Reading: Ages 0-3
Make It Play, Never
Work
Today's
Snack: If you want to signal to your child that it is OK to play, then
here's a challenge for a playful snack time, if you can stand the clean-up.
Simply put a bib on your child, pour out a container of pudding onto the
high-chair tray or a clean eating surface such as a large plastic plate or
serving tray, and let your child play as well as eat!
--------------------
Supplies:
Consider purchasing
the book,
Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children
in Our Achievement-Oriented Society by William Crain.
The first rule of parenting is to love your child.
That's a given.
Maybe the next rule is to protect your child from
dangers and disease.
But a close third would have to be this one:
Keep childhood fun!
Keep the focus on play. Never, ever,
make life "work" for a child. Never, ever, put pressure on him or her to learn
things. If it isn't fun and interesting, it isn't worth doing.
And that goes for books: offer to
read to your child, but if he or she wants to wiggle away and do something
else, so be it. Smile! Hakuna matata! In
other words, don't sweat it.
Some children have a temperament
that really draws them to books at an early age. Others do not. If you have a
child who's not in to reading at any given point in childhood, don't force
reading on him or her. You'll be sorry if you do. Force isn't a very good
learning tool.
Remember to always keep your reading
sessions brief - even five minutes will do for a young child. Let your child's
interest and comfort level signal when it's time to go longer.
Children who have grown up in homes
where parents haven't pushed
too much learning on them grow up to be adults with more creativity, confidence
and academic success. They like school more, too. Smart parents step back and
let the child's own interests and desires lead the way on books and blocks and
games and toys. It pays to play!
However, there's a high degree of
parental anxiety these days to leave play behind and create a "workaholic
childhood" for children. It's probably because of all the pressure to get our
children into top preschools and K-12 schools. Parents are urged to help their
children get learning habits that will yield good grades and high standardized
test scores, so that they'll get all the opportunities and "perks" in terms of
college admissions and careers.
But the "birth to 3" movement, which
claims that the lion's share of brain development takes place before age 3, and
therefore we need to cram as much information and "skills" into those little
minds as we can, as early as we can, is basically false.
Plenty of key brain development
takes place after age 3. Putting
a young child through a full-court press of daily learning activities -
stories, songs, TV, games, dances, puzzles, arts and crafts - is likely to wear
out both the child and the parent.
And boy, do some parents and, now,
increasingly, schools, go overboard on the "keeping up with the Joneses"
philosophy of early childhood education.
You cringe when you hear about parents doing flash
cards with their 3-year-olds, and playing classical music 24/7, and insisting
on reading to the child for an hour a day whether the child wants to or not.
You shake your head when you hear of school-based preschools doing highly
inappropriate things like worksheets and math drills for itty bitties.
It is very important to let your
child be a child - to be free to explore, or not - to play-act, or not - to
listen to you read a story, or not.
The bottom line is, always have books available for
your child, but don't push them on him or her. Always offer to read to your
child, but don't get upset if he or she would rather do something else.
Keep the tone light, keep your lap
warm, let your love for your child help you relax and enjoy these years.
And you will very likely reap the benefits of having
a child who loves reading and loves books.
Why? Because they had a mom and dad smart enough to
let them fall in love with reading for themselves.
