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Whole Child Development

Wiggly Worms and the Little Boys Who Love Them

by Filed Under: Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience 8 Comments

I’m so excited to welcome Julie of Creekside Learning as a guest poster today!

My littlest kiddo, whom we call Love Bug, is 3 and he is fascinated with worms. He’s learned that if you roll over a log or a stone, you sometimes find them there. And if you’re fast, you can catch them before they squirm down into the darker depths of the soil. He has learned to be gentle when catching them. His big brother sweetly taught him how to catch worms without harming them. Great fine motor skill for a 3 year old.

In the midst of one very busy and hectic weekend, I asked him if he’d like to go find some worms and make a worm house. My husband and I had been so busy with Love Bug’s siblings, household chores and other weekend commitments and my youngest child had been tugging at my hand all day for various things. I knew he just needed me to slow down, make time for just him.

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10 Ways to Prepare Your Child for Kindergarten

by Filed Under: Building Readers, Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience, Positive Guidance and Social Skills 44 Comments

I’m so excited to welcome author and former kindergarten teacher, Susan Case from Kindergarten and Preschool for Parents and Teachers, and thank her for today’s post!

Children are excited about starting school, yet also a little afraid. Starting school means changes in their daily routine including being away from familiar surroundings, learning new rules, and following directions from other adults. It’s natural to have doubts and fears about change. Talk to your child about what they can expect. Perhaps you can visit the school’s playground. Katie from Mommy with Selective Memory emailed me this concern:

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The Disembodied Mind

by Filed Under: Child Development & DAP, Learning through Play and Experience 9 Comments

Enjoy this popular post from last year!

I am a nerd.  (It’s OK.  While the term might have made me cringe in high school, I have since learned to embrace my nerdiness.)  I recently found myself on a short trip with some down time for a little reading, and as any good nerd would, I packed along one of my favorite textbooks from grad school.  (I know, I just confessed to having a favorite textbook.)

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Encouraging Passionate Learners Even When It’s Not Your Thing

by Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience 3 Comments

I’m writing today over at Simple Kids.  Here’s just a taste:

I have vivid childhood memories of trekking down to the pond near our home and catching as many tadpoles in my bucket as my scrawny arms could carry.  I was fascinated by the process of metamorphosis and would check on them every day in the shed where I kept them, marveling over each limb as it appeared.  Once the tadpoles had fully transformed into tiny toads, my sibling and I would line them up in our driveway and race them down the lane as they made their way out in to the wild world of pastures, fields, and ditch banks that surrounded our rural home.

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Tents, Forts, and Hideouts: Special Spaces for Kids

by Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 8 Comments

As I mentioned in the Playful Learning Spaces Giveaway (and yes, there’s still a little time left to enter) there is a strong impact in a thoughtfully prepared space.  If you want your children to be playful, it helps to create an environment that invites children to play.  I can think of few invitations to play that are more compelling than a special space like a tent or a hideout.  You can set one up, say nothing, and almost instantly you’ll have children dragging blankets and animals in for a jungle tea party, darting in and out as they dream up dramatic adventures, or cozied up inside with a good book.

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Weekend Reads 5.12.12

by Filed Under: Weekend Reads 4 Comments

On this Mother’s Day weekend, I wanted to share a post that is particularly tender for me.  My husband’s cousin wrote The Gift of Motherhood about my sister-in-law who, after being diagnosed with lung cancer as a 23 year-old non-smoker, miraculously became a mother.  She cherished every moment from her pregnancy through the ten months she was able to physically mother him here on Earth.  Her son is now blessed with both an angel mother who continues to watch over him as well as another amazing mother whose love has been like a salve to so many broken hearts.  This post is a beautiful reminder that motherhood truly is a gift.  Read it here.  (But grab a tissue first.)

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