Here is one of many articles that The Creativity
Institute has reviewed and reprinted on nurturing creativity in
children and on educational toys. Infants, toddlers, preschoolers
and school age children can all benefit from the right educational
toys at the right ages, to help them learn that creative choices
are good choices.
From Children's Stories to Study
Skills: Help Your Children Succeed in School
Written by: Barbara Freedman-De
Vito
Web Site: Baby Bird Productions Children's Stories
Introduction
As a parent who wants the best
for your children, there are undoubtedly many things that you
already do every day to help your children succeed in school.
The purpose of this article is to provide some practical ideas
for you to try. Some of these suggestions may be new to you, many
will be familiar, and some are just plain common sense but, hopefully,
they will all serve as reminders of the many simple steps you
can take that are too often taken for granted or forgotten about,
due to the hectic pace of everyday living.
Read to your kids, whatever their
ages
First of all, read to your children.
We all know that this is important, but I'd like to point out
that reading aloud should begin in infancy. It can contribute
to your baby's developing attention span and receptive language
skills. In addition, I'd like to encourage parents to read to
growing children, even once they are able to read on their own.
Don't stop once your kids are in elementary school for, whatever
the status of their reading skills, hearing a good book read aloud
is an experience apart.
Being read to allows children
to focus more on the descriptive passages and the action, rather
than having to struggle with understanding every single word.
It also allows them to hear great children's stories that are
beyond their current reading level, and it's a wonderful way for
a family to share a magical experience. Choose a children's book
that can also be enjoyed by you as an adult, and have a family
reading session each evening or each week. A classic children's
story, such as "The Wind in the Willows," or the Harry
Potter books might be perfect for your family, depending on the
ages and interests of your children.
Encourage independent reading
and library use
Offer quality children's literature
to your growing children and encourage them to read on their own
- at their own level and at their own pace. Fiction and nonfiction
can both open up new worlds of knowledge and experience and help
prepare kids for success in school and in adult life, and don't
forget that online children's stories are an exciting new resource
to add to your reading repertoire.
Take your children to the local
public library. Be sure that each member of the family has his
or her own library card. Help your children see the public library
not just as a place associated with homework and drudgery, but
rather as an exciting doorway to interesting information and adventure.
Encourage library book borrowing related to any special topic
that interests your kids - from astronomy to adventure stories,
from fact to fantasy.
Get your kids to participate in
some of the special free extra activities and programs that are
regularly scheduled in many public libraries, like storyhours,
craft projects, films, and summer reading clubs. Take your children
to museums, concerts, puppet shows and the like. Expose them to
any forms of entertainment and cultural enrichment that you may
be lucky enough to have access to.
Develop effective research skills
and good study habits
Help your kids develop research
skills that will serve them well, not only on school projects,
but later in daily life as an adult. For instance, if you're planning
a family trip, let the kids conduct library and Internet-based
research on possible destinations, sites of interest, driving
or flying routes, and how to dress appropriately for the climate
of your destination spot. If you're thinking of buying a new car,
let your kids take part in your consumer research, comparing different
car models according to a variety of pertinent criteria.
Nurture good study habits and
self-discipline. Set aside a regular, daily study time for homework
in a quiet, well-lit room. Be sure that your kids have a study
environment that's sound physically, as well as conducive to mental
concentration. A quiet room is important, but so too is good lighting,
a chair that provides good back support and access to all the
materials that your children need to complete projects. Supply
them with pencils, erasers, rulers, and so forth.
Encourage kids to keep their desk
or other study area neat and well organized. This will prevent
lots of time-wasting searches for materials and will really pay
off as your children get older and their school assignments become
more complex. Good organizational skills, which include the arrangement
of physical objects, plus the logical structuring of the steps
involved in completing any given project, can last a lifetime.
Take an interest in your kids'
day-to-day school life
Take an interest in your children's
school projects. Encourage them to show you reports they've written
or pictures they've drawn. Make them see that you care about what
they're doing and about how they're doing, but don't make them
feel like they're constantly being monitored or judged. Don't
add pressure, just give them plenty of support, encouragement
and praise for jobs well done. Provide them with the resources
they need (such as Internet access, library time, books and magazine
articles) to do a good job on school assignments, but... resist
the temptation to do the school projects for them.
Take the same approach with everyday
homework. If your child's having trouble with a math problem,
review the rules, explain the procedures, and check the results,
but don't just give a child the answers. The learning process
is more important than a list of correct answers to hand in to
the teacher.
Help them discover their special
talents
Set aside some time for engaging
in special activities with your children. Build a model volcano
together, perform science kit experiments, design a family tree,
build your own dollhouse, draw maps, etc. Make learning into a
fun and creative process. Help your kids discover their own unique
aptitudes and talents, as they discover new subjects that might
interest them throughout their lives. Stimulate your children's
natural intellectual curiosity and spark their desire to learn
more, to take a subject to a deeper level.
Give your kids an opportunity
to participate in extra-curricular activities: to learn to play
a musical instrument or to play team sports, for example. Again,
expose your children to as many different skills and pastimes
as possible, so that they can discover which ones will really
click with them. See where their aptitudes and proclivities lie,
but don't force them to participate in something if they don't
enjoy it and don't put undue pressures on them. It's a cliché,
but don't try to vicariously live out your own dreams through
your children.
Go to PTA meetings, attend school
plays and music recitals. Once more, it's important to show your
kids that you care and that you share their interests and concerns,
that you know what's going on in their lives and that you're proud
of their achievements. This kind of regular positive reinforcement
can help them develop self-confidence and a solid sense of self-esteem.
Go that extra mile
Among the most precious gifts
that you can give to your children is your time. Put them first
and make time for them. Build a happy, stable home environment,
full of love and security, and you've already gone a long way
towards helping your children thrive and succeed both in school
and in life. Be involved in the big and the small events that
make up their daily lives. Offer your support, encouragement,
resources and love. Be there for them, no matter how busy your
professional life is or whatever other commitments you have. Before
you know it your children will be grown up and what they'll become
depends largely on you. For their sake, as well as for your own,
make the most of their childhood.
There are no pearls of wisdom
here, just a refresher course in things that we've all heard a
million times, but don't always stop to take them to heart. They're
so important that they deserve our attention, to periodically
remind us of what really counts in life.
----------------------------------------------------
Barbara Freedman-De Vito, children's
librarian, teacher, professional storyteller, and artist, writes
and illustrates animated children's stories which are available
at http://www.babybirdproductions.com which also has free games
and educational activities for children, teachers and parents.
Clothing and gift items decorated with artwork from the stories
are also available.
MORE ON CHILD CREATIVITY
Make
your child
more creative for life.
Every child has creative
ability just waiting to be tapped. Even infants have budding creative
potential. The right educational toys can bring it out. and let
children enjoy the benefits of creative pursuits at many levels.
Infants,
toddlers,
preschoolers,
early
school age and older
school age children all delight in opportunities for creative
expression through colors, shapes and sounds.
At The Creativity Institute, we handpick each infant educational
toy, every creative plaything, each piece of furniture and every
toy musical instrument based on its potential for developing vital
creative resources in your child.
Toy
pianos, oversized
foam building blocks, puppet
theaters and puppet stages and people
and animal hand puppets, art
supplies and children's
easels, play
tents and more. The scale and durability of many of these
toys make them perfect for classrooms, homeschool,
day care centers and waiting rooms, too. The benefits of nurturing
creativity can be profound, offering children tools for success
in all endeavors athletic, artistic or academic. Let your baby
begin now.