Just a few interesting links I wanted to share before the weekend is over!
Articles
10 Best Books for Thinking Parents {Parenting.com}
Little Shoulders
As we get ready to welcome a new little one to our family, I’ll be sharing some favorite posts from the past.
My grandmother had a lot of sayings. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” “Do not throw upon the floor the food you cannot eat, for many a starving children would think it quite a treat.”
Introducing the Number Bag: Teaching Preschool Math Concepts with Meaningful Objects
First off — Congratulations to Lora who was randomly selected for the Playful Learning Spaces Giveaway! You’ll be contacted shortly, Lora. And for the rest of you, there’s still time to sign up for Mariah’s inspiring course.
Today I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to introduce numbers and numeracy concepts with young children. It’s a mix between show and tell and math time. I figured the best way to show you what I mean would be to make a video. Here I’ll show a lot of different options for using the number bag or math bag. You DON’T need to do them all in one sitting, I just wanted you to see all the different concepts you can teach with one type of activity.
Filed under Learning through Play and Experience, Uncategorized
Tents, Forts, and Hideouts: Special Spaces for Kids
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.
Filed under Create, Learning through Play and Experience
Weekend Reads 5.12.12
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.)
Filed under Weekend Reads
Mind in the Making: Q&A with Ellen Galinsky
I hope you all enjoyed the Mind in the Making Read-Along series. I’m so glad that I read it, and I’m quite confident I’ll be going back to it again and again.
I’m also thrilled that Ellen Galinsky has offered to answer some of the questions you had about the book, and offer more insight into how the book came about, and the hopes she has for its influence.
I found her comments fascinating, and I hope you will too. The Q&A is broken into three parts (you’ll find them linked below).
Here are some of my favorite excerpts:
On the writing process…
“And then there was my feeling about the way many parenting books do guilt us. Some books that I had read in college and graduate school and had loved before I had my own children, felt different after my children were born. I remember literally throwing one book into the fire because it was such a guilt-trip book. Who needs that? We want to be inspired, not blamed. We are (unfortunately) far too fast to blame ourselves without needing anyone else to do it.” Continue reading
Creativity Matters :: FREE Ebook
About a year ago I wrote a series of posts about creativity — why it matters for our kids, why it may be disappearing, and what we can do to get it back. I decided to put the whole series into one downloadable Ebook that you can print or read right from your screen.
Filed under Create, Learning through Play and Experience
Playful Learning Spaces — A Giveaway!
Think about Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, and Nate Berkus. How do these three fit in a group? Each has taught the strong impact of a thoughtfully prepared environment. Attractive and organized, of course, but it’s not just about aesthetics, it’s also about purpose.
Filed under Learning through Play and Experience, Uncategorized
