Notch Hill Educational Products

PASSION FOR LITERACY FUELS MOTHER – DAUGHTER BUSINESS

Article in the Globe and Mail Click Here to read it.

BC HOME SCHOOL CONVENTION

We are excited to announce that we will be at the BC Home School Convention Trade Show, June 4 & 5 2010. Guildford  Rec. Centre, BC

ABCs and 123s

We received a great review by Savvy Mom. Click Here to read what they thought of the Nogs Of Notch Hill.

WHEN SHOULD I START TEACHING MY CHILD TO READ?

This is the question we most commonly hear so let’s take a moment to a moment to delve into it.

Most commonly, this question starts to pop up when a child is 3 or 4 years old. The first and most important thing to remember at this age is that at this age a toddler’s brain is developing rapidly. Surprise! Just by being a loving parent you are probably doing all that you need to do to facilitate his learning.
One thing that seems to be forgotten these days with all the pressure on academics children are put under is that there are many skills that a child needs to learn in order to do well in school. Reading is just one of those skills. More important are social skills and a positive attitude towards learning. Marilyn Chapman, director of the Institute for Early Childhood Education and Research at the University of British Columbia says “Learning is emotional as much as it is cognitive, and emotions help memories ‘stick’. We want children not only to learn, but to feel good about doing it and develop a positive, healthy identity.’
In his book “Outliers” Malcom Gladwell talks about a comparison study between the literacy levels of two groups of children. One set which were in an academic preschool and the other set that were in a play based preschool. It was found that on average the children in the academic preschool learned to read one year earlier than the children in the play based preschool. However, by the age of 7 there was no difference in reading skills, but the children from the play based preschool were much more likely to read for fun.
Here in Vancouver, Canada it is only expected that children should know their alphabet by the end of Grade 1 – this means that your child has until they are 7 years old before the educational system feels that they are ready to move on.
So what does this mean to you? Watch your child, look for clues that indicate that your child is ready to start to learn to read and once you feel that they are ready make sure that it is a fun experience and don’t feel that they are falling behind in any way if they don’t catch on right away.
Clues that your child is ready are likely that your child is asking more and more for you to explain, point out and help them “read” words. Teach him to write his name, if he manages it quite easily then that would be an indication that he’s ready for a bigger challenge.
If your child is not quite ready, don’t worry about it. Keep modelling positive learning behaviour such as reading books to him, giving him picture books to ‘read’ to you and pointing out important / interesting words you see as you move around on a daily basis. One day, pretty soon he will be open and primed for a positive learning experience.

BABY EINSTEIN

Did you get a Baby Einstein DVD and are looking for more information about the recall? Full details can be found here . Kudos to the Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) for their work on this. The reason for the recall was that there was no evidence that the DVD’s increased intellect. Furthermore there is mounting evidence that any television under the age of 3 is harmful for children. See  blog post.

A couple of years ago, I heard Julie Aigner-Clark, the Mom who designed Baby Einstein give a speech on the origins of the product. She started Baby Einstein with good intentions, to create something wholesome that kept her kids attention, long enough for her to have a shower. She seemed like a good soul who had no idea that her baby would bloom into a multi million dollar business owned by Disney.

Here is the very Coles Notes version of her speech.

GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK DAY

In contrast to the last article I wrote, Scottish Widows Insurance recently published a couple of studies. One says that nearly 2/3 of families with children rely on a double income to make ends meet. In the other report 1/5 of parents and grandparents believe they are not prioritising their children or grandchildren enough.
In Yesterday’s Vancouver Sun there was an article about parent’s spending too much time with their children and how it is good to sometimes put your marriage before your children and go on dates with your partner.
Sigh.
Does the media make anyone else want to scream? I hear by announce that today is International “Give Yourself A Pat On The Back” day. Let’s assume that every parent on the planet is doing the best job that they can. We all have pressures and we all are trying to balance a million things to create the best nurturing environment we can for our children. Today is all about you, the parent, celebrating that you are most likely ignoring the media , following your instincts and doing a great job at developing the next generation.
Here’s to you!

OVER-SCHEDULED AND OVER-WORKED?

I read an article in the Vancouver Sun recently about the fine line parents walk between providing an enriched education for our children and over scheduling them. The article like so many I read in the paper these days played heavily on the negatives. If you read the article you would believe that parents are mean tyrants who spend their lives dragging their children kicking and screaming from one extra-curricular activity to the next.
The article then goes on to discuss how children in these situations feel pressured and often begin to fall prey to anxiety related illnesses like stomach problems and depression.
Last week I was assisting a friend teach a public speaking class to a room of grade 4 & 5’s. One activity we had them do was ask their neighbour what they did last night and what they will do tonight. They then stood in front of the room to relate what they had heard.
The results were interesting to hear. 1/3 where what I would describe as very busy – by very busy I mean that they didn’t just have one activity after school. “Karate then Choir” as one girl put it. 1/3 were moderately busy – they just had one activity after school and the remaining 1/3 said that they played with video games last night and planned to play video games tonight.
It’s hard to figure out a balance of up time and down time for your child. Especially when your child clamours to take part in every opportunity that wafts past. Each child is different, two activities a night may not be appropriate for many children, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not appropriate for some. Obviously the answer is to watch your child and follow his or her cues.
Don’t discount the power of unstructured play time. Children learn through play and need to spend a lot of time playing without adult intervention, preferably with other children. Through this chaos they learn order and practice the skills they will need as adults – sharing, patience, diplomacy etc.
One thing though…the less time a child spends in creative play, the harder it will be for them to get started. You can assist by providing props – a costume box or a puppet, something to help them start Imagineering.
So what’s the best schedule for a child? One that is balanced between fun activities and free creative time. Listen to your child, but do push for some free time even if your child resists a little.

FAMILY LITERACY DAY

Happy Family Literacy Day every one!

Here’s a fun idea to celebrate – find a well loved book that has the same number of characters as there are in your family and have a family play. It doesn’t matter if you have an audience or not, as I guarantee that most of the fun will be in the preparations. Costumes are a must, the best ones are scavenged from around the house.

I remember doing this as a kid. My much older brother landed the part of a bee (I seem to remember that it was the main protagonist). As his only line was to say “Buzz” he made a comic strip type bubble out of card and wrote “Buzz” in it. I thought that it was wonderful!

THE ART OF STORY TELLING

One great way of introducing a new skill, routine or activity with your child is to make a photo story book about it. I just made a “Day-In-The-Life-Of” story book as a bit of fun for my son. It was really easy, over several days (it would have taken a day, but I kept forgetting) I took photos of him doing the things he does during the day. For example: Waking up, eating, playing, bath time etc then I printed them and put them in a dollar store photo album. As he is the main character in the book he absolutely loves “reading” it.

This type of story book can be really great if you are trying to work on a routine. For example, if you are trying to instigate a bedtime routine to help your child go to bed more easily/quickly, take pictures of your child going through the parts of the routine. Enlisting your child to help put the photos in the right order helps embed the process as well as “reading” the story regularly. Just beware, once you do this, you won’t get away with making any variances from the routine!

Another fun thing to do with these picture stories is practice sequencing – a good thing to practice before your child starts kindergarten. Going through first, then, next and last with your child both using pictures and physically around the house will help your child understand typical instructions she will get from her Kindergarten teacher. For example: First hang up your coat, then wash your hands, and lastly sit at the table.

Photo books have a huge range of applications and are great because they are easy to make and kids love having a book written all about them. If you have any other uses for them feel free to add a comment.

5 STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO IMPROVE INTELLIGENCE

Dr Marian Diamond from Berkeley University has spent her life studying the brain. She was the first person to take samples of Einstein’s brain and compare them to samples of other brains to try to unlock the secrets to Einstein’s remarkable intelligence.

Diamond has a 5 step system to increase intelligence in both adults and children. Interestingly enough the steps are simple…no brain surgery required.
1. Diet: A healthy diet feeds the brain as much as the body.
2. Exercise: Exercise builds better brain cells.
3. Challenge: Children don’t have to worry about this as they are still discovering so much of the world. Adults can get stuck in a rut, when was the last time you challenged yourself?
4. Newness: We have what is called a “Reticular Formation” which is the name of the nerve system that runs through the spine and is fed by all the nerves in the body. It loves new sensations and feelings. New stimulations are fed directly to the brain.
5. Love: An underestimated but very important part of everyday life.