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Accepting Differences

Children need an environment in which they can begin to learn about differences. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children are becoming aware of gender, race, ethnicity, and disabilities (Neugebauer, 1992). Our goal with this month’s theme is to help children to develop fairness and tolerance for differences and to learn to challenge unfair treatment of others. After all, the brave firefighters and police who rushed in to save the people at the World Trade Towers didn’t give any consideration to racial background. They were saving people, plain and simple.

Social Skills

Learning basic social skills such as saying thank you, sharing toys, greeting friends in an appropriate manner, etc., gives children basic tools to develop tolerance of others. Our physical environment also plays a role in our cultural learning. Posters demonstrating ethnic and racial diversity, dolls of varying colours, sizes, gender, even those with disabilities, crayons that contain a variety of skin tones all play a role in learning to accept differences. Look around your facility and see where you can improve on this theme. You can find calendars like the one at earthcalendat.net that note holidays from other cultures and point these days to celebrate out to the children. When we recognize and celebrate the differences among staff, parents, and children we set the example for them to follow.

Some ideas to enahnce the theme of Accepting Differences:

Take some time to talk to the children about how we are all the same, especially when it come to feelings. You can also use props to demonstrate how we may be different on the outside but the same on the inside. One idea is to use brown and white eggs. Ask the children to tell you how they are different in colour, size, shape. Then, using clear bowls, break the eggs open and ask the children to tell you what they see. The results, despite the obvious differences, is that we are all built the same on the inside, which is what makes us human beings.

Have some clothing from different cultures in the dress-up area. Demonstrate how they are worn and why a certain culture dresses they way they do. Your librarian can help you find books to read to the children on this topic.

Language Skills

For a wonderful list of books for young children on multiculturalism and diversity, visit this National Network For Child Care link or take a field trip to your local library. Talk to your librarian about setting up a reading session for your children on multiculturalism. You might also want to ask the parents to bring in books from home about their customs and culture.

Here’s an interesting story children can act out. Begin by telling the children a story about how things were not so very long ago.

One day, a black woman named Rosa Parks was riding home on a bus after a long day of work. She was very tired. She got on the bus and sat in a vacant seat.

In those days her city had a special law: if there weren’t enough seats on the bus for white people,black people were supposed to give up their seats to them. Soon after she got on, the bus seats were full, and then more people got on. The white people expected Rosa to get up from her seat.

Rosa was exhausted. She said, “No,” and wouldn’t give up her seat. Rosa Parks was arrested and put in jail. Many people heard what happened; some didn’t think it was fair. So the black people in her town said, “We aren’t going to ride the bus any more until the law is changed.” For one year they didn’t ride the bus. Finally, the law was changed! Rosa Parks wanted African Americans to be treated fairly. All across the country, people began to insist on their civil ights.

Encourage the children to act out the story. Use props such as chairs, stools, or boxes for bus seats. Children can choose who will be the bus driver, Rosa Parks, the person who wanted a seat, the police officer, and other passengers on the bus. Let children direct the action and use their own words. Props such as bus tickets and shopping bags might be used.

After the children have finished reenacting what happened, talk about how each of the people involved probably felt: Rosa Parks, the driver, the person who wanted Rosa’s seat, the police officer. Why did they do what they did? Expand children’s play if they’re interested. You could build on themes including transportation, women in history, the Civil Rights Movement, or local, state, and federal laws.

(From the National Network for Child Care – NNCC. (1994). The Rosa Parks story: How one person made a difference. In M. Lopes (Ed.) CareGiver News (December, p.1). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension.)

Music & Creative Movement

Parents and staff with varying cultural backgrounds can be a valuable resource with this theme. Ask them to share music their family enjoys. Get the children to sing and dance as they listen to the music. Children will begin to see that all people like to sing and dance, and that every group has its own special ways of doing so. Talk with the children about how different music sounds: loud, soft, fast, or slow. Listen for the different instruments. Ask parents if they have any instruments they would be willing to share with the children to enhance their learning experience.

Arts & Crafts

Using white 3″ x 5″ cards, a black ink pad, a pen, and a magnifying glass, have the children make prints of their thumbs by pressing them on the ink pad and then on the cards. (This works best when you press the finger on its side first and roll the finger until the print is done.) Label each print with the child’s name. Let children use the magnifying glass to see how the prints are alike and different. Point out that everyone has patterns on the skin of their fingers and each person’s fingerprints are different from anyone else’s.

Boil eggs of differing colours and sizes. Have the children decorage the eggs in their own likeness using crayons, markers, felt pieces, etc. (Can be used in conjunction with the egg demonstration noted above.)

Read the poem, A Box of Crayons, by Shane DeRolf, to your children . It is about the different colours getting along and liking each other. Then, have the children draw their portraits on a a precut oversized crayon pattern. Cut the crayon out when the children are done. Place all the crayons into a giant box of crayons that you can create using construction paper. This craft makes an adorable wall handing piece demonstrating the diversity of everyone in your group.

Another craft and art idea you can tie into your language skills is learning about masks from around the world and what they symbolize. When you’re done, the children can create their own masks. The following day you can have each child tell a story about their mask, write the story on a board or note pad, and perhaps make your own book of mask stories. Blends in with the Halloween theme too.

Children can also mix paints to find their own individual skin colors.

Science/Math/Cooking

Cooking: Learn about the different ways other cultures use to prepare foods. Host an ethnic lunch each month. For example, cook tortillas for lunch during Mexican week. Have parents or grandparents prepare a snack from their culture. Ask them to tell you about the food, how it is made, its orgins, etc., and talk about these with the children. While talking with the children about these foods, point out that no matter what specific things we like to eat, all children get hungry and all people enjoy eating food together.

Science: Learning about the various backgrounds of the wonderful people who make up our universe provides teachers and caregivers with opportunities to teach the children about the different lands that people live in. Some may inhabit rain forests, deserts, mountains. Librarians can assist you in finding science activities related to these regions. Housing and transportation can also make their way into this learning environment. The possibilities are a diverse as the people themselves.

Math: Your librarian can also assist you in locating math activities and concepts that are used by different cultures around the world. Of course, you can teach simple math concepts by using props related to the culture you are teaching at the time.

by Diane W. Bales, Ph.D.
Human Development Specialist
Cooperative Extension Service
The University of Georgia

Are children who spend more than 30 hours per week in child care more aggressive than children who spend little or no time in out-of-home care? Recent news coverage of the NICHD national child care study has suggested this. But parents who place their children in child care may not need to feel as guilty as the reports have suggested. The news is not all bad. In fact, there are some clear positive effects of high-quality child care program in this study.

As sometimes happens, the details of this research study have gotten lost in the translation by popular media. Here are some of the major findings from this study, as well as more detail on the results related to aggression.

Child Care Quality Matters

The quality of child care does make a difference. Children in high-quality care are less likely to be aggressive than are children in lower-quality care. Children in high-quality programs also tend to develop better language and thinking skills. Parents can find high-quality child care settings by looking for things like small adult-to-child ratios; well-trained, sensitive, and responsive caregivers; and a setting that provides stimulation and teaches children how to solve problems and resolve conflicts.

Hearing Language Helps Build Language

Children who hear more reading and talking in their child care settings tend to do better on language tests at ages 4 and 5. Parents and caregivers can help children learn language by asking questions, responding to and expanding on what children say, and reading and singing with children. And limit the amount of time children watch TV. Children who spend more time watching TV tend to have smaller vocabularies.

Parents Matter, Too

Children who receive loving care at home are less likely to show problem behaviors, even if they are in full-time child care. Children need parents who are warm and responsive to their needs, who spend regular time interacting with them, and who set consistent, age-appropriate limits.

What Does the Study Really Say About Aggression?

“Aggression” is a hot topic for parents and society as a whole these days. Several high-publicity school shootings have led parents to worry about violent teens. And it’s true that the roots of violence often can be traced back to early childhood. What many parents don’t understand is that this study does not prove that long hours in child care cause children to be more aggressive. The study found that somewhat more children in full-time child care showed aggressive behaviors than did children in child care fewer than 10 hours per week. But even among children in full-time child care, only 17% – fewer than 1 in 5 children – showed aggressive behaviors. And the percentage of children in full-time care who were aggressive is the same as the percentage of all children who are aggressive. So children in full-time child care do not show abnormally high levels of aggression, compared to children in general.

It is also important not to misinterpret the relation between time in child care and aggression. Although the study did show a link between hours in child care and aggression, this does not mean spending time in child care causes children to be more aggressive. Several other explanations are possible. It is possible, for example, that children who spend more time in out-of-home care were more aggressive even before they entered child care.

Consider also that social skills are as important in preparing for kindergarten as are thinking and language skills. Too many adults think that children who can count and recite the alphabet are ready for school. But children in school must also get along with others, negotiate, and resolve conflicts. Children who learn problem solving and conflict management in early childhood will be better prepared to handle the social world of kindergarten and will be less likely to handle their problems aggressively.

The bottom line is that warm, loving adults who talk with, listen to, and care about children do help those children succeed. Parents and child care providers need to work together to be sure that children have the high-quality care they need, whether at home or elsewhere.

If there is one thing we need to instill in children today is a sense of love and self-worth, for only when they learn to love themselves and treasure the unique little person that they are, can they love and appreciate others.

Much of what a child learns about himself comes from his parents and his child care provider.  It is the place where children spend the most of their time that, like these lines of the poem of the unknown author says,

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with encouragement
He learns confidence
If a child lives with praise
He learns to appreciate
If a child lives with approval
He learns to like himself
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship
He learns to find love in the world

Language Matters

Here are twenty five phrases parents and providers can use to encourage a child – to tell him or her what a wonderful little person they are.

1  You’re beautiful.
2.  I’m proud of you.
3.  I knew you could do it.
4.  You’re so kind.
5.  You’re very special.
6.  Aren’t you smart.
7.  You’re outstanding.
8.  You try so hard.
9.  Good work!.
10.You are marvelous.
11. Way to go sunshine.
12. You’re wonderful.
13. Well look at you.
14. I love you.
15. You’ve done a great job.
16. You’re smile brightens my day.
17. Thank you for being my buddy.
18. I think you’re terrific.
19. What would I do without you.
20. You make me so happy.
21. What a nice thing you did.
22. You’re the love of my life.
23. You do the nicest things.
24. You make the world a special place.
25. I’m so happy you’re my son, daughter, friend.

Parents, take the time to listen to what goes on at you child care facility.  You could learn a lot about the type of environment your child is in.  Do the children sound happy?  Are the teacher’s voices cheerful?  Are they encouraging?  Do you ever hear the provider praise your child or tell him or her how special they are? If you like what you hear, tell your provider how special she is, what a wonderful job she is doing, how she makes all your lives brighter.  Your child learns by example.  And, of course, your provider will certainly appreciate your kind words.

Anyone who works with children can tell you first hand there is a growing rise in disrespect for parents, teachers, and other authority figures. Young children are increasingly becoming crueler with each other. Youth violence is on an upward swing and dishonesty, like lying, cheating, and stealing, is prevalent like never before.

Until recently, calls for school reform have focused on academic achievement. Educators, from preschool on up, now realize that along with the three Rs, children need courses in character development. Daycares, schools, parents and community, all have an important role to play in helping children develop good manners, moral and ethical behavior.

What is Character Education?

Dr. Thomas Lickona, Director of The Center for the Fourth and Fifth Rs, defines character education as “the deliberate effort to develop virtues that are good for the individual and good for society. The objective goodness of virtues” Lickona says, “is based on the fact that they:

* Affirm our human dignity
* Promote the well-being and happiness of the individual
* Serve the common good
* Define our rights and obligations
* Meet the classical ethical tests of reversibility (Would you want to be treated this way?) and universality (Would you want all persons to act this way in a similar situation?).”

Character education programs provide positive changes in children’s behavior, specifically in helping each other, being truthful, and not blaming others. And while no one thing is going to have much of an impact on a child’s character development, talking about virtues and vices as situations happen at home, at the daycare or at school, plus modeling virtuous behavior ourselves, can help to create a sense of a moral world for children.

More than that, it just makes sense to teach young people right from wrong. After all, isn’t child-rearing and teaching all about helping our children to become good people who can live healthy, happy lives of purpose?

“Six Pillars of Character”

Most of the character development programs available to parents and teachers center around the “Six Pillars of Character”:

* Trustworthiness
* Respect
* Responsibility
* Fairness
* Caring
* Citizenship

Who Developed the “Six Pillars of Character”?

The language itself came out of a summit conference on character education convened by the Josephson Institute in 1992 in Aspen, Colorado. The diverse group of educators, youth leaders and ethicists who gathered there to investigate ways of working together agreed unanimously that these six values are clearly central to ethical people’s lives, regardless of their differences. Whose values? Some 40 states and almost 1,000 cities, counties, school districts and chambers of commerce (plus the President, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives) have endorsed CHARACTER COUNTS! and its “Six Pillars” approach to community-wide character education. 1

Teaching Children About the “Six Pillars of Character”

The most important thing that children should take away from character development training is that:

* Their character counts and their success and happiness will depend on who they are inside
* That people of character know the difference between right and wrong and that these people use the “”Six Pillars of Character”” as a guide to their thoughts and their actions.

The teacher’s role in character education is to introduce a lesson/topic of the “Six Pillars” one at a time. Dr. Borba, author of Character Builders, says there are five steps to building these character traits. The first is to target the desired behavior for 21 days. The second is to define the needs and values of the trait. The third step is to teach what the trait looks like and sounds like. The fourth is to provide structured practice for 21 days. The fifth is to reinforce the trait through immediate feedback and encourage uses for the trait in life.

Building character in children can also be reinforced through the use of visual and activity tools throughout the day. Posters, activity books and other small, creative and fun ideas can make this a project in which kids want to participate!

Once the process of character building has begun, the Josephson Institute, on their Web site Charactercounts.com, suggests teachers and parents:

* Be Consistent. The moral messages you send must be clear, consistent and repetitive. Thus, everything you say and do, and all that you allow to be said and done in your presence, either reinforces or undermines the credibility of your messages about the importance of good character. Be as firm and consistent as you can be about teaching, advocating, modeling and enforcing these “”Six Pillars of Character”.” The intention is to foster the virtues of good behaviour via constant “teachable moments”

* Be Concrete. Building character and teaching ethics is not an academic undertaking, it must be relevant to the lives and experiences of your children. Talk about character and choices in situations that your children have been in.

* Be Creative. Effective character development should be creative. It should be active and involve the child in real decision-making that has real consequences. Games and role-playing are also effective. Look for “teaching moments,” using good and bad examples from TV, books, movies, and the news.

We only need to look at programs such as “Kindness Is Contagious: Catch It,” which began in a single Kansas City, Mo., school and has since spread to more than 400 public schools in the area, to see the success creative character building programs can achieve. This particular program is sponsored by the Stop Violence Coalition.

Among the activities the program encourages is one in which children are asked to fill up two jars with beans. One jar contains a bean for every time a child receives a put-down, insult, or injury; another jar contains a bean for every time a child receives a “put-up” or an act of kindness. This activity provides children with a visual image of what they are doing to each other. The goal: to increase the put-ups and decrease the put-downs.

A second activity is called “Pass It On.” A teacher provides an overview of what kindness is (i.e. the 21 days of learning), and then when the teacher witnesses an act of kindness amongst her students, she or he gives the kind child an object such as a red apple, and tells the child that he or she is now a witness and must pass the apple on to whomever he or she sees is performing an act of kindness.

A copy of the guidebooks describing the program and its activities are available for $20, by writing to: Stop Violence Coalition, 301 East Armour, Suite 440, Kansas City, MO 64111.

Summing It Up

Dr. Kevin Ryan outlines the teaching of character development education best in his article, The Six E’s Of Character Education:

* Example. Example is probably the most obvious way to model character education. Another method for moral modeling is to teach the moral truths embedded in literature and history.

* Explanation. We need to practice moral education by means of explanation – not simply stuffing students’ heads with rules and regulations, but engaging them in great moral conversations about the human race.

* Exhortation. Used sparingly and with explanations, helps children and employees understand that a a good student or worker is someone who makes class contributions, does homework and assists other students.”

* Ethos. Providing an ethical environment – climate within a classroom promotes a steady and strong influence in the formation of character and the student’s sense of what’s right and wrong.

* Experience. Providing students both in-and out-of-school opportunities to serve.

* Expectation of Excellence. Excellence in school work and behavior will encourage students to develop qualities like perseverance and determination, and those virtues will affect every aspect of the children’s lives as they mature.

The end result of character development education: Children who, as adults, will contribute to the community, and whose moral leadership, values and citizenship will make the world a better place.

Duck, Duck Goose, Ring Around the Rosie, tag. Nothing more than mere child’s play, right?

The truth is, games provide valuable learning experiences for children. They help reinforce social skills, language skills, physical skills. Look beyond the actual games themselves and you’ll find hidden lessons that provide children of all ages with opportunities for enahncing their skills in participating, interacting with others, and enjoying a sense of mastery.

Examples

Take Duck, Duck, Goose, for example. Besides chanting and running around a child-made circle, children are actually working on their listening and memory skills as they learn the words of the songs. They are increasing their physical abilities as they jump up and run around the circle in an effort to not get caught. And they are enhancing their social skills as they engage in an activity that requires getting along with a group, waiting patiently for their turn to chase or be chased, cheering on their friends who are making the mad dash home.

Of course there’s a lot of learning happening when children play games like ABC Hopscotch. By filling the sidewalk squares with letters or letter tiles instead of numbers, the children are learning their alphabet, learning to balance their body as they hop around on one foot, and to play fiar with others.

Research

As Evelyn Petersen, parenting columnist and child and family advocate points out in her article, Fun and Games: It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose Games, “games teach children many good things, from educational skills to real-life skills such as:

• Honesty (following the rules);
• Cooperation (sharing and taking turns);
• Patience (waiting);
• Persistence (not giving up/completing the task/seeing the game
through to the end);
• Concentration (attention span); and
• Making choices and being responsible for those choices.”

One of the biggest benfits children reap from playing games is a sense of belonging to a group. ” It is a bond that is the foundation for the child’s future interactions with others, when their friendships extend beyond family to peer groups,” says Petersen.

No matter how hard we wish them to be, children aren’t responsible by nature. It is something they have to learn from caring adults. It is something they have to be taught. Lucky for parents and caregivers, children can be taught to be responsible very early in life.

Infants

Even an infant can learn to feed himself while he enjoys the company of hisfamily at the dinner table. From that simple chore he gains satisfaction in being able to reach for, and actually succeed in using his hands to get that delicious piece of fruit from his bowl and into his mouth. Give him a piece of paper towel and an encouraging smile while you wipe up his spills, and he’ll be more than happy to help you clean up the mess. He may make things a little tougher on you, but what you’re teaching him in those extra few minutes is that a family that works together can accomplish anything.

Toddlers

Toddlers too, love to feel that they are able to do things. Ask a two year old if she would kindly help you put the plastic glasses on the dinner table and watch her face light up. Give her a lot of encouragement and praise when she does a simple thing like put her pajamas back in the drawer in the morning and she learns the value of doing something to help without having to be asked.

As they get older and their abilities increase, so too should their level of responsibility. Preschoolers, for example, can do, and if they are given the task of being in charge of simple things like emptying the wastebasket on garbage day, bringing in mail, or using the handheld vacuum to clean up the crumbs around the table, actually love being helpful. Now, give your child a star for each task that gets done on their weekly chore chart, and they become more than willing participants in the household duty roster.

Teaching children responsibility at an early age:

* Builds confidence as a child learns that she can do a new task.
* Shows them that they are valued members of society, that
in their own little way they can do simple things that make a difference in their life, and in the lives of others.
* Builds work ethics. When a child knows he is expected to
follow through and complete a given task, he gains a healthy attitude toward work and more importantly, teamwork.

But as we all know, even though we have capable little beings in our midst, getting them to keep up their end of the chore list is not always an easy task. In her article Teaching children to be responsible, Diane Banner, a School Psychologist in Clay County, Florida offers parents this advice:

1. “Set an example of respect: Be on time for appointments, return extra change to a cashier, finish necessary chores before relaxing, and speak respectfully to children. If we do not model responsible behavior, there is a very strong likelihood that our children will not either.

2. Communicate effectively: Expectations and rules should be stated clearly and positively to children. The reason for rules should be given so that children develop an awareness of their helpfulness and the respect they gain when acting responsibly.

3. Allow children to set goals, make choices and solve problems: Children need experience in being responsible decision-makers. Involve them in setting household maintenance goals and chores. These can be displayed in a chart on the refrigerator. Encourage children’s responsible participation in decisions by presenting them with acceptable choices clothing selection, television viewing and free-time activities.

4. Allow for natural and logical consequences: Children who do not act responsibly should experience the effect of their actions. If toys are not put away, they may be taken until the child demonstrates better care for them. Saying “no” and setting limits may be the most responsible of parental behaviors.”

Chores

Of course doing chores need not be all work and no play. Elizabeth Pantley, author of Perfect Parenting and Kid Cooperation suggests parents host a Bonus Day! “Once in a while, just for fun, have a “Coin Collection Day,” writes Pantley. “Prior to having your child complete her chores, hide pennies, nickels, or dimes around the house under the items that need to be cleaned. When all the chores are done to your satisfaction, the child gets to keep the bonus!”

Pantley also says that parents should take the time to teach their children new chores. “Don’t assume that since your child has seen you do the task that she can do it herself. Be very specific in your instruction and demonstrate step-by-step as your child watches. The next step is to let your child help you, followed by your child doing the chore as you supervise. At the point you feel that your child has mastered the job she can take over responsibility for it.”

Finally, to help keep those adorable children on task, many parents find that chore charts work wonders. A chore chart allows your child to place a sticker, or use a marker to check off those chores that have been completed. Make the chore chart a family affair, and the child can see that not only are Mom and Dad responsible for things such as laundry and cutting the grass, that big brother has to pitch in too by sweeping the floor and taking care of the doggie dodo in the back yard.

Children at the child care centre can also learn about responsibility and gain that sense of accomplishment and self-matters. The chore chart can be used for such things as putting the toys away before story time, sharing the table setting duties, and checking off the chart before they leave to ensure they have all their belongings before they head out the door.

Etiquette means behaving
yourself a little better than
is absolutely essential.
~ Will Cuppy ~

It’s no surprise to most people that a lack of good manners in children is a growing problem in classrooms and playgrounds. As we head into
National Etiquette Week, child care online thought it befitting to share a few simple tips for improving social behavior and good character in our youngsters. After all, children aren’t born with good manners, they must be taught.

Teach

Many children are not aware of their bad manners and must be taught not only what not to do, but given examples of what to do instead.

Prepare the Children

Let the children know in advance what manners are expected of them in certain social situations such as an outing to the Police Dept., or when someone visits your facility. Younger children can benefit from a role-play what they might expect.

Expect Good Manners:

Expect children to use the good manners they have been taught. If a child persists in purposefully demonstrating bad manners, give him or her alternatives to their behaviour such as a time out

Be Consistent

Require good manners every day and over time they will become second nature to the children.

Correct Privately

If a child is acting in a rude way, lead himaway from the situation and briefly correct him. Let him know you appreciate and love him, the briefly explain why the behaviour was impolite and offer suggestive ways the child can act correctly. That way you can send him back into the situation prepared to change for the better.

Praise Good Behaviour

Praise a child for using good manners or when see them being polite. Praise reinforces the good manners lets the children know that it’s the kind of behavior you expect.

Establish a Zero Tolerance Policy

Establish “zero tolerance” policy for indoor and outdoor behavior like pushing, not sharing, interrupting, or bullying.

Establish a Politeness Policy

Establish a politeness policy in conjunction with your “zero tolerance policy” gives the children clear examples of what is considered good manners. For example, let the children know that no request is considered unless they say “please” and that you expect a “thank you” after a kind deed.

Role Model Good Manners

If you want your children to show good manners and respect, you first have to model appropriate behavior. Reinforce your politeness policy by saying please and thank you. Show the children how to admitting your mistakes and apologize. Treat everyone, especially the parents and caregivers with kindness and respect. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your children will behave in kind with each other, and with the adults in their life.

Each of us has a unique way of learning, of processing information. Where you might learn by visually watching someone or how something is done, someone else learns best by hearing or being taught orally. Still your best friend learns by getting in there and doing things. No one way is proven superior, it is simply a matter or our learning styles. The same holds true for how children learn.

Our Role

As a caregiver and a parent, recognizing these three learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) and using all three when working with your children will ensure everyone learns the same thing at the same time. Here are some suggestions to help you.

* Making a game out of a learning experience usually helps people to remember.
* Plan activities that show the lesson and include a corresponding hands-on activity.
* If you aren’t sure of a child’s learning style, ask his/her parents. By understanding each child’s learning style you can focus your attention on those children who learn best at one part of the lesson (as you’re reading a story), then focus on the children who learn best during another part of the lesson (like when you’re painting pictures related to the activity).
* If parents aren’t sure of their child’s unique learning style, pay attention to which types of activities a child naturally select. For example, kinesthetic learners prefer to build and mold things, while visual learners prefer to draw or create. Auditory learners are drawn to music and read-along stories.
* By applying all three learning experiences to a lesson, you allow each child to learn by their dominant style while enhancing their less dominant senses. Sometimes it is a simple matter of three simple steps, telling it, showing it and touching it.

Resources

From Child Development Training, 101 Tips for Directorsby Silvana Clark, published byWarren Publishing House, Everett, Washington.
© Catherine M. Pruissen

Catherine M. Pruissen is the CEO of About Child Care Consumer Services and developer of child care online. She has published numerous child care related literature, including Start and Run a Profitable Home Day Care, The Daycare Alternative, How to Find Good Child Care, Caregiver Aids: Business Forms for Caregivers and Parents, Income Tax & Record Keeping for Child Care Providers, and a host of workshops and workbooks. She was the editor and publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter, Parent Care, Your Child Care News-line. Catherine was also the coordinator and workshop facilitator for The Child Care Information Centre in Calgary, Alberta, and ran a successful dayhome for eight years.

Once children are past putting pennies in their mouths, you can start teaching them about the value of money. After all, children are curious about money, especially coins. Here are a few simple techniques for teaching preschoolers the value of money. (Close supervision of young children is necessary with small objects.)

Counting Value

Place a nickel on the left side of a table, and place five pennies on the right side. Explain to the children the value of the nickel as it relates to the pennies. If you continue this strategy using dimes, quarters, half dollars, etc., before you know it, the children will have mastered the art of not only counting money, but understanding its value as well.

Alternatives

Preschoolers are old enough to learn to choose between a set of alternatives when you give them a small amount of money. The amount should be small enough that losing it won’t be a big issue. You can start out by having the children choose between two treats at a pretend store. Have a a few objects such as candies, cookies, etc., and allow the children to exchange their pennies or nickels for the goodie of their choice. Once they have learned to spend their money in this simple fashion, you can take them to the real store to learn about handing the money to the store clerk for their goodies.

Saving for Something Special

Once the children have mastered the value of a nickel over a penny and a quarter over a nickel, and have learned how to pick the best buy for their money, they are ready to learn how to save their money for special things, such a a picture book or a small toy they’ve had their eye on. They’ll learn how to count their money, how much they need in coins to buy their special object, and how to save so much of their money so they can still enjoy the simple things while saving for the special things. This also teaches them they have options when it comes to money. This is a great time to start teaching them to put part of a birthday present in a penny bank or take them to the real bank so they can put their money away where it is safe until they need it.

Allowance Systems

Most children grow up learning from some form of allowance system. An allowance helps children learn to plan for future expenses and set aside some for future use. It also teaches them that the amount of money they have is limited, especially when they have to choose between different alternatives such as buying a candy bar and saving some of their allowance for the sparkly ball at the department store. Providing children with an earned allowance is a great way for parents to teach children how to set a budget and keep a record of their money. Obviously this exercise needs to be geared to the age of the child, but even preschoolers can learn these exercises easily.

Money Makes Money

A great way to teach children about the value of saving money is to show them that money being put away in a bank account, or even in their penny bank, is busy earning interest (making more money for them). For very young children, use two containers and a little change to teach them about interest. Mark one container ‘S’ for savings and the other ‘I’ for interest. When a child puts a quarter in one jar (the savings jar), you put a nickel in the other jar (the interest jar). The children will understand that money can work for them, and they’ll be inspired to participate in a savings program. Use the child’s bank book as a real life example. Show them when they have earned interest and how their $20 is now $20.50, and how, over so many months, it will be worth even more.