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lessons

Teaching Patterns

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I hate going to work during the week & leaving our daughter. It breaks my heart not to be with her all day. Twice a week Mai goes to daycare. Daddy is home with her at least one day during the week because of his rotating schedule & on all other days my mother-in-law watches my favorite girl. It is wonderful that she is able to be in the hands of such capable and attentive people while I am at work. She learns a little from each of them. At times, she will come out with things that surprise me & I wonder “Where did she learn that?” Then I remember that she is surrounded by such wonderful teachers & influencers.

The other day I had on a pair of colorful striped socks. My daughter came over to me & pointed out all of the colors & told me that my socks had a pattern. I was so surprised & excited by her observation. Someone has been teaching her well. Wanting to see how well her understanding of patterns was, we did a couple of activities.

I printed out an assortment of different shapes & clip art from the computer. I cut them out into squares & laid them out on the floor in different patterns. I placed more cut outs in a pile, being sure that there was a shape that would be next in each sequence thrown into the pile.

I handed my daughter the pile & reviewed each line of patterns with her. I asked her to place the next square in each sequence. She did not let me down as she went down the line & successfully placed the next shape on each.

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She made a few rows of patterns that she made on her own & then flipped them all over & said “Now let’s play the match game.” That is the thing about toddlers. Their attention spans are short. On to the next lesson…

There are many other things that you can use to teach patterns to your children.

1. Practice using verbal patterns. “owl, horse, dog, owl, horse dog… What’s next?”

2. You can use assorted shapes & textures in your craft bins such as pom poms, beads & craft sticks.

3. Use magnets & alphabet blocks to show number or letter patterns.

4. Use paints, crayons or markers to show color patterns.

5. Legos or building blocks are a fun way to build 3 dimensional patterns.

6. Show them patterns on clothing or quilts.

7. Make snack time a great opportunity to teach patterns with fruit snacks, cereal or different shaped crackers.

She is learning so much & is becoming quite the little smarty. I know that we cannot take the credit for all of this. Mai is very lucky to be surrounded by so many people willing to feed her growing and curious mind.

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When Our Children Become The Teachers

0771Over the past few months, it has been a real joy getting to know my daughter. Sure I have been with her for the past 26 months of her life, but now that she has been talking up a storm I have really gotten the opportunity to watch her little personality take form. What I have learned is my daughter despite what it seems does indeed pay attention to everything we say to her, even if she doesn’t respond. She is bright & funny and a bit of a smart ass.

Mai has been learning so quickly. She loves to learn. She absorbs everything that we put in front of her. Recently, I have been getting the feeling that my toddler might just be smarter than us.

One morning over the baby monitor, I heard her and daddy talking. My husband was commenting on how cute her turtle pajamas were. “Frogs, Dada, frogs!” I had to laugh because I knew that she was right.

She has corrected me as well. It can sometimes be embarrassing to have a two year old tell you that you are wrong, but at the same time it fills me with pride to have raised such a bright young lady.

I have been realizing that there is a lot that I can learn from our little girl.

The Joy Of Living

Everyday things that we take for granted bring our children such joy. There is so much beauty in watching the world through my child’s eyes. Her eyes grow wide when she sees snow on the ground & squeals with excitement when a bunny hops through the yard. There is no rush to get to an appointment or to that next meeting. Each moment is breathed in and enjoyed without limits.

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Fearlessness

You tend to lose this the older you get. I can remember being young & the riding roller coaster until I was ready to puke. Now, it scares the daylights out of me. When you are young, you are ready to jump into anything. You don’t care what anyone thinks or what anyone says. You are not afraid of getting hurt or injured (I know not always a plus, but how liberating).

Don’t Waste A Moment

Do you ever notice how your children never want to nap, eat or go to sleep at night? They are so busy having fun, playing & learning that they do not want to give up a moment of their time. Children have no downtime they are always busy. While, I am pro-nap all the way, I wish that I made better use of my time.

Open Your Imagination

Imagine being a princess of your own castle or having tea with an elephant and a giraffe. The possibilities are endless when you are a child. As an adult many of us lose our sense of imagination. This doesn’t necessarily mean that need to run out and buy a pirate costume & start playing dress up, but keeping an imaginative mind can be beneficial to you in solving problems and brainstorming new ideas. Would J.K. Rowlings be where she is today without her beautiful imagination?

Channeling her inner Jackie O.

Never Stop Learning

Children love to learn and they do it so well. We have a US map puzzle that my daughter & I often do together. She has gotten really good at it. She knows her states by shape, name & location.  At this point, she might know them better than I do. Have you ever seen a child with electronics these days? Many are able to operate them better than their parents. What this means to me is there is still a lot that we can still learn even as adults. Your studies don’t need to end when you reach a certain age. Remember “Knowledge is Power”.

Forgiveness

Do you still have a grudge over some fight with a high school friend 20 years ago? Have you ever woken up not speaking to your husband after a fight? I have bad days with my daughter. We have had moments where mommy had to say no, take away her toys or put her to bed in utter exasperation, only to have her wake up in the morning and throw her arms around me as if nothing ever happened. We could all take a cue from our children.

Things Often Forgotten

Tonight at dinner as we sat down to eat, she taught my husband and I another lesson. I was pulling the fork up to my mouth about to enjoy my first bite when our daughter said “God bless our food, Amen.” I was shocked & a little shamed as well. She did not learn this from me. I have heard this short prayer many times coming from my mother-in-law. We work so hard to instill good manners and values in our child, but have managed to forget about bringing God into her life. Thank you Mai for reminding us what is important.