Preparation for the first grade- games suggestions

The first grade is the starting point of any person's academic life; it's an adventure full of excitement and fears. The educational plan by the ministry of education is full of educational- pedagogical assignments that affect the child's play time, recess time, and the development of social skills and emotional maturity, while placing a lot of burden both on the kg teacher and on the child.

Entering the first grade is transferring from a world of less rules, contingency movement and flexible structure, to an entirely different setting,with structured classes, longer sitting times, less mediators and less play time (there are, off course, more differences; and there are different schools and approaches).

It's preferable to play with our children as a preparation for the first grade, and not to  burden them with learning more academic skills, since they will do it any way in the Kg (some love to do it at home too).

You can play games and sing songs about letters, numbers and more; read books, talk and develop spoken language and work on social and emotional skills.

You are welcome to enter the following posts and play to improve the key aspects that will lead to their success in entering the first grade; educators-  - it is highly recommended to work on those skills in the first few months of the a school year and you'll see a lot of  improvement in the children performances:

1.       Sitting and concentration

2.       Strong shoulder belts and hands

3.       Balance, posture

4.       Emotional expression abilities

5.       Basic motor skills- for girls and boys

6.       Social skills- cooperation, empathy, loosing and winning

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All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and Sharon Michaeli- Ramon  ©

The importance of playing with our children, as parents and educators

As children and as adults, playing games develops our skills. Unfortunately, the free play in the Western world is constantly decreasing.
Studies show that the more the free-play time decreases, there is also a decrease in empathy, social, understanding each other (emotions and needs) etc., and an increase in anxiety and depression might be common.

In this post I would like to elaborate on the advantages of playing with your children - both your own kids and the kids you educate.
Playing a mutual game with the children entails lots of opportunities in it to get to know each other better, to develop intimacy, completing challenges together, learning from a role model, joint frustration and success' etc.
When an adult plays with children their connection, bond and attachment are better, and the place of the adult in the child life is bigger and more important, which eases the whole boundaries issue.  

Here are some general "rules":
 
1. Play, and a lot - box games, Imagination games, outside games (football, catch the ball etc.), road games while travelling and any other kind of game you like. You are invited to share with us what are your favorite games.

2. Find mutual activities from different areas such as reading, riding, cycling, running, hiking etc. (Allow your children to get to know your inner world, and try to learn some about their inner world).

3. Remember the joy of tickles and peek-a-boo games with babies and toddlers? Children seek contact, it varies according to their age, but you know your children: hug them, play with them, roll in the grass with them etc., as long as you all enjoy the activity and the contact.

4. Choice - Involve the children in the decision, present them with several options and let them choose. If there is a large number of children, it can be practiced as a democratic choice where the majority vote counts. It is highly advisable to vary the choice every few weeks.

5. Always remember that a game is a protected place, but it is also a place where one can learn to cope with rules - not to cheat, how to lose without having a fit, how not to frustrate your fellow players....
Adapt your level and and flexibility to the children's level, in order to create an harmonic atmosphere where all are equal - a true sense of realistic winning, along with a true sense of realistic losing. If you will always allow your child to win, he will turn into a sore loser while playing with friends, and will be more likely to throw a fit with any failure. Children need to also learn how to lose.

6. There is a constant rise in the game and the child abilities - At first, children love to cooperate. It's a great stage to show them how it's done properly, learn some team work etc.
Children love competition - don't rush it - it will come at their own pace. At the early stages it is more important to teach them how to win, how to lose, and how not to be insulted from any of the results.

7. Enjoy, really enjoy the game. If you play with a full heart and intentions and not just "go through the motions" your children will sense it, and will appreciate it more.

8. Talk with them after the game - how did they feel, how was it, did they enjoy, what didn't they like....don't forget to share your feelings too. A mutual open conversation is much more productive and teaching to the children than any theory of - "it's important to tell us everything" "no secrets" etc.

9. The game level should be appropriate to the children age - you can always make some adaptions, such as:
a. the "Picolino" game is for children from the age of 4+, but eliminating the the crying clowns cards allows children from the age of 3+ to play it.
b.Playing catch - the older the child the bigger the distance, at first you start by rolling on the ground, then throwing in the air etc.

10. Turn off your cell phones while playing. Thank you :)

Enjoy , and if you have good tips- share them with us :)

Thank you

you can read more:

Ken Robinson - out of our minds, chapter 9.

Peter Gray.

All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer ©

Balance games, and yes, it's extremely important

Balance, homeostasis, equilibrium- so many words used to describe many contexts- physical, emotional, cognitive & educational, biological and more.
Balance starts to  develope during infancy and has a crucial role in any physical- motor aspect- walking, running, balancing, standing on one leg, playing with friends etc.

A lack of balance sense may cause difficulties in - integrating in a play, motor difficulties, a sense of separation from the peer group, anxiety and lack of self- confidence, and some children will have problems in learning- reading, concentrate, sitting and more.

Balance is affected by physiological factors (the vastibular system that connects the kinesthetic system and the vision system) and from body experiences on different developmental stages, from infantry and onwards.

Because balance is a major element in the motor functioning that influences the self esteem, comfortable movement and the learning abilities, it is worthwhile playing games that improve it, and mainly add confidence, for example:

1. rolling forward and backward (pay attention to the position of the head- chin to to chest).
2. sitting on a ball- medium size or fit-ball (well inflated)- lifting one leg, lifting two legs, lifting hands- up & down, rolling on the ball.

3. walking on short walls- in the beginning with hand, and later on without.
4. walking on trees roots.

5. paste a path from a tape on the floor, and walking on it while staying balanced.
6. jumping on one leg, two legs- forward, to the sides, backwards.
7. rolling to the side, keeping the body straight.
8. standing on one leg for 10 sec. prolonging the time after a week.

9. climbing on the high facilities in the playground (safely).

10. drawing with chalk or with tape squares and jumping from one to another.

11. walking on a rope- on the ground.

12. riding bikes, scooters etc.

13. walking barefoot on the tiptoes.

14. swing.

ENJOY :)

 All the exercises in this film are professional recommendations.  However, the implementations are under  parents and/ or educators responsibility.
* If you see no improvement, or have multiple challenges consult a professional.

                              All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer © 

Improving Concentration and Attentiveness while playing

I am fascinated with the subject of how children with attention deficit disorder (for various reasons) cope with the class' life - from the mutual aspect of teacher-pupil relationship, the learning experience, the social experiences, their sense of self-esteem and abilities, and off course the emotional experience.

I believe that a lot of flexibility is required from the teacher, a flexibility which is also derived from offering the children with tools and coping strategies.

I recently read a nice article about children with attention deficit disorder which claimed, among other things, that ordering them in a manner of imperative mood - sit! listen! etc. takes up a huge energy from them - they are concentrating on the sitting itself, instead of the learning tasks which they face. This has made it clear to me that such children should be approached in a manner of movement to increase their listening abilities, while combining learning tasks.

In this post I would like to present to you with 4 simple movement games, that can be practices in every kindergarten/classroom/home/playground. They work on listening, focus of attentiveness, and combining working with active learning attentiveness:

1. Knowledge in Movement - 

a game of "balloons in the air". Each child gets a balloon and they must keep it up in the air with using various body parts.

It is not allowed to touch the other players' balloons - not to "help" them and not to snatch them.

The teacher ask questions or gives assignment during the balloons game. For example: 

X - how much is 30+3?

Y - What is the capitol of China?

Z+P+U - bounce the balloons only with the help of your knees.

The purpose is to determine a specific play-time with specific rules, and thus create the need to listen and simultaneously perform an action/calculation/answer etc., and detect when does the teacher change the instructions.

The level of the teaching/questions/calculations etc. must be adapted to the pupil's level.

When dealing with a child who has an attention deficit disorder we will start with changing our instructions, and with time and level of progress will ask for general knowledge/calculation questions.

2. An obstacle course with a prolonged mission - 

Building a confused phrase or assembles pictures to a story, or build a story with separate phrases, while each educational mission builds gradually.

You give the child one part of the puzzle/pictures/structure etc., and every time he finishes a part of the course or the entire course you take or being given the next part.

If you cannot build an obstacle lane you can give the children a props - basketball/hoop/rope etc. - and give them an assignment - to dribble the basketball, walk and dribble/ turn it around etc. When the teacher calls for the first part, everybody must run and get it. The winner is whoever finishes first the puzzle/assignment/phrase etc.

This game requires persistence and organization alongside to attentiveness.

3. Keeping balance - 

Maintaining a balance demands concentration, coordination, a physical fitness and self-esteem. Combining an educational assignment while performing balance exercises forces the brain to coordinate between it's different parts and cells.

I recommend to use what's available in your environment for practice - walking on a bench/beam, jumping using only one foot, walk on a rope which is spread in different shapes, walk only on or between  taped marks (prepared in advance) on the floor.

While the pupils exercise their balance, the teachers starts to ask questions, riddles etc. Take notes to yourself who manages to answer fast without losing their balance. This pupils can be challenged with higher levels - collect balls/balloons - and then continue with the task.

This activity encourages and develops a listening sequence, better pose and balance, while cooperating in your own space without bothering your fellow pupils space.

4. A Quick observation game - to which we have already dedicated an entire post in our blog:

http://togiplaytogether.blogspot.co.il/2015/04/a-quick-observation-game.html

Enjoy :)

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All the posts and materials belongs to togi let's play, and the writer ©