 or visit us on the web at www.parenttoparent.org.
By Fiona Patrick
Program Director of Parent to Parent of PA
|
|
|
Check out January's:
Books, Songs and Nursery Rhymes to compliment this month's activities!
What's YOUR Story?
You know you have a story to tell about what quality education has done for your child, your family or your community--We want to hear it!
Tell about your child's favorite PA Pre-K Counts, Head Start or Keystone STAR teacher, administrator, or classroom. Share all the great things your child has learned by participating in a quality early learning classroom. Let everyone know how important it is for your family to have access to quality early learning!
|
|
