Hello Parents,
We hope that you are enjoying reading our blogs! Below we have listed some family fun activities that you can do with your toddlers during the cold winter months. We hope that they warm you up! Every interaction you have with your child is an important time for their language development.
1. Make snow angels outside in the snow. Language and vocabulary targets include: fall-down, open and close, arms, wings, legs, big snow angel, little snow angel, etc.
2. Too cold to play in the snow outside?? Bring the snow indoors! Scoop snow into a bucket and bring it inside. You can dig in the snow, scoop it into snow balls, hide animals and different nature-themed toys in the snow. Start at a language level where you child is familiar... For example, if s/he knows vehicle sounds, use different vehicles to push in the snow, or hide those vehicles in the snow. At higher language levels, the child can tell you where something is hiding. (For example... Is the bird hiding under the snowball? Is the bird hiding next to the tree?)
3. Make paper snowflakes. Here's how... (1) Fold a square piece of paper in half, (2) and then in half again. (3) Next fold along the diagonal. (4) Cut small shapes into the edges of the folded triangle shape. (5) Open it up and you will see a unique design. You can talk about cutting and folding and making different shapes.
4. Here's a yummy winter snack/language experience... making muddy snowballs! Language and vocabulary targets include: dirty, clean, pour, stir, mix, roll, sweet, salty, cold (in the refrigerator), hot (in the oven). Copy and paste this link to see the recipe for Muddy Snowballs:
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=40758
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Singing to Learn
We Love to Sing!!
Toddlers learn language from the rhyme, rhythm, and repetition in songs. Here is one example of the kiddos favorite songs. We thought you might want to know the words so you can sing along with them at home.
Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree
Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
Four little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
Three little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
Two little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
One little monkey swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
No more monkeys swinging in the tree.
There are many reasons why we like this song as a way to teach language. One reason is the use of repetition. The words and actions are repeated over five versus, so children begin to expect what will happen next. For example, during the lines "along comes Mister Alligator" our faces show anticipation of what will happen next.
Another reason we like this song is that it has pitch and volume changes that help children to predict what is happening next. At first our voices are happy because the monkeys are playing in the tree. Then are voices are quiet, to show that the alligator is sneaking up. Suddenly, we are loud for when the alligator "SNAPs" the monkey. At the very end of the song, we are sad because there are "No more monkeys swinging in the tree."
When you look at the video clip below you can also see that we use certain movement to help tell the story. Our goal here is to engage children in joint attention and imitation. For example, our hands show the monkeys swinging back-and-forth, and then they show how the alligator sneaks up and "SNAP!" This makes singing the song fun and engaging. In fact, children imitate these movements before they're able to sing along. We also use animated facial expressions to help tell the story. It is helpful to use features like voice quality and facial expression when communicating an important message to toddlers.
There are many times during the day to sing these songs, for example, when riding in the car, waking-up from nap or getting dressed. We hope you have fun singing this song with your little ones!
Amanda & Erika
Toddlers learn language from the rhyme, rhythm, and repetition in songs. Here is one example of the kiddos favorite songs. We thought you might want to know the words so you can sing along with them at home.
Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree
Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
Four little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
Three little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
Two little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
One little monkey swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can’t catch me…."
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snap!
No more monkeys swinging in the tree.
There are many reasons why we like this song as a way to teach language. One reason is the use of repetition. The words and actions are repeated over five versus, so children begin to expect what will happen next. For example, during the lines "along comes Mister Alligator" our faces show anticipation of what will happen next.
Another reason we like this song is that it has pitch and volume changes that help children to predict what is happening next. At first our voices are happy because the monkeys are playing in the tree. Then are voices are quiet, to show that the alligator is sneaking up. Suddenly, we are loud for when the alligator "SNAPs" the monkey. At the very end of the song, we are sad because there are "No more monkeys swinging in the tree."
When you look at the video clip below you can also see that we use certain movement to help tell the story. Our goal here is to engage children in joint attention and imitation. For example, our hands show the monkeys swinging back-and-forth, and then they show how the alligator sneaks up and "SNAP!" This makes singing the song fun and engaging. In fact, children imitate these movements before they're able to sing along. We also use animated facial expressions to help tell the story. It is helpful to use features like voice quality and facial expression when communicating an important message to toddlers.
There are many times during the day to sing these songs, for example, when riding in the car, waking-up from nap or getting dressed. We hope you have fun singing this song with your little ones!
Amanda & Erika
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Carving Pumpkins Language Experience
Dear Parents ~
Here is a fun activity that we did in class on Thursday. We had a blast carving pumpkins and took some adorable pictures of your little munchkins. This is a language experience activity in which the kids practiced using a variety of language structures. Here are a few examples.....
"Scoop, scoop, scoop"
"Scoop it out"
"It's a seed"
"That's yucky!"
"It's slimy!"
"Wash my hands."
"Push the eye"
"Push the nose"
"Here's my nose"
"Oh no! It's stuck!"
"It's my turn"
"I see a sad pumpkin"
"I see a happy pumpkin"
"That one is big."
"That one is little."
Here is a fun activity that we did in class on Thursday. We had a blast carving pumpkins and took some adorable pictures of your little munchkins. This is a language experience activity in which the kids practiced using a variety of language structures. Here are a few examples.....
"Scoop, scoop, scoop"
"Scoop it out"
"It's a seed"
"That's yucky!"
"It's slimy!"
"Wash my hands."
"Push the eye"
"Push the nose"
"Here's my nose"
"Oh no! It's stuck!"
"It's my turn"
"I see a sad pumpkin"
"I see a happy pumpkin"
"That one is big."
"That one is little."
Monday, October 13, 2008
News
Dear Parents,
Over the next few weeks, please be thinking about three of our friends from the toddler room. Tanner, Ryder and Tommy are each getting a cochlear implant. We wish them and their families the best of luck!
Also, we are starting to schedule visits for parent-child sessions. Please see your child's pull-out teacher or contact them by email to sign up for this opportunity.
Thanks!
Amanda and Erika
amandat@northernvoices.org
erikah@northernvoices.org
Over the next few weeks, please be thinking about three of our friends from the toddler room. Tanner, Ryder and Tommy are each getting a cochlear implant. We wish them and their families the best of luck!
Also, we are starting to schedule visits for parent-child sessions. Please see your child's pull-out teacher or contact them by email to sign up for this opportunity.
Thanks!
Amanda and Erika
amandat@northernvoices.org
erikah@northernvoices.org
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Learning to Listen
Welcome to Fall semester in the Toddler room! This is our first blog posting and we are going to talk about learning to listen. If you were in the parent-infant program you may already be familiar with some of the toys and activities that we use for learning to listen. Either way, here are some questions that you might have about the learning to listen toys.
1) What are some learning to listen toys?
Anything fun for your child! At school we like to play with toys that are related by categories. We do this so , as kids learn new words they are also learning concepts. For example, we may show the following toys together: train, car, boat... then: duck, horse, cow.
2) How do we maximize our children's understanding of the sounds and words that we use?
We start by associating certain objects (toys) with specific sounds. For example, the duck goes "quack, quack, quack", with a short, broken pattern, but the cow goes "moooooo" with a long, continuous pattern. By emphasizing the auditory differences between these patterns that are associated with these toys, we make it easier for children with new cochlear implants or hearing aids to discriminate between sounds. Some other examples of setting up auditory differences are contrasting high pitch (mouse goes "eee" with a high voice) verses low pitch (dog goes "woof woof" with a low voice).
3) What do you mean by sound associations anyway?
When objects have a certain sound/sound pattern to represent them, this creates early meaning for your child, even before you child has words. Here are a few sound associations for some common toys: baby (long "shh" sound with finger up to your lips), ice cream (long "mmm" as you hold the ice cream up as if to eat it) and bubbles (short "pop, pop, pop" as you pop the bubbles with your finger). Children seem to enjoy doing the motor movement first, and then producing the sounds as well. By the way, we have extra toy ice cream cones that are filled with bubbles. Let us know if you would like to have one.
4) Why should we play with the listen and learn toys?
It's important for you and your child to have a common language when talking about toys. Kids learn the best through repetition, so try to always use the same sound associations when you are playing with these toys. The goal is to create a common "language" or understanding of those toys. We are also capitalizing on joint attention and turn taking on these activities.
Once your child is making these sounds with the objects, you can keep playing with these toys and expand the language. We will target more expanded language in our next blog.
Let us know if you have any questions!
~Erika and Amanda
1) What are some learning to listen toys?
Anything fun for your child! At school we like to play with toys that are related by categories. We do this so , as kids learn new words they are also learning concepts. For example, we may show the following toys together: train, car, boat... then: duck, horse, cow.
2) How do we maximize our children's understanding of the sounds and words that we use?
We start by associating certain objects (toys) with specific sounds. For example, the duck goes "quack, quack, quack", with a short, broken pattern, but the cow goes "moooooo" with a long, continuous pattern. By emphasizing the auditory differences between these patterns that are associated with these toys, we make it easier for children with new cochlear implants or hearing aids to discriminate between sounds. Some other examples of setting up auditory differences are contrasting high pitch (mouse goes "eee" with a high voice) verses low pitch (dog goes "woof woof" with a low voice).
3) What do you mean by sound associations anyway?
When objects have a certain sound/sound pattern to represent them, this creates early meaning for your child, even before you child has words. Here are a few sound associations for some common toys: baby (long "shh" sound with finger up to your lips), ice cream (long "mmm" as you hold the ice cream up as if to eat it) and bubbles (short "pop, pop, pop" as you pop the bubbles with your finger). Children seem to enjoy doing the motor movement first, and then producing the sounds as well. By the way, we have extra toy ice cream cones that are filled with bubbles. Let us know if you would like to have one.
4) Why should we play with the listen and learn toys?
It's important for you and your child to have a common language when talking about toys. Kids learn the best through repetition, so try to always use the same sound associations when you are playing with these toys. The goal is to create a common "language" or understanding of those toys. We are also capitalizing on joint attention and turn taking on these activities.
Once your child is making these sounds with the objects, you can keep playing with these toys and expand the language. We will target more expanded language in our next blog.
Let us know if you have any questions!
~Erika and Amanda
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