Build independence in your young child today!

Developing independence in your children helps them feel good about themselves.  This may happen when they learn how to go to the bathroom, zip their coat or tie their shoes by themselves. Their self-esteem is built by doing these things on their own. In school, children are expected to know how to do some things by themselves. Make sure you are supporting your child’s independence by:

• Buying shoes and clothes that they can easily buckle, zip, and fasten.
• Teaching your child how to dress him/herself.
• Having your child do easy chores like dusting with a sock or setting the table for dinner.
• Potty-training your child and teaching him/her how to wipe and perform good hand-washing.
• Beginning activities with your child and letting him/her finish the activity independently

 Ask any teacher of young children today what their wish would be and they would say… “that my students come to me with more independent self-help skills.”  Secondly, they will tell you that responsibility is a thing of the past with today’s children.  We must work in our homes to foster the development of these critical skills so that learning will be easier.  At this point, the less independent and responsible the child, the more wait time the class endures while the teacher does what the student should be doing (tying shoes, wiping the child, zipping pants, putting on jackets, peeling an orange, etc…)  Early education is the key - let’s foster it in our homes!

Social experiences - just one part of being “ready for school”

Social readiness is very important to your child’s overall readiness for school. Children need to learn to get along with other children, obey rules, share, take turns, and to leave their parents during school. Some social experiences to prepare your child are:

• Set rules and give appropriate punishments when they are broken. 
•  Develop a schedule at home clearly defining your child’s bedtime, meal times, outside play times, etc…
•  Talk to your child about how to play and talk with other children and offer lots of opportunities. 
•   Teach your child to take turns and share by practicing together each day. 
•  Teach your child to be a part of a conversation with you and others
• Encourage your child to finish hard tasks once they have started them.
• Leave your child in the care of another person to teach him that you will always come back & build his trust and confidence
• Help your child learn empathy by teaching him to think about the feelings of others.
• Teach your child good ways to express his or her feelings.
• Tell your child that hitting, biting, and screaming are not allowed.
• Show your love for your child several times a day.  Children who love themselves will love others.

Universal preschool delivers what?

Research in Education Week said, “The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project is perhaps the best-known study of the long-term effects of a high-quality pre-kindergarten education.”“The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation tracked, from age 3 or 4 through age 27, a group of 123 African-Americans who were living in poverty at the start of the study. The study provided a comprehensive evaluation of the lasting impact of pre-kindergarten on the lives of those students.” 

The study also showed that:

·          More than a third of the children who went to the Perry preschool owned their own homes by age 27, compared with 7 % of the control group.

 ·          At least $2,000 a month was made by four times as many Perry students compared with the control group.

 ·          Two-thirds of the Perry students graduated from high school on time, compared with less than half of the control group.

·          Only 15 % of the Perry kids needed any type of special education, compared with more than a third of the control group.

·          The Perry kids were also less likely to apply for welfare or be arrested, and the women were five times as likely to be married and less likely to have children before marriage.

We are debating the need for earlier education in our country and this study offers proof of the effects on children in poverty.  A study done by the University of Wisconsin estimates that the most effective programs create savings to the government of $13,000 to $19,000 per child above the cost of the pre-school programs themselves. However, early education is the key!  The best results come from programs that begin early, include children from the most disadvantaged homes, and provide intensive education and other services over a lengthy period.  I am not a big fan of universal government programs, preschool included, but if it is going to insure my social security dollars by reducing the amount spent on welfare, prisons and crime - then count me in!

Wanted: businesses to support educational change in America

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”Derek Bok, President of Harvard University, 1971-1990 

At a local breakfast series meeting for business professionals in my area I heard things that I was not prepared to hear.  I am a teacher by trade and by choice.  I have spent over 15 years teaching children to absorb the knowledge I offer them.  Yet on this day I was a business owner looking to help solve the problems in today’s educational system.  

It was tough sitting in a room with hundreds of other men and women from the business community as they seemingly could do nothing but bash the education our children are offered in public schools.  To hear the talk about the incompetence of some teachers and the “old school” way of looking at how children learn made me sick to my stomach.  In reflection though, one part of me was saying, “oh yes, I know those teachers and they are exactly right,” but the other part of me was saying, “what are you – the professionals who employee the parents of these children doing to change the momentum of our educational system?”  

They continued to say that one third of all high school graduates need remedial training in the “basics” in order to function in the jobs for which they were hired.  The German and high tech industry representatives were saying that they would be out of business if their employees were limited to hiring only American-educated graduates.  One company stated that it had to interview 4,000 applicants to fill 250 jobs and they still ended up bringing more than 50 from Germany to maintain productivity.  Incredible!

When someone asks me “what can businesses do to formulate change in the American education system?” I answer by saying:

• YOU can let employees who are parents have paid time to come to the schools for parent/teacher meetings  
• YOU can offer flexible schedules to ensure the parents have time to meet the needs of their children.  
• YOU can begin an employee volunteer program in the classrooms closest to your business and pay the employees for their time at the school.  
• YOU can develop programs that would help teachers, principals and superintendents better meet your needs as an employer of tomorrow’s kids.  
• YOU can search for programs, such as mine, www.wigglegigglelearn.com to educate your employees about what’s available to support the education of their children.  By making these programs optional on your benefit list, you are showing your genuine interest in the development of their children and your future employees. Many companies, like mine, will give your employees a substantial discount when enrolling through an HR department.

But what you can’t do is place the blame solely on the teachers and administration of schools.   The primary teachers are at home – or are they always at work for you?  

 Time is necessary for teaching love, learning and responsibility

Keys to motivating little minds

Motivation is the essential element to a student’s  success. Sometimes they may have a sense that they ought to try hard, but unless they want to, that sense of ought doesn’t last very long.Extrinsic motivation (rewards/bribes) works only for as long as the reward is in front of the child, therefore it isn’t a good long-term solution. The key to motivating students to want to learn is to help them to love learning by tapping into what they know and what interests them at their age.Parents and teachers must learn to teach children to be observant of the world and all the new learning opportunities it offers. If you succeed in this, you don’t need guilt or bribes, and everyone enjoys the thrill of learning. My mission at www.wigglegigglelearn.com is to offer parents the tools they need to nurture a love for learning in their children before beginning school.