In a world of “instants” does patience still exist? And, should we be teaching children delayed gratification skills and how to be patient instead of immediately giving into their every “whim”? This lesson explores this topic and demonstrates to students why being consistent and teaching children to be patient yields greater success later on in life.
In the past, I shared a technology based project titled, “Family Life Cycle: Prezi Project”. The project required students to create a Prezi to introduce their assigned stage of the family life cycle. I totally used that project until I didn’t! Why? My students are unable to create Prezi’s on their iPads; they can only view them. Because of this little snafu, I’ve had my students create hand generated collages around their assigned family life cycle stage, using their iPads to research the information. When students were finished, they displayed them in order on my wall like a train, and I must admit they looked pretty darn impressive!
My son recently introduced me to “starter pack memes” which I had to look up! He had to create one for a college “get to know you” activity and once I knew what it was, I thought it would make a great, fun and interactive activity. So, below you will find my starter pack meme ideas for topics that can be used in a variety of different content areas along with instructions for creating.
What do children need physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially in order to grow and develop? Students brainstorm ideas and share their knowledge of children’s needs to raise awareness and show others the responsibilities of parents and caregivers as they create their own “What Children Need Silhouettes”.
Do you have students that find it difficult to put themselves in another’s shoes and see things from someone else’s perspective? Have they ever judged someone without really getting to know them? My guess is you have; we all have! This lesson explores empathy as students practice applying empathy skills in order to strengthen their emotional intelligence which will help them as they move forward in life.
Ever need an activity that is easy to do, requires little prep and is totally adaptable to any class? The activity I’m sharing in this post is one of those and is super easy to leave with a sub if you know you’re going to be out. How do I know this? Because I used it in two different classes on different days and with different subs and the student outcomes were no less than impressive! The format is basically the same, you just have to change out your topic, hence the versatility!
Enrichment means to improve something…in this case the “something” was basic sewing skills (and fine motor skills). This year I chose to do a hand-sewing enrichment activity that was an extension of the rattle lesson in the infant unit. Students worked on their small motor skills while creating and hand-sewing an infant toy or rattle which was affectionately named Nessie. Please note, this project could easily be adapted to machine sewing if you have sewing machines in your classroom.
While shopping for a baby gift, I noticed the variety of rattles available for infants. There were rattles that were simple, plush, noisy, colorful, interactive, chewable and even battery operated….so many to choose from! I had a difficult time choosing one to add to my gift and it got me to thinking that new parents must feel the same way. Do infants and babies even need rattles? What is their role in infant development? It was then that I decided to add a lesson and project about rattles and how they affect development to my infant unit!
Teaching students about self-esteem is important at any age, but it’s super important to emphasize how critical it is to a child’s development. In this lesson I share some ideas and activities that help students understand what self-esteem is, the difference between positive and negative self-esteem, how it’s developed, why it’s important and who/what helps to influence it. So, read on to learn more about this lesson!
Hands down…teaching about literacy and all that it entails is one of my most favorite concepts to teach in child development! Maybe it’s my love of reading, my love of great children’s books or my love of seeing children engaged in reading great children’s books! Either way, it’s an engaging and fun unit to teach and share with my students. In the past I’ve shared many posts about literacy and reading to children, but I have never shared my lesson on evaluating children’s books. Read on to learn more about this lesson!
