Eduational Games
YOUR KID’S FINANCIAL LITERACY
I’m starting a thread here in the blog on other businesses that we at Notch Hill endorse because they have great philosophies, have amazing products or are just in general super cool people.
So it is appropriate that the first company seems to fit into all these categories.
Four Quarters Finance seem to come from similar roots to us here at Notch Hill. They believe in the concept of play being a powerful way to teach kids. Like us they are also passionate about literacy, but in their case they are passionate about financial literacy. They have 3 financial literacy packs designed for different age groups. I love the idea of teaching kids from an early age that it is important to save a portion of their money for themselves and a portion of their money to give away.
Check out their website at www.fourquartersfinance.com you will also find them at the BC Home School Conference in early June.
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.
MULTI SENSORY WHAT???
Multi Sensory Learning has been a buzz word in education for decades now. It sounds very serious but few people know about the benefits it can offer.
What is Multi Sensory Learning?
Multi Sensory Learning is very simply learning through all the 5 senses. If you teach any one a concept through sound, sight, feel, smell and taste the chances of them ever forgetting it are very small. For example lets take something boring like fractions.
Sound: First explain what half and a quarter is to your child.
Sight: Take an apple and cut it into half and a quarter
Feel: Allow your child to cut up other pieces of fruit into fractions.
Smell: Take three glasses of water. Using vanilla essence measure out three servings into the three glasses using fractions. How different do they smell?
Taste: Taste the difference between the three glasses.
Do you have to use all the senses all the time?
No, some senses are harder to engage than others. Try to engage as many senses as is natural for the topic you are working on.
Isn’t Multi Sensory Learning used mainly for children with learning challenges?
Multi Sensory Learning has been very successful in teaching children with learning challenges. However it’s uses are much wider than that, it is a great tool for teaching any one any thing – I like to use it to teach adults concepts too. One thing it does is get you to think much more creatively about the topic you are explaining. Taking any thing out of a text book and into 5D is much more engaging and in the long run easier for you. A little more effort at the front end equals less time going over topics and re explaining old topics when you are trying to build on them.
Next time you are looking to explain a concept, try to think in 5D (using your 5 senses!) For information on a Multi Sensory literacy program see the rest of my website.
COMPUTER AIDED LITERACY
There are some great computer or internet based literacy games out there. They are fun, interactive and quite amusing, small doses are a great way to add another dimension to your child’s learning.
A while back I spent a fair bit of time in a down town east side school here in Vancouver and one of the things I did was take the kids for computer time. Over a period of time I made a couple of observations which I’d like to share.
- Computer time is a really fun time, kids really enjoy it and do an amazing job of figuring it all out (usually before I have)
- Computer programs are very graphically designed. Kids can enjoy the games by clicking on lots of stuff but without reading the screen. If your child is just starting to read, it would be a good idea to sit with your child while they play computer games and encourage them to read the screen.
- Computer programs can be very controlling. Your child will often find the easy route through the games instead of engaging their brain. An example of this was a story that could be read, but if the child was stuck then they could click on the word and the computer would pronounce it for them. The kids I was working with didn’t realise that they were supposed to be reading the words themselves. Instead they were labouriously clicking on every word and waiting for the computer to pronounce it. Once your child is reading, keep an eye on them while they are playing computer games to make sure that they are using them in a way that has some educational benefit.
- Sometimes computer games can overstimulate a child to some extent. They begin to click away fast and change games without playing and finishing one. If this happens, you will need to step in and turn off the games for a while. Next time, you will need to direct your child into playing one or two games only.
DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE A “BALANCED DIET” OF TOYS?
All toys are not made equal – I think any parent can tell you this. But where are the guidelines that help parents make intellegent choices over what is a good toy and what is not a good toy?
At Notch Hill we’ve talked before about the benefits of toys that encourage children to use their imagination over toys that direct the child’s play. Here is a great article by Kidscreen that goes through the basics of what to look for in a toy.
http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/20010201/30707.html?page=1&word=polled
WHAT MAKES AN EDUCATIONAL TOY
In today’s toy shops, every toy seems to have the words “Educational” written on the box. As a child’s chief mechanism of learning is through play it is possible that almost any toy can claim to teach a child somthing. This article from TD Monthly ( www.toydirectory.com) provides a psychologists view on what makes a truly eduational toy.
http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/oct2003/educational_sh.asp
SOME GREAT FINDS AT TOY FAIR
While exploring Toy Fair it would have been impossible for me not to have fallen in love with some of the products available there. Here’s a run down on what I thought were the best of the best in educational and developmental toys in no particular order.
Cardboard Design www.cardboarddesign.com - Cathy Heneszy, President/ Creative Director has some amazing products for kids and adults alike. For kids check out the play houses, for adults check out the vases that change shape!
Hobby Bike www.hobby-bike.com – This is such a great idea! Research has shown that training wheels on bikes don’t actually help kids learn to ride that fast. It is better to give kids a bike that is low to the ground that they can push around with their feet. Hobby bikes not only do this, but they come with pedals and are fully adjustable to grow with your kid once they get coordinated enough to ride properly…not only that the bikes retail at $100 and come in a variety of colours.
Miniland Educational www.miniland.es - A large Spanish company just breaking in to the North American market. They have some great educational toys. We liked the lacing games where you sew clothes on dolls with a shoelace.
Grasshopper www.grasshopperpreschool.com – A new company that has designed a product that has some ethical similarities to Notch Hill. Their product helps preschoolers build the motor controls that they will need in order to learn to write. The president is a pediatric occupational therapist and has plenty of experience helping kids learn to control their hands. The product costs $200 retail and is beautifully presented.
Zillio www.zilliogames.com – A fun looking math tool for teaching tables.
Ultimate Spinner www.robbinstoy.com – I loved this wacky spinner game because it was so many games in one. At approx $50 retail it would keep your family entertained for several years.
Bridge Street Toys www.bridgestreettoys.com – If you have a kid who likes science then I whole heartedly recommend the hydrodynamics kits from this company. They come with the girder and panel kit to build a tower and a whole bunch of different valves to demonstrate all types of valves. The book that comes along with it is fascinating and takes kids from real life examples to understanding schematic drawings.
Crazy Forts www.everestwholesale.com – These are a fun modern take on the tents and forts we all built using our parent’s furniture as a kid. The kit comes with sticks and clamps which the kid can put together in a bunch of different ways. Then you add the blankets or sheets and a fort, spaceship, igloo or what ever is created. You can also buy lights that clip onto the frames to illuminate the insides of the structure.
And last but not least I loved Pencil Play Pals www.pencilplaypals.com – These harmless characters are a series of pencil toys and books written with much love and care. A simple toy but a lot of fun.
2009 TOY TRENDS
I just got back from Toy Fair in New York. Toy fair is held at the Javits Convention Centre which has 350,000 sq ft of exhibition space – needless to say we were quite tired after the three days it took for us to attempt to walk around it all!
We were interested in developmental and educational toys and so focused our attention on these toys- here’s some trends in this market that I see coming up over the next few months.
- Expect to see a sudden burst of educational tools to help train kids (and parents) in healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. There appears to be a large push in funding from the US government in this direction.
- Expect more wooden toys available and some great toys made out of bamboo – There are a lot of wooden building blocks on the market. I have no idea how you decide which are the best!
- More computer based learning to read programs – As ever I would advise parents to use your discression as to whether you feel that they are beneficial or not.