Guiding Behavior - The Mommy Teacher

Using Words To Describe Directionality

A lot of parents assume their super verbal and proficient little ones have a wider speaking vocabulary than listening vocabulary. It is not that your little one doesn’t “know” the words they are looking for, but there are certain language concepts that are not yet part of their speaking vocabulary.

For instance, if I asked your little one to look “under” the table to find my pencil, he or she probably wouldn’t hesitate. Your little one probably knows the word “under” in context enough to search in the direction that I am referring to. Or, if I am “under” a table and I asked your little one where I was he or she might state, “Under the table” using the position word “under.” But, in the context that I had a doll “under” something and asked your little one to describe where the doll is in their words. He/she may or may not use words to describe directionality like (under, next to, through, between, back, on top, over, above, etc.)

So, to work on developing this skill through a natural progression from head knowledge to incorporating these words into their oral voacbulary and using them abstractly, I am going to give you a series of position word activities using pictures of Casey’s little ones because she is such an awesome mommy teacher – check out her kidspiration blog 🙂

1) Playing Copy Cat Games: Casey loves to play these games with her little “Leyson man.” This is very similar to “simon says” – ask your little one to copy you as you place your hands “Over” your head, “between” your knees, “beside” your cheeks, etc.

under the bed2 — Casey's little one, James, hiding under the bed!

2) Hide and Seek: Hide a toy and give directions using position words for your little one to find it, “The block is between the couch pillows.”

3) Act it out with your whole body: “Can you hide under the bed? Can you climb on top of the stool? Can you jump over the pillow?” This part of the activity helps little ones meet the needs of learning through movement!Casey’s little one, Leyson, practicing position words with his farm animals!

position words activity — Casey's little one, Leyson, practicing position words with his farm animals!

4) Act it out with toys: “Can your cow jump over the farmhouse? Can your pig squeeze through the doorway?” This helps the little ones needs to learn in a hands-on way!

5) Use words to give directions: Place something (like a doll’s purse) between two chairs, then dialogue with your little one “Pretend that I cant find the Barbie’s favorite purse, but you know where it is! Without showing me, can you use your words to tell me where it is?”

November 14, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Using Books as a Tool to Bridge the Social Gaps

One of my sisters is a friend of John Rich, and she told me about the following book he helped to write, which I instantly wanted a copy of. If you watched the “Celebrity Apprentice” this past season you saw that his team wrote a book about a boy, Lil Jon, overcoming fears on his first day of school.

Books like this are great to read with your little one over the summer if you are going to put your little one in any kind of program whether it be a formal school setting, a mother’s day out, or a daycare. This can be great preparation or reinforcement for a little one to develop a sense of confidence in their individual personality, talents, and abilities to initiate social interactions. A few others I recommend:

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Additionally, if your little one is already dealing with some social complications due to tattling, shyness, uniqueness, bossiness, etc. I recommend learning about some of the literature available for children with those tendencies by reading the reviews and taking a peek inside books that can really bridge the gap that your little one might be struggling through concerning social development. Books like:

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I hope you find these books helpful for discussing and guiding social development. Books are great tools for helping children to gain perspective and to learn new ways to problem solve independently.

June 6, 2011 by Jessica | 1 Comment

Journal Every Day

Today is a simple challenge to encourage you to be intentional about the writing process. One of the first things I do for children to teach writing skills is to make a journal. I have made writing templates for you so that all you have to do is print them and 3-whole punch them: click HERE to get them.

Every day date the top right of the page and brainstorm a topic to draw and write about. I usually pick something that applies to our plans for the day or a reflection of what we did the night before. Otherwise, I come up with something writing about a favorite candy or food, etc.

Then let your little one draw a picture free of any critiques or suggestions. You can always give ideas if your little one is stumped but you dont want to squash their creative juices. Then, guide your little one (dont dictate!) about how he/she will write: start all the way on the left side so you have room to write, write until you reach the end of the line and then start at the beginning of the next line. Talk about spacing, height of the letters, and other print concepts, but DONT overwhelm or overteach. Just give them tips and guidance (maybe just one new tip a day. You will be surprised at their understandings over time. Help them sound out words, but when you start dont focus on proper spelling, focus on the sounds they are actually hearing in the words.

If your little one asks: “So it that right?” Answer “Those are all the sounds you can hear in the word”

Later on you can show them the way that the word “looks in a book” by writing it out, but encourage them to sound out and write JUST the sounds they hear at first.

June 1, 2011 by Jessica | 4 Comments

Guest Post Featured on Radical Parenting

How many of us (over the years) have heard, observed, or used the common trend of parents telling their kids to do something “because I said so?” While this reasoning might give a sense of power to the authority figure in place, it does not empower kids to put forth their best effort in anything they do. And I want to explain how you replace “because I said so” with more individualized incentives.

Read the rest HERE to learn more about these incentives.

Thanks radicalparenting.com for sharing 🙂

May 17, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

What To Do With A Clinger

I was at the park with some friends and I noticed one of my friend’s little girls clinging for dear life to her dad’s leg while the other children played across the park. I know this little girl to be a VERY sweet little one, but she is just naturally shy when it comes to social settings.

So, I walked over to her, knelt down to her eye level, and asked her what her favorite area of the park was. She hesitated as she pointed to the swings. Right then, I held out my hand, and I said “Why don’t we go together to the swings and see if we can find one friend that we can play with by the swings?” She didn’t hesitate at all! She grabbed my hand and we headed over to the swings together.

Then, I called one of her well-known playmates over to the swings, and I asked my shy little friend to “use her words” and ask that friend if she would like to swing with us. She hesitated and I said it again. On the third try she asked that friend to play with her, and the other playmate gladly accepted.

After that, I stayed around for another 5-10 minutes to spark activity ideas and conversation between them, and then walked away to let her play independent of my guidance for a little while, but I kept my eyes on her in case it looked like she needed more prompting.

I wanted to share this with all my Mommy Teachers because I don’t want us to loose sight of the teaching opportunities we have in developing our little ones SOCIAL skills as well as cognitive skills. I hope this inspires you 🙂

If you have any similar stories or questions PLEASE share them with me via email: jessica (at) themommyteacher [dot] com or on my facebook page.

I borrowed this picture of my friend Casey and her kids because she is such an awesome Mommy Teacher who plays with her kids and teaches them social skills as well.

May 11, 2011 by Jessica | 1 Comment