How Do I Entertain My Kids and Teach Them at the Same Time?

Wow, may I call you "SUPERMOM".. lol Is you 6yr old in school or are you homeschooling. There are LOTS of great resources on the web for crafts, lesson plans etc. It also depends on their own interests, are they the reading type and learn by reading books, the crafty type that learns by doing, the outdoors type that learns by experiencing... I have a 3yr old but I make just about EVERYTHING a learning experience. For example, if we are reading a book together I incorporate colors (what colors are they wearing, what color is the sun, the grass, etc) or numbers, how many sheep, stars, cars, etc are in the picture. If we are doing crafts, it's about what color construction paper does he want, or how many crayons does he want, or what shape does he want to color. If we are driving in the car, I ask him to look for a red car, or a yellow school bus, or a black motorcycle, etc. I try not to get ahead of myself .... Here is a great website that I found that tells you what your child should be learning for his curriculum age group. http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/preschool

Best wishes,
C.~

www.HelpUstayHome.com

* Check out your library and bookstores for reading times- all free and usually come with a craft.
* Look into First Five in your community for the 3 year old- free too.
* Nature walks- they can collect stuff they see (leaves, rocks, bark) when you get home they can sort them by color, size... then you can make a craft with them.
* Board games and card games- teaches colors, following rules, waiting your turn, sportsmanship...
* Someone else mentioned cooking. My daughter loves to bake. Then we take a few cookies to her teacher or our neighbor. Now (she is 3) she makes a card to go with them.
* Write letters to family that is farther away. She uses water colors and/or markers for her letter. Addressing the envelope, decorate with stickers and stamps, take it to the post office. Takes a lot of time, but loves it!
* Go outside! Chalk, bubbles, make up an obstacle coarse and time them.
* Some kids like workbooks. I do only two pages a day with my daughter in the morning. She usually wants to do more, but it's better to have her want more than to be forcing her to do it.
* Get together with other moms and kids. I am in a moms group that just happens to have a 5 other girls just my daughters age. We get together at least once a week to play and to do some kind of craft activity together. Very fun.

How funny. I have a 6 year old son, a 2.5 year old son and 7 month old daughter....and I work and we homeschool. Here's the major info that might help you.

1. We allow media - computer, movies or video games on Saturday am and Sunday am ONLY for a max of 2 hours. Our 6 year old ususally picks video games and the other two play downstairs due to their lack of interest in the TV - so essentially they get no media.

2. We do workbooks together, which is one on one time and when he's done, he gets to go outside and play. Sometimes he fusses, but I explain that I have to work and then I get to play, I never get to play and then work later.

3. EVERYTHING is a learning experience. While getting off the freeway one day, our 5 year old at the time asked, "Mom, what's 14FT 10 IN mean?" I looked around and saw the sign on the overpass. I explained that it was the max height for a truck, etc. Once we got home, I pulled out the measuring tape and showed him that height. I counted with him and explained feet and inches. I then, went upstairs and printed off FREE pages online with lines (I could have drawn myself) that he then measured with a ruler. THAT'S where true self-esteem comes from.

4. Chores are very important. Our 6 year old has bee putting the dishes away since he was 18 months and taking out the trash in his bathroom since he was the same age. People try to get their kids to help when they are older, but it won't work. You need to start them early - when they are ready and eager to help. They help me cook and bake. Last 4th of the July, our six our old literally turned ont he over and made cucakes from scratch. I was there watching, but he cracked the eggs, measured the oil, etc and everything. They turned out wonderfully! Albeit with a bit messier kitchen than I am used to, but I was impressed. Our 2 year old helps me with oatmeal. He pours the oats into the bowl and we also add a scoop of ground flax for 3 grams of extra protein. He does it all and I add the water, since it's boiling....but he stirs everything. They play with their sister and the 2.5 year old fetches new diapers and wipes, when I need them - and he throws them in the trash. the help sort laudry - which helps with color recognition. I could go on and on, but every moment is a teaching/learning moment....even chores!

5. Drawing pictures is very important for us. We also make beaded bracelets and the boys pick out their beads. We glue foam pieces that are cheap from Oriental Trading Company.

6. Most important is solo play. Each of them sit in the play room, when they want and play alone. I find that the less media they have, the better their imaginations are. Whether it's reading or playing with cars...ALL of them enjoy quiet alone time...even the 7 month old.

7. Ouside play is important for the fresh air, the sun (making vitamin D and keeping them happy). We walk to the park and spend an hour there and then have lunch and then it's nap time for the 2 little ones. I then have one on one time with my 6 year old...where we chat about life and I ask him what he thinks.

8. Bedtime consists of getting ready at 7pm and by the time we brush teeth, etc and read books together (sometimes my 6 year old will read to the 2.5 year old (while I change a diaper on the little one) and then we read another book together...it's nearly 8pm....then my husband and I get to do our chores and spend some tiem together before dropping into bed.

Hope that helps!

Just turn off the T.V. You set the rules, not them.
Your six year old will learn everything he needs to know in school. Good luck getting a three year old to pay attention to anything for more than a couple of minutes.
Keep puzzles and art supplies handy and let them learn through play. That's how children learn the best anyway. Good luck with your fourth child! :)

You want them to stop watching TV? Turn if off and say no. Life is a teaching moment and it does not have to be formalized. Take them places, read to them, talk to them. That plus school will get the job done.

Does your oldest son like to build with blocks? He might like Legos. They encourage creativity while building necessary fine-motor strength. For your daughter -- play dough and lots of tools to cut, squeeze, and manipulate it. Keep lots of art supplies afound for both kids. And and easy, and often overlooked activity that's great for both: cooking. It teaches measurement skills, following directions, attention to details, and at the end, you get a yummy treat.

There are some great ways to teach your children, whether it be a planned lesson or a random game. Turn the TV off and turn on some background music and start talking...they will listen.

So far, I have taught my 3 year old her ABC's, she can count to 20, knows right from left, and colors and shapes. If she won't say her ABC's I just ignore her and say, "Oh, Sierra doesn't know her ABC's" and she will start spouting them out. We count the 18 steps to get to the second level of the house, play with money, read with a finger on the words so she realizes there are words on the page I am reading. As well, we play games on the road or during our walks with colors...I see something white tell me what you see and she will say she sees a car, a sign or what ever is that color. We have fun and she is learning.

If you would like to check out my Mom Owned Business and search "Ten Terrific Weeks" on the website, there is a great selection of fun stuff!

Have fun playing with your kids :)!!!

W.

Sarah,
What about asking your 6 year old to come up with something?! He could lead a game, skit, play store, etc. And if you are successful with one activity per day vs. TV, that is awesome. Set small goals so you can feel successful.
You might not be able to do one thing that meets the needs of all your kids since they are all different ages. My 3 year old loves playdoug, that might be a fun place to start. Also, you might want to say "We watch TV from this time to this time ONLY" So if they watch 3 hrs. of TV, let them watch for an hour, then turn it off and give them a fun alternative. Then you can turn it on again later for another hour or 30 min. Just as long as you mix it up a little and have some balance, play and TV. Also when the weather is nice, have them go outside and play.
Have fun!

You need to read the book Learning How to Learn. It's a book that can help you understand learning barriers and help you understand why your kids are paying attention to what you are saying. :-)

Our kids our the same ages. My kids are allowed to watch 1 tv show in the morning, and 1 more in the afternoon. I know how hard it is to juggle your time with the baby and keep the older kids occupied. At home, we like to paint, draw (pick a different topic each day like ocean, birds, airplanes etc.) and play board games like Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders etc. They also like the Disney DVD Bingo game. And we also do puzzles, and have puzzles races to make it more interesting. The puzzles are according to their age. I also print free pages online like mazes, coloring, connect the dots, word games, etc. My 3 and 6 year old, sometimes help me with cooking if it involves mixing and stirring. And they help clean up the table afterwards and put away the dishes after they are washed. Teach them early to help you clean up. My kids even think it's fun to help vacuum the floor. Since having the twins we haven't been able to go out much because they were preemies. But before that we went to the park once a week for a picnic and make that a learning experience by teaching them about trees, flowers, sports and colors etc. We would also go to the library once a week and the mall that has a free play area. I know it can be overwhelming to have this many kids. Good Luck!

There are many educational games that would be great. Memory is a game that increases memory ability...use only about 6 cards to start and increases as they learn. Guess who requires them to ask questions about the face they are trying to guess. Helps increase looking at details and ability to verbalize ideas. Many board games teach numbers..counting, etc.

Also go to the library and have them pick out books that interest them and read, read, read. It builds not only vocabulary, but rhyming (some books), awareness of how language flows and subject verb correct forms, as well as adjectives and adverb.

Go on walks and collect leaves and identify trees (or beach and identify shells). Get animal magazines or regular magazines and classify animals...cut them out and paste them on pages of types of animals (reptiles, mammals, amphibians, birds). Talk about their differences.

When driving, play games such as I went to the ....(grocery, clothes, toy) store and I bought... Right now just see how many they can remember in a row, later do it alphabetically. It teaches categorizing and memory. Another good in car game is Guess What it am? You think of something..start with animals and have them guess what you are. Then have them take turns. Questions only can be asked with a yes and no. Teaches classifying, describing, etc.

Children also just need to play with construction sets, blocks, playing house, parking cars are putting cars down tracks. YOu can make a parking area for matchbox type cars and put the capital letters on the parking place, lower case on the cars and have you son match them up. Children often need you to "play" with them until they are older.

Do not forget to do hand coordination activities. Cut out pictures from magazines, make birthday cards. Drawing, beads, stringing Cherrios into neckaces. Cook with them too and also do play dough and finger paint.

I had three sons and enjoyed them tremendously. We only watched about one program a night (often Nature) in the evening or a good video with them. Too many shows are not educational and if they are they are too fast moving teaching short attention spans. I hope you have a wonderful time with your children.
H.
H.

You can find a lot of educational games on amazon.com. Also there is a website "familyfun.com" that has some things. Try looking online for things that your kids are interested in. Good luck! It's so hard to juggle everything.

Hi Sarah ~ you can cook with your kids. learning measurements, reading, following instructions and time management are a fe things they will learn. also my girls loved to play card games and board games. that's always fun and keeps you together. the other ideas you have received from moms are great ideas as well and brought back some wonderful memories for me since my girls are now 22 and almost 19! Time really does fly. Keep up the good work You really do have your hands full but are certainly going about it in a good way.

best of luck,
L.

You've gotten a lot of good suggestions. One of your major challenges is the age difference. Mine were about two years apart, and I usually had the whole neighborhood at my house. A dress up box full of old clothes and props is great. Kids love to dress up and make up plays and games. Our garage had one wall made into tack board and we had paper up for kids to draw on and paint on. We always cooked together. The oldest measures, the younger child gets to stir, etc. If you have a time for arts and crafts, you're going to need to interact with each child differently because of the age difference, but one of your goals should be helping them find things they want to do by themselves. You just, as one person said, turn the TV off, and make sure there are art materials, dress up materials, building materials (blocks, legos, etc) and books. They shouldn't have to have you as entertainment director.

Of course one big problem now is that parents are afraid to let their children out of their sight, even in very safe communities. It is part of a culture of fear that is very sad, I think. I can't imagine what it would have been like if my children age 6 and above would have to have had "play dates" instead of just going outside and find their friends and playing healthy out of doors games. We had a play group of mothers for the younger kids, and rotated houses. If I remember correctly, two mothers supervised about six kids, including some planned outings to local play parks, and the other two mothers got three hours to themselves.

S. Toji

My name is K. and I have two children. My son and daughter will be 3 and 5 in feb. and jan. I find that tv is not all bad, it just all depends on what they are watching. There are some really educational things now days that really teach and get your child envolved with what they are watching. The other thing I really enjoy with my kids is learning books. For example, numbers, shapes, letters, and words. They can be a lot of fun. I usally take one child at a time, sit down with them and we go through the book together. I point to the pictures and ask them what they see. I give them alot of priase when they get it right, and help them if they are struggling. I find it really brings me and my kids really close and when it is all over I feel like we have bonded and that I am proud of there accomplishments and that they are a step ahead. I hope this helps you. K.