Schoolreadiness Part G

MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS Continue...

Ø Take 6 sweets and explain to your child: If 2 children each have one sweetie, how many will they have together?. (Answer = 2). And If 2 children each have 2 sweeties, how many will they have together? (Answer = 4). And If 2 children each have 3 sweeties, how many will they have together?
(Answer = 6). If you have 2 sweeties and your friend has 3 sweeties, how many will you have together? (Answer = 5).

Schoolreadiness Part F

MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS Continue...

Ø Put 10 objects on the floor, ask your child to COUNT how many there are.

Ø Explain to your child that a PAIR means two. For e.g. show your child a pair of gloves. Ask your child: If 2 persons each have a pair of gloves, how many will they have together (Answer = 4). Try to have 2 pairs of gloves or 2 pairs of shoes with you to explain this to our child by showing it..

Schoolreadiness Part E

MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS Continue...
Ø Take 4 Bowls and fill them with marbles/seeds/beans.
Bowl 1 must have 3 objects in. Bowl 2-1 object. Bowl 3-5 objects. Bowl 4-3 objects
Ask your child:
Show me the bowl with the LEAST amount of marbles in.
(Answer: bowl no. 2)
Show me the bowl with the MOST amount of marbles in.
(Answer: bowl no. 3)
Show me the two bowls with the SAME amount of marbles in.
(Answer: bowl no 1 and 4)
If I use a bowl and take 2 objects away, and one object will then be left, which bowl will that be? (Answer: bowl no 4 or 1 – with 3 objects in)

Schoolreadiness Part D

MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS:
Do the following with your child:

Ø Put 5 objects in a row and teach your child in English
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Ask your child to show you the FIRST and LAST one or SECOND and FOURTH one.
Show me the one in the middle

Ø Take an orange and cut it in half, and explain to your child that it was divided in 2 HALVES.

Schoolreadiness Part C

Spatial Concept Continue...

Have a large box at hand and give your child a ball and ask your child to:
a) Hold the ball BEHIND your body
b) Hold the ball IN FRONT OF your body
c) Hold the ball ABOVE your head
d) Put the ball INSIDE the box
e) Put the ball BESIDE the box
f) Put the ball on the RIGHT SIDE of the box
g) Put the ball on the LEFT SIDE of the box
h) Put the ball in the MIDDLE of your face

Schoolreadiness Part B

Spatial Concept

Ask your child to do the following:
a) Lie on your TUMMY on the floor
b) LIFT your hands in the air
c) Put your hand ON TOP OF my hand
d) Put your hand UNDER my hand
e) Climb OVER the table
f) Climb UNDER the table
g) Lie on your BACK on the floor

Schoolreadiness Part A

Here are some exercises to do with your child to assist him in being ready for Grade 1:

Size Concept

Take a LONG and SHORT rope and ask your child to point out the longest of the two
Show your child a picture of a NARROW passage and a picture of a WIDE passage. Ask your child to show you the narrow passage.
Cut a THICK slice of bread and a THIN slice of bread. Ask your child to point to the thick slice.
Take 3 potatoes Large, small and medium sixes. Ask your child:
a) Point to the LARGEST one.
b) Pont to the SMALLEST one
c) Arrange them FROM SMALL TO LARGE
d) Point to the one in the MIDDLE

Vestibular Stimulation

Your vestibular system is situated in the inner ear. The vestibular apparatus detects changes in speed and directions of head movement. The vestibular system forms an equilibrial trail with the visual and proprioceptive system and it also has an influence on the nervous system. The main functions of the vestibular system are: to maintain equilibrium, to direct the oaze of the eyes and to preserve a constant plane of vision. The child enjoys stimulating his vestibular apparatus and challenging his equilibrium and skills against the earth’s gravitational pull from the first time he lifts his head. Can you now see that your child’s reading can even improve when your child’s vestibular system is stimulated? Because the “ears are connected to the eyes”. Most children are too stagnant because of TV and play-station, so make sure that your child has some sort of a swing or trampoline outside or take your child to the park to play on the playground swings and merry-go-rounds on a weekly basis.

Smile educational Toys Closing down

The company is closing down; the last date to order is 26 Sept. If you still need to order products, please do so NOW!

The consultant I use is Karien Prinsloo 0826144112.
The following Smile games are a must for any Gr. double zero to Gr.7 child: Phone Karien and order them for your children:
Tangram duet,
Logi-shape,
Finger fun,
Pegboard combo and
3D designs. Dotty Designs

Attention and Concentration

A 2-year old should concentrate for 7 min.
A 3-year old should recognise people and remember names; remember where stuff is put away ; should be able to amuse himself for 30 min and should be able to concentrate on one game for 5-10min.
A 4-year old should be able to amuse him for 60 min and should be able to concentrate on one game for 10-15min.
A 5-year old should be able to concentrate at a table for 20min; recall 5 numbers on memory recall and recall 5 objects.
A 6-year old should be able to concentrate at a table for 25min; recall 6 numbers on memory recall and recall 6 objects.

M- Sit

Some children assume the following incorrect posture when sitting on a carpet:
They sit with their knees bent and their feet facing backwards. The child therefore broadens his base of support in compensating for poor trunk control. This posture may cause damage to the knee -joint. Instead of exercising trunk muscles, your child leans forward. Always tell your child to fix his legs. Your child should then sit with his legs straight forward or crossed and these 2 positions require more use of the trunk muscles.

Directionality

Teach your child to draw circles anti-clockwise. The direction of writing letters (with g and d as exceptions) is anti-clockwise. It is therefore beneficial to draw circles in an anti-clockwise direction so that your child can write the letters of the alphabet in the correct direction. Some children reverse letters such as b and d because the write them in the wrong directions. Michelle

Puzzles

Important to develop a part-whole concept known as analysis and synthesis. This helps your child to take syllables and construct a word or to brake a word up in syllables. It also helps your child to construct sentences and to do maths. If your child really struggles with the above, take your child to an Occupational Therapist for an evaluation. Phone the Occupational Therapy Association of SA (OTASA) 012 3625457 to find the number of a Paediatric Occupational Therapist near you. Guidelines: 3 year old -3/4 piece puzzle; 4 year old -5/6 piece puzzle
5 year old - 9 piece puzzle; 6 year old -12 piece puzzle; 7 year old -24 piece puzzle; 8 year old -36 piece puzzle; 9 year old -48 piece puzzle
Use the following steps: 1st separate the frame pieces from the inner pieces. ALWAYS start by building the frame. Put down the 4 corners and then build the frame. GOOD, now you may build the inner pieces. Sit with your child to make sure that your child uses this method. Let your child build a puzzle at least once a week.

Sleep

Did you know?:
a 2 year old child requires 13 hours of sleep.
5 year old 11 hours,
10 year old 9.75 hours
16 year old 8.5 hours.

Hand puppets

Just some playtime and fun for the family: You can make your own puppets together with your child. Whether you use gloves with faces on, paper mashe or finger puppets - your child will love to be creative in this area. You and your husband can host a show for your 2-6 year olds (Good for listening skills). Let your children make a team and practice and host their own little shows while you and your husband watch. Older children can arrange a big time show where the family pays entrance fees and where lemonade is served etc. ( Here you can focus on general work/busness skills)
Believe in your child and they will believe in themselves.
Michelle Robbertse

Skipping rope

A must have for every child. By the age of 6 your child should be able to skip with a skipping rope (landing on 2 feet at the same time). When your child is 5 years of age, he should be able to jump with 2 feet over a 20cm high rope. This is a basic skill needed for the symmetrical use of the two sides of the body. Star jumps, galloping and skipping should be learnt thereafter.

The developmental magic of everyday activities

Try to think back on your own childhood and activities or “chores” that you have done. Maybe one of the following sceneries will ring a bell? Garden work for e.g. Sweeping the paving outside your house with a broom, that seemed too big for your little body? Removing unwanted plants from the garden? Taking out the garbage bag? Washing windows or washing your mom or dad’s car? Hang washing on the line with your mom? All of the above are excellent activities to do WITH your child. They strengthen their shoulder and back muscles, which is needed for a good sitting posture at the table Activities, such as sweeping, improves midline crossing and may also prevent letter reversals later on. I’m not saying that your child should be a slave in the house. You can create a fun and loving atmosphere and that could provide a team building experience for the whole family AND your child will acquire good work habits and a sense of responsibility. Michelle

Smile Educational and fine motor games

A great place to buy educational games is smile educational toys. The consultant I use is Karien Prinsloo 0826144112. The following Smile games are a must for any Gr. double zero to Gr.7 child: Phone Karien and order them for your children: Tangram duet, Logi-shape, Finger fun, Pegboard combo and 3D designs. Remember to keep the educational games in a safe place, only take it out when you are going to play it WITH your child, teach them to pack it away every time and to look after it, don't loose the parts or leave it out for days.Also phone Karien and ask her to advise you on toys for your babies-4 year olds, smile has a very wide range. Also buy a flip and catch, stilts, hang tough rings and a rope ladder to strengthen your child's shoulder muscles. Remember, a child needs strong stomach and back muscles as well as strong shoulder and neck muscles to provide them with a stable base of support for writing. Michelle

Playstation games Part A

Mostly the lingo of any 11 year old boy, it's sort of what makes them "tick". I prescribe to all my children clients "no more than 30min at a time" (It puts strain on your eyes after 20 min). Seemingly impossible for parents to control. So many of my friends recently bought new couches for their living room, new flat screen TVs etc... and I ask them "what did you buy for your children that you can do WITH THEM?” Most of the toys and things (DVDS, Guns) that parents buy for their children is stuff that makes the children play on their own. My friends are mostly impressed with those toys, and all the really great educational toys that you have to play WITH your child are going off the market, because no body buys it. 90% of the parents I meet don’t even know what Lego is. Not to say that you have to play with your child 24/7, at least get a trampoline, jungle gym, and rope in the tree and 7 educational 3dimensional games, (not computer educational games). Use play station and TV watching time as incentive to playing outside.Think of the things you played when you were a child, I’m sure you’ll get some fantastic ideas to stimulate your child's creativity and development. Michelle

Children in Occupational Therapy

This blog is dedicated to assist parents to understand their children better and also to help the children to be better at everything they do.