Blocks and block play as discussed in the previous posting, block building for early childhood education is very varied and can be enjoyed at home or in a school environment.

In the previous post we talked about stages of block play, presenting the blocks, rules of block play and clean up tips.

In this post I am going to discuss the learning that takes place during block play.

As I placed a picture at the top of this post depicting some standard block signs children  using when playing with blocks, I will discuss those first.

Reading and Blocks Play

If you are working with preschool and kindergarten age children you are probably trying to include as much pre reading exercises into their play during the day.

One of the ways to do this is by labeling.

Children learn to recognize whole words when items are labeled in the classroom or at home and this idea can be transferred to the block area.

There are two types of block signs you can make for the children.

A simple piece of tagboard attached to a  crafts stick, either thick or thin, and stuck into a  piece of plasticine does the trick.

Or else just take a larger piece of tagboard fold it in half and rest it on the floor or blocks that way

Either way if you will notice, the signs are written in clear, legible, manuscript writing. When the children have created a building or other structure you can step in and offer to make a sign for them. Once they get used to this idea, they will ask you for them. If you store the cards in a special box the children can go get the signs they need which is an excellent reading activity.

The more signs they have and need to search for, the better the reading experience.

Math and Blocks

Wooden unit blocks were actually created with mathematical concepts in mind.

Each block is some fraction of another.

It starts with the quad. The next one down is the double unit which is 1/2 of the quad. After that is the unit around which the whole block system is based. You need 4 units to make one quad.

If you are involved and aware f the children when they are playing it is great to be able to sit down with them and ask them questions about the various blocks and which make what.

It’s also a great idea to get the children used to using the names of the blocks.

Aside from these  simple concepts there are so many other mathematical activities that can be used with blocks and I will just list some of them without detailed explanations of how to use them.

• space
• shape
• size
• order
• number
• fractions
• weights
• length
• depth
• width
• height
• mapping
• symmetry
• quantity

Maybe in later post I will try to put together even more guided activities you can do with some of these concepts. But until then just keep these concepts in mind so that you can add activities that will include those concepts during their block play.

Science and Blocks

Adding certain items to the block area allows you to bring in science concepts as well.

If you add pulleys with ropes and containers these make wonderful elevator experiments.

Adding dry cell batteries with lights are enormously popular with young boys

Any old pieces of machinery especially with switches and knobs excites their curiosity and encourages exploration.

Special Accessories for the Blocks

In most well stocked block areas you will have the usual blocks, block people and some vehicles.

It is when you start adding some of your own extra accessories that encourages the children to start new types of building and makes it more exciting. Especially if the interest has tapered off.

Some things to add would be,

• simple small pieces of furniture variety of lumber scraps
• colored cubes
• small containers
• toy animals

This short list is just a few suggestions to show you how you can add familiar objects to enhance their block play.

Of course you would not add these all at one time but just as the need arises.

Tips to add interest

Sometimes kids lose interest the blocks and below are a few things that can help spark new interest and revitalize the area.

• If the children are used to lots of accessories, remove them all for the day and see what happens
• Girls building day: As boys tend to dominate this area, have the boys leave the blocks for the day and let only girls in.
• Tape off areas on the floor for different children to have as their space for block building
• Give problems to be solved like build a house with windows of with ramps that go up and down. (these assignments should only e given to experienced builders)
• Give a few children each the same amount and shape of blocks and let them each build something. It’s like giving children collage materials and allowing them each to create at their own level.

After the children have created their structure try to allow the structures to stay up for a few days as they can keep adding and playing with these structures. If you can’t do that of course take pictures and the children can refer back to them if they want to make it again.

Another thing they can do with these pictures is make their own books about them.

Be careful to choose a protected area for the block play as far removed from the main traffic as possible. You may want to put a piece of tape on the floor delineating where they can build unto.

Remember that all of this takes time and effort but it is well worth it.

Allow sufficient time for cleanup and just know that you can always order blocks out of sets. They are available open stock.

I hope to add more guided assignments for block building in a future post.

Happy building.

It does not matter if you are a home school educator or a preschool teacher, story time is an important part of any preschool student’s educational experience.

Story time can be as simple as reviewing popular nursery rhymes or as extensive as a story soap opera. Depending on the preschool student’s leveled abilities and/or interests, story time can include the ever popular Humpty Dumpty or the divisional break down of popular books such as The Three Little Pigs. The reading item should be chosen based on attention span and actual interest of the preschool student.

Preschool leveled students have limited attention spans and the love of reading can be encouraged via fun activities. Include attention grabbing props such as a story time hat, a special story time pillow or chair, a story time flag, special made story mats, a special story time march around the room, a song or even a drum chant.

Some of the items can be made by the preschool student. The pillow could be decorated with hand prints using fabric paint. The flag could be made of card stock and pictures collected from old magazines or discarded books. The preschool class could even make up their own song and dance for use during transition to story time. Involving the preschool students encourages their love of reading.

Preschool leveled students will also respond to special activities related to the story. Examples include: A story show and tell; Announce the story of the week and ask the students to participate by bringing in an item that relates to a part of the story.

Incorporating Sign Language;  Teach the students special signs that relate to the story line.

A story treasure chest; Fill a small box with surprise items related to the story. Prior to removing an item from the chest to share with the preschool students, provide a brief verbal description of the item, then have the class guess what the item could be. The variations are extensive and are only limited by the vision of the instructor.

Story time excitement can be created in the preschool classroom with a student made book. At the beginning of the preschool year the student could create an ‘About Me’ styled book. Include pages about their favorite foods, family pets, favorite color, a hand drawn family portrait or even a self-portrait.

Add the books to the preschool class library to encourage not only the love of reading but individual familiarity. A book extension activity will also encourage the understanding of the book being read.

Many extension activities include the creation of a ‘mimic’ styled handmade book produced by the student. It may also include activities / worksheets based on the book being introduced but are inclusive of the basic concepts introduced in a preschool classroom. Again, the limits are only set by the vision of the instructor.

Story time, with its many facets, is an important part of any preschool curriculum. Encouraging the love of reading will not only span the ages but extend the imagination of the preschool student.

For additional articles, activities, worksheets and so much more visit www.freeabcschool.com Your preschool curriculum resource ….. Everything is Free or Almost Free!
About the Author

Promoting equal educational opportunities. Please visit http://www.freeabcschool.com Article resources: http://www.freeabcschool.com/articles/ and http://www.freeabcschool.com/articles/preschoolstorytimereadingactivities.htm

Good books are the foundation of every preschool reading program. As a parent, you should not only be concerned with how often you read to your children, but also with the quality of the books you are reading. With so many books flooding the preschool market, it can be difficult to decide which books to use. Here are 3 tips for choosing great books for your preschooler:

1. Choose books with vivid illustrations. Look for books that contain beautiful drawings and illustrations that will help your children stay focused and engaged in the story. Non fiction books that contain diagrams and photographs can greatly enhance your child’s understanding of science topics.

2. Choose books that are interactive. Look for books that encourage your child to participate in the story. Books that ask your child to find hidden objects will help your child gain visual discrimination skills that are essential for preschool reading. Books that ask your child questions about the story help build reasoning and critical thinking skills. Lift the flap books and touchy feely books are great resources for hands on learners.

3. Choose books with classic storylines. Look for books that retell classic stories, fairytales and nursery rhymes. These books are not only morally sound and entertaining, they enhance cultural literacy. In addition to classic stories, look for books that relate to your child’s interests. Books with entertaining characters like princesses, pirates and cowboys are always a hit with preschoolers.

You can find book suggestions for your preschooler by speaking with your librarian or by looking at the book lists of popular preschool curriculum providers like Sonlight, Five in a Row and Winter Promise.
About the Author

Here are some additional ideas for teaching preschool reading , along with specific book recommendations. Visit Carletta’s website for more information about homeschooling preschool .

When an adult tells stories the children are usually riveted by the mystery and suspense of the story and the children who don’t have great attention spans usually can sit through a good story. The children are also learning lots of new language as the story is being told.

What would be really great would be to teach the children story skills themselves.

Having the children learn to tell stories helps them develop their thinking skills and its a fun way to get them thinking.

Here are a few ways to get started thinking about how to get the children thinking.

1. Make a spider web with the children.Draw a web and put a word in the middle, for example FALL. The children can think of words associated with that word, in this case fall and you put the words around the web on cards with paper clips.
2. Use different methods to tell stories to the children. Puppets, flannel boards, magnetic pictures on a sheet, chalkboards, white boards or you can even paint a story.
3. Use story cans with objects inside the cans. Sit the children in a circle. Each child selects and object, and tells part of the story that includes that object. You start the story yourself with an object from the can.
4. Encourage creativity by changing old time favorite. See how you change the 3 little bears and little read riding hood with the children themselves.
5. As you tell a story have the children tell you “one more thing that happened”
6. Use problem solving sills as you ask them questions about the story like “what if?” or What happened then”
7. Use objects and visual aids to help act out the story as you tell it.
8. Have the children make up their own stories, dictate them to you and then you read them to the whole class.

An activity that is very popular especially among the home schooling crowd is the making of lap books. Some children create lap books out of the subject matter they are learning and these books are  very helpful for story telling. As in the case of the child who used to make a colonial lap book as part of a reading strategy

Granted there are kindergarten children that have not had any readiness and they read fine, which is great. However not every child is born with the same set of skills and talents and the more we prepare our children for the lifelong pleasure that reading gives us, the better readers they will be.

Writing by the way is also something that reading readiness prepares children for. Some children may have a very easy time with reading while struggling with writing.

There are certain basic skills that are needed for children to navigate beginning reading and writing and I will talk about some of them and what you can do to work on those skills.

You can get more of an idea of exactly what reading readiness as defined by wikipedia.

There is the actual reading and language that kids need to be exposed to and then there are the other thins which is what I will be giving you some tips for.

Motor Control and Coordination:

Vital for writing as children without good motor coordination can’t write well or sometimes have such a difficult time with it and end up needing occupational therapy.

Some good activities would be:

Rhythm activities:

Marching, skipping, skating,running and do alot of these activities to different beats. You can also do these activities to the beats of the children’s names.

Follow the leader: Have them follow the leader tiptoeing, galloping etc.

Lifting objects: Let the children determine which is heavier and lighter.

Blindfold child: Put objects in bag and blindfolded child will have to feel object and guess what it is.

Feed the elephant: Have child balance peanut on end of a ruler and walk across the room without dropping it to the person at the other end who can be the elephant. They can eat the peanuts when done. (Or even make peanut butter with the peanuts)

Art activities

• Sewing is extremely valuable for fine motor coordination,
• Working with clay ,
• Cutting
• Folding
• Painting
• Working with puzzles
• Pouring sand and water,
• Peg boards
• Bead stringing
• Hammering and sawing

All of the above are excellent in developing fine motor coordination.

Auditory Discrimination:

Use of Music:

• Using drums let children beat out their names
• Compare loud and soft beats
• Clap to rhythms of songs

Hearing first sounds in words

• Show Pictures of items like cup and chidren can find other pictuers begining with same initial sounds like car and coat
• Teacher says word and children add to list words with same beginning sound
• Compare names of classmates for first sound

Following directions:

• Simple Simon
• Going on a bear hunt as children follow you through mountains and caves, you give directions and they follow exactly what you tell them
• Tray painting- excellent direction following activity

I will continue with more activities in the next post

In my days in Bank Street College it was reading as a language experice than it moved to whole language, now its emergent literacy.

Whatever its called there are certain reading strategies that are part of all of these concepts that help children to learn and be better readers..

Children love to draw and paint and then to tell you about their artwork. When they do that, write it down. Write down stories that they tell you, words that they tell you, and write your own stories for them.

What this does  is it teaches kids that reading is “talk written down”. Many kids don’t make that connection so easily.

Aside from having their words written down it is important to have as much writing all around them so they get used to seeing the written word and relating it to something specific.

Children’s names are particularly important to them and in the classroom you can make use of ALL of the children’s names.  Kids learn very quickly when what they are reading is so close to their hearts, their names. By doing many of these activities in no time at all the children will know how to read every child’s name in that class.

• Put their names on their cubbies
• Make an attendance chart that is large and visible with their names
• Create a memory game with the kids names
• Have a job chart up with rotating kids names
• Names should go on all of their artwork
• Or they can have their names in a box that you can use to tack up next to their art displays on the walls.

Other forms of reading around the room include:

• Weather charts
• Calendars
• Block signs
• Labelled signs on bulletin boards
• Recipes
• Labelled items in the classroom

As children get used to your writing things they say down and seeing language all around the room , it sparks great interest in reading more and writing. And as we know the more interest there is in a subject the  quicker they learn it.

As you  write for and with the children be very carefulthat your handwriting is clear and legible manuscript writing.

If we want the children to learn good reading and writing habits we must make sure that they are seeing wrods as close to manuscript as possible, clear and legible. (Even if we usually can’t read our own handwriting).

If you are a home school parent than you can do many of the same activities as a classroom teacher by labelling items in the home and doing lots of writing with the children. I guess you can’t spend too much times on names as that is quite limited in a home school environment.