Treasures in a Bottle

A bottle of treasures

So today I was going through my bedside table and came across a little box full of tiny pendants that I have collected since I was a knee high to a grasshopper. Don't ask me why I hang on to such things. All I can say is that I have a hard time throwing things away from my childhood; especially now since they are probably (as our nephew would say) antiques! Anything made before the year 2000 is ancient to him!

I was sitting on the bed looking at all these little charms and taking a walk down memory lane: a little golden locket from my grandmother, a silver cowboy boot from my friend Katie in the 6th grade and a tiny butterfly that was my sister's. I remember where I was when they were given to me, like it was yesterday: sitting on my grandmother's bed, at my birthday party surrounded by friends and in my sister's room when she decided she had out grown such things. I remember thinking that I had something new and special; a little treasure.

I began thinking today what I could do with these little trinkets as I didn't want to just chuck them in the bin, but they are certainly doing no good just sitting in a dusty drawer among other things that I never use. Lachlan tip-toed in my room and stood next to where I was sitting. It was as if he knew I was looking at something special and needed to approach quietly and gently.
"Oh!" he said, with a little twinkle in his eye. "What's that called, Mommy?"
I told him they were pendants and he repeated the word. He began to point ad say each one: "butterfly, sailboat, boot..."
As he was doing this it made me feel like I was back to working with my developmental therapy patients. I have a "I Spy" bag filled with little objects and rice in which the child can explore. It looks like a huge bean bag but has a vinyl window where the child can see what is inside. As the bag is moved, new objects appear that were once hidden within all the rice. I use it as a fun way to have a conversation with a child to test their receptive and expressive language. I might ask, "Where is the zebra?" or say, "Here is a shoe. What color is it?"

I thought to myself that these little things in my hand would be perfect for that and I could make my own little "I Spy" game; but one with a few of my childhood treasures. I asked Lachlan if he'd like to make a 'treasure bottle' with me. Of course, he was keen! I mean you don't hear the word treasure as a toddler and not want to see what that is all about!

Some of the treasures we added, but ot all...

 I went around the house and dug through all my little odds and ends drawers for tiny objects. Afterall I was going to need a few more things to make our bottle worthy of exploring. Before we knew it we had an assortment of things that we just small enough to fit through the time of our bottle.
 I choose to use a long wavy shape bottle with a cork. I like the look of it and more importantly it is a great size for toddler hands. It is glass which teaches him how to be gentle but it is not so bulky that it would slip out of his hands easily- the point is to move and rotate the bottle a lot to unbury the treasures.
Here is the list of things that went into our bottle. If you make one, write up a list o you don't forget and if you give it as a gift, the receiver will have fun trying to find all the items.

• thumb tack
• screw
• cowboy boot
• sail boat
• turtle
• paperclip
• flower
• button
• leaf
• gumnut
• sea shell
• diamond
• butterfly
• golden locket
• magic crystal

Remember that whatever you choose to put in your bottle must be small enough to move around easily within that size of bottle. If you put large objects in a small or narrow bottle they won't move around well and will jump together. Tiny objects get nicely lost in the rice. You may also use larger bottles, such as a mason jar. Items can be larger than the ones I used in that case.

Lachlan helped me fill the jar with rice and the treasures and a closed it tightly with the cork. I like the cork because you can push it in to the resistance you want and can still undo it if you'd like. The most secure I can make it with my strength is too hard for Lachlan or myself to undo but I'm sure not too hard for my strong, brauny hubby to open :-)

So there you have it; a nice little treasure bottle of memories to, well...treasure! Things that once were special to me, can now be special for Lachlan. He can now sit and have fun discovering a bit of my childhood memories and who knows, perhaps they become his now too! Until next time, folks, happy treasure hunting!

Making and Matching Letters

Writing 'H'

As all of Lachlan's followers know, he is obsessed with letters! He can't get enough of them. Every place we go he has to shout out the letters to us. He first began with capitals and now is on to lower case, though many theorists believe you should learn the opposite way. However as we didn't systematically teach Lachlan the alphabet this was his natural progression of reading symbols.

Lachlan has really reached a new level of symbol exploration. He is now able to write symbols himself which is a major feat for a child! Think about it. Not only do they need to have their fine motor skills up to par but they also need to be cognitive able as well. To write a symbol with out seeing it in front of you means you have to have been able memorized the symbol, picture it in your mind and replicate it using another instrument. Such an accomplishment for anyone; especially a developing toddler.

'H, H, and more H!'

As Maria Montessori believed, repetition is very important for children as they piece things together. Lachlan definitely proves this as he becomes fixated on a new symbol every few weeks. A few months ago he was fixated on the letter 'L,' for Lachlan of course! He drew L's every chance he could.He then moved on to 'S.' Over Christmas he figured out how to draw the letter H. He covered our driveway, back porch and outdoor furniture with 'H's' using sidewalk chalk. It is interesting how there are certain letters he likes to practice drawing more than others. He also likes to write 'T,V and U' but for what ever reason they don't hold as much wonderment or challenge perhaps as "H". Or perhaps he likes H because it looks similar to his favourite thing to draw; railway tracks! A series of 'H's' gives you a lovely railway! Who knows? It would be great if he could tell me but I suppose that would take the fascination out of it for mom!

Making the Letter V

Making 'U' with pool balls

Lachlan has also been having fun using his 'hundreds of languages' to create letters. On Boxing Day morning we were down at the beach house and Lachlan woke up in the morning and began playing with a few of his matchbox cars and trains. I was sitting next to him and he said, "Mama, 'L!" I turned to look and with his cars he had created the letter 'L.' Amazing I thought. This one year old never ceases to surprise me. A few moments letter he shouts "V!" And there you have in front of him a 'V' made with cars. Finally he showed me a "T." It made me think about all the various resources I could leave out for Lachlan when we got back home so that he could create all sorts of things.

Doing his own thing: matching letters

 It has been a fun challenge for me to come up with varying ideas for Lachlan to explore letters. Language and literacy is certainly one of the areas I loved studying while achieving my degree; but Lachlan has really pushed me to expand my thoughts regarding the subject and to think about ways of encouraging this development while respecting the unique characteristics and interests of individual children. To do this with Lachlan, I have offered a wide range of media for him to explore the literary world. Books, magazines, food labels etc are always available for him to read. To explore creatively he uses paint, markers, crayons, white erase crayons, sidewalk chalk, water and brushes etc. We also have educational resources such as puzzles, letters on tag board, magnets and flash cards. Again, we never sit down and systematically go over the letters as this becomes a chore and not fun. Instead this items are out for Lachlan to explore and do what he wants with them. It astounds me how he often discovers the intended purpose to them anyway, at one year of age. I had some flash cards in a box, which we never take out that often. He found them and began naming the letters. There is a card in upper and lower case for each letter. His father and I were in the same room putting away Christmas decorations and we noticed Lachlan was very content on the other side of the room working on something. I went over to take a peek and saw him matching all the lowercase letters to the uppercase and placing them all of the room! We have never showed him to do this or even taken out all the cards before; he figured out for himself that this would be a good idea. He worked very hard until the entire alphabet or organised and then trotted off to another activity. Just another example of how much we can underestimate children sometimes. It is always worth it to just stand back and see where they go. Usually they will surprise you!

A Visit from a Very Hungry Caterpillar

As you might have guessed from previous blogs, we are keen gardeners. Since we like to eat organic, we choose to grow a lot of our own produce. Like all organic gardeners we find it challenging and often frustrating trying to keep pests out of our veggie patch and fruit trees. Generally the culprits are fruit flies but this year we have had some new visitors- caterpillars.

Inspecting our hungry caterpillar

I was making my routine morning check of the patch and while inspecting the tomatoes I found an unwanted guest who had invited himself for breakfast- a green, plump caterpillar. At first I was annoyed--he'd eaten through many of the tomatoes and I could see damage on most of the leaves. However, I knew that Lachlan would be very excited to see a caterpillar, as Eric Carle's, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of his favourite books and also where I observed his first experience of representational play when he was reading the book to himself one day and pretending to make a caterpillar eat through the fruits on the pages. It was from this experience that his reading journey really blossomed and he began to explore and act out more and more images from books.

I gathered our little caterpillar friend and placed him in a clear jar and poked holes through the top for ventilation. I called Lachlan over to show him what was inside and he was so excited! He began giggling and pointing at the caterpillar and watched in fascination as it slinked its way around the jar. "He's just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar," I said. "Look at this tomato he ate through!" I showed Lachlan the tomato and he smiled with amazement. "Should we give him something more to eat?" Lachlan shook his head yes and his daddy suggested we put a large tomato leaf in the jar so the caterpillar could finish his breakfast. The caterpillar didn't waste anytime. Right away we crawled on the leaf and began nibbling away. Before we knew it he was eating so much that the bottom of the jar was filled with little caterpillar poos. I never knew a caterpillar could poo so much! This of course was of great fascination to Lachlan as well.

Lachlan took a nap and after he woke up he was surprised to see that the caterpillar had already finished half of the huge tomato leaf and was still eating. Lachlan sat and ate his lunch and insisted that the caterpillar sit at the table with him. He ate and watched the caterpillar eat. He also have the jar a little shake to see what would happen. The caterpillar clung to the leaf for dear life, survived the mighty toddler earthquake and resumed back to his eating rituals. I took out Lachlan's The Very Hungry Caterpillar book so he could look at it. He took the book over the the jar and began smiling and pointing at the caterpillar in the book and pointing to the one in the jar. I reminded him that the caterpillar is eating a lot so it can make a cocoon and turn into butterfly; this made him very happy and excited as he understood the possibility.

Each day we monitored our caterpillar and feed him well. On Tuesday we tried to switch up his food to add some variety and I put a lettuce and mint leaf in the jar. The caterpillar refused to eat all morning and searched the bottom of the jar. That evening we put another tomato leaf in the jar and he was happy again- eating and pooping as usual. Wednesday morning Lachlan insisted that we take the caterpillar with us where ever we went. He had gotten very attached. I told him that I'm sure his friends at our play sessions would love to see it so we'll bring it along. I also took The Very Hungry Caterpillar book to share with the class. Lachlan was very proud. Anytime someone walked over to the table to look at the jar he ran over and pointed inside to show them the caterpillar. All the toddlers were fascinated and enjoyed it when I shared the book with them. Lachlan helped in the reading by making smacking noises with his lips and wiggling his toy caterpillar along the pages and into the holes of the fruit. We talked about the caterpillar and how we hoped that it would also make a cocoon just like the one in the story.

Finding the same cocoon in The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The following week came and we continued to monitor our little hungry friend. Monday of that week he began to look very unwell' just like Eric Carle's caterpillar in the story. For two days he ate nothing, not even a fresh tomato leaf. He laid on the bottom of the jar and we had to wonder if he was going to make it or not. I thought we might be dead. Wednesday morning however we woke up to a lovely surprise. On the bottom of our jar was a cocoon! Over night the caterpillar had begun making his little house and by morning he was completely wrapped up. I couldn't wait for Lachlan to see. I only hoped he would understand what has happened and not be sad to see the caterpillar gone. When Lachlan looked in the jar he was astonished. "Look! Our caterpillar made a house around him. A cocoon!" I exclaimed. Right away Lachlan understood. He clapped and laughed. He trotted his little feet over to get his caterpillar book and turned it to the page with the cocoon and began pointing to both of them. Again he sat and ate his breakfast with his little cocoon next to him.

Pupa, Day 1

That morning we went to our play session again and shared our cocoon with our friends. The children were delighted to see the cocoon and the parents enjoyed the opportunity to talk to their children about what had happened to the caterpillar. When we got home set up Lachlan's table with a magnified glass and some books with butterflies, caterpillars and cocoons in them. I told him that the caterpillar inside the cocoon is now called a pupa; over his head I'm sure but we should never underestimate a children's ability to take in information. Lachlan was free to go to the table and explore the items. He enjoyed looking through the books and at all the different types of cocoons. I talked to him about how I was imagining what our caterpillar might look like once he emerges from the cocoon and becomes a butterfly.

A week went by and we patiently watched the cocoon. If Lachlan gave the jar a little shape, the tail end of the cocoon would react and wriggle. Two weeks approached and it was time for us to prepare for Christmas. We always go out of town and we intended to bring the jar with us so we couldn't miss the butterfly make its grand entrance into the world. Among all the hustle and bustle, we forgot. When we got to the beach house we wondered what would happen to our little friend- would we arrive home with a beautiful butterfly sitting on the twig or would it be dead or would we get lucky and it still be in a pupa state?

Well, I wish I had a beautiful happy ending for the story but I don't. We arrived home and I went to the kitchen to look in the jar. I was very happy to see that the cocoon had busted open; but where was the butterfly? I looked all around the jar and saw nothing. I inspected the cocoon again and it looked like possible there might have been a little bit of something inside but I couldn't tell because it was all dried up. A sad ending to such a hopeful story for a toddler. I didn't bother to show Lachlan. He don't think he'd understand what happened and he'd only wonder where the butterfly was and probably get frustrated. Thankfully since we'd been gone for awhile on holiday he forgot all about his cocoon and hasn't asked for it so that is where we are leaving it. Perhaps we'll find another caterpillar this summer and try again or next year will come around and Lachlan will be a bit more mature to try the experiment on his own and contemplate the results whatever they may be. It was a fun science experience for him though and it was wonderful for him to be able to make the connection from his book to the real world of mother nature. The joys of learning! Hopefully better luck for us next time...

Railway to Sucess

Lachlan is a drawer. He's like his father; as soon as the drawing tool is lifted, the wheels start churning and something is brought to life on paper. The moment Lachlan picked up his first crayon, at about 12 months, he looked like he was in his element; holding it, moving it across the paper- it all seemed to come so naturally to him. From then on we have always left paper and markers or crayons out for him to access. He naturally seemed to have a respect for their purpose and with this respect he left his artwork on the paper, not the walls or floors, thank goodness! However, if you give him permission, I think he'd use anything as his canvas; sidewalk chalk and our driveway bring him much joy and a paint brush and a tub of water make him happy as he paints the house, deck, dog, fence, etc outside. In front of his very eyes he watches his creation dry in the sun and quickly begins creating once more.

I believe it was around 17 months when Lachlan began drawing 'purposeful' drawings (though aren't they all purposeful to development?) Perhaps I should say recognisable. He started with circles. Most children before the age of 24 months will begin to draw in circular motions as it is a natural movement. At 17 months, Lachlan was far past this point. He had moved on to drawing complete, closed circles; something he practiced repetitively for weeks. I remember the first one I witnessed which he drew on a magnetic sketcher. I was so amazed and proud. He looked at me as to say, "well, yeah!" He must have been doing it awhile before I noticed. A few months later he moved on to triangles and squares and 3 weeks ago I was amazed when he was writing on the sidewalk and said, "Mama!" I looked over and after he was positive I was watching he drew a crescent and said, "Muuuun"(moon). I don't know why I am always so amazed; but I'm his mom and at the same time I'm a developmental specialist and I know that he is making connections and drawing representations beyond what I would expect for his age. On this note, it is also important to remember that all children develop at different rates and by six years of age the majority of them arrive to this year at about the same developmental level. So while it is fine to recognise that your child may be 'ahead of the game' for his age; it is important not to create a pre-molded image of what 'you think' your child will be like when they are six. Instead, focus on your child's uniqueness and be excited about what excites them!

Railway Tracks, 21 months

It is common knowledge in our household and circle of friends that Lachlan adores trains. How many boys don't at this age? For months Lachlan has demanded that we draw him trains and train tracks and now particular passengers on his trains. He'll tell me to draw; "mama," "daddy," "woof-woof," (dog), etc. Before we know it we have a whole string of trains covering an easel. Lachlan also likes to draw his own objects to the scenery. He will draw a wavy line and say, "Sssss" for snake. He'll add flowers and tell me that is what they are by saying "Mama!" and then giving them a nice sniff with his nose. Yesterday he was drawing in his sketch book and I was sitting next to him watching. He likes to make a few strokes and look at me to ensure that I am sharing in his work. (he's quite the demanding artist I must say!) I watched him as he drew two vertical parallel lines and then began to connect them with a series of horizontal lines. I continued to watch to see what he was doing. I could tell that he was being his usual self; drawing very purposefully and thinking about each stroke. As I watched him draw I began to think to myself that it looked just like something I had drawn him about 3 hours earlier on his mega sketcher. When he came to a pause I said, "wow! Lachlan. I like all your lines." He stopped, looked at me and said, "Mama!" and then took his finger ran it across his picture and said, "choo! choo!" My hunch was correct, he had drawn railway tracks! It was the first time I had seen him draw something purposeful with so much detail and it was a delight that he could express what he was creating with me. " That looks, like a nice railway, Lachie." I said. "Would you like a train to place on it?" He began to do his deep laugh which means, 'oh! yes!' I took out a foam train sticker and he held it in his hand and moved it up and down his track. He was delighted in his accomplishment, as was his mommy.

I think the important lesson to get out of these experiences is to listen to our children. It could have been easy for me to say, "Hey! You drew a railway!" What if Lachlan hadn't drawn a railway? What if it was a rainbow or a lizard? My suggestion might have altered his thinking and changed his conceptualization of  what a rainbow or lizard could look like. By blurting out 'that's a railway' the child may think, 'well I guess it can't be a rainbow or lizard.' And with that thought, a bit of creativity and imagination is lost--and for me and the child, a bit of sadness is created. Creativity and imagination bring things to life and when life is documented it has meaning; to the creator and to the observer. So I encourage you to encourage your children with some delicacy and respect to their creative process. As they say, "think before you speak" for words have meaning and your child counts on those words to help make sense of the world around him. As I've said in previous blogs it is best to hold our tongues and wait to see what they will offer. By using provocation, asking questions, we can provoke a response. We should never assume anything. Talk about the details of their picture or ask them to tell you about it. With children Lachlan's age it is more tricky as they have a very limited verbal vocabulary. If you give them the chance though they might surprise you and lead you to the right thought. With Lachlan it was by using his finger as a train to show it goes on the track and making the simple sound, "Choo!" Another child might have gone and picked up a toy train and put it on the tracks. Children are innovative and will show you this if you let them.

Well, it is late on this side of the world and our little artist is sleeping which is what I should be doing too. I know that another day full of creativity and imagination awaits me. As many of you know, being a parent can be exhausting but somehow I know Lachlan will stir up energy inside me tomorrow and remind me what it is like to be a child. That is where this pregnant mommy with a toddler finds strengths and motivation. Thank goodness for that! Until next time, goodnight. Choo! Choo!

A Time of Exclamation!

Lachlan, 19 months old

If you are a follower, you'd know by the last blog that Lachlan loves to read. To say that he loves to read is probably an understatement. If there is a word larger than love that would be the one to use. For Halloween I ordered Lachlan the book, Happy Halloween, Biscuit! Lachlan instantly took to this book for three reasons. 1) It has a cute dog in it named Biscuit. Seeing a dog makes him very happy and Lachlan loves to say, "woof! woof!" and pant any chance he can get. I think this comes from many hours of he and I pretending to be dogs around the house and his friendship with an over-sized sausage dog we call Maxwell. 2) The book has flaps to reveal what Biscuit is up to; this is just lots of fun for kids and no matter how many times they read the book and can predict what will be there, they still act like they've just seen it for the first time. Gotta love it! 3) The book has lots of exclamation points in it!

The night before I introduced the Biscuit book to Lachlan, I had read him a book titled, Tiger and the Temper Tantrum (one that I have to say honestly erks me as a child development professional as it constantly uses labels like, 'good tiger and bad tiger.' For so many emotional intelligence reasons it bothers me but that is another story for another blog entry! That being said though the book can be used as a lesson; such as Tiger's mom called him a bad Tiger but he really isn't 'bad', he just did something 'bad.') In Tiger and the Temper Tantrum, 'Yippee!' is written on the very last page. Lachlan started laughing hysterically when I read the word so I said it several times to him and threw my arms up in the air to emphasise Tiger's excitement; she was happy as she was finally allowed to climb on the climbing frame at the park (as all tiger cubs long to do I'm sure) He thought it was hilarious. The next night I introduced him to Happy Halloween, Biscuit! Lachlan pointed to the exclamation mark asking what it was as he knows all the letters and that one looked really strange to him. I told him it was an exclamation. Of course, I'm thinking how can I explain what an exclamation is to a 20 month old, the word itself is too big for him to say at this point in time. He put his hands up in a "what" gesture and pointed to it again. I could tell he was going to persist until I gave him something he could relate to. I then remembered the word, "Yippee!" from Tiger and the Temper Tantrum that we read the previous night and how we threw our arms in the air for excitement. "Lachlan," I said. Exclamation is like, "Yippee!" and I thew my hands in the air. "We do it when we are excited." I then said "Exclamation!" and threw my arms up in the air with excitement like an cheerleader on Red Bull. Lachlan began to laugh. I pointed to the exclamation again and did my little cheer, "Exclamation!" Lachlan joined in, pointed to the exclamation mark and threw his arm in the air and began to giggle. I suppose he had a minute idea of the whole meaning now.

The next day, Lachlan was eating his afternoon snack and drinking from a toddler smoothie pack. I was working next to him at the table and he began reciting the letters he knows on the pack. Lachlan LOVES to share his knowledge. He sat saying, "Mama." I looked over and he then pointed to "S" and said, "Sssss." "Great!" I would say and carry on my business. He would move to the next letter and the next and I would give him some sort of encouraging feedback. Eventually he shouted, "Mama!" and when I looked over he threw his arm in the air like an exclamation. "Exclamation?" I said. He smiled and did it again. I knew there wasn't one on his pack but I thought I'd take a look anyway. "Where?" I asked. Lachlan then pointed to the lower case "i," and threw his arm in the air smiling. I smiled, "Aren't you clever! That does look like an upside down exclamation!" He was proud and although he was wrong I was impressed that he was able to identify it upside down. Lachlan has mastered uppercase letters but he's just figuring out the lowercase ones. Obviously, he doesn't know "i" or he is questioning what he knows since it now looks like something else! In his won time he'll figure out the difference. For now, he should have his moment of glory.

The way children learn is amazing. Think of all the time and effort it takes to learn all there is to know. They amazingly piece things together little by little constantly having to adapt and modify their thinking as new knowledge challenges the old. It isn't any wonder why most parents you meet always say their children just fascinate them. I think it is hard for all of us to wrap our heads around the fact that we used to be just like them; somewhat primitive- every day exploring a brand new adventure; clueless that within a split second converts to expertise as all the information suddenly snaps together and they are suddenly the masters of their domain. I've studied the developing child's brain for years now but I am still fascinated myself at how complex and brilliant it is! I feel so blessed to be able to have my own child and share in his wonderment and excitement. I'm sure you feel the same way about the child or children in your life! And by the way...thanks for sharing in Lachlan's journey with us! :-)

A Literacy Journey...

Looking at letters and symbols

For the last two months, Lachlan has been fascinated with letters. I would say the whole interest started about six months ago when he began pointing to number plates and saying, "That!" His way of asking what something is. The number plate on my car and his daddy's both have the letter A so that was the first letter that he began to recognise. Before we knew it he was going around and pointing to every A he saw and saying it aloud to us. I didn't think much of it except that I realised that this was his first step in reading symbols, an important building block in literacy development . As weeks went by, Lachlan began pointing to his easel and saying, 'A.' My husband and I followed his command  

Reading a story

and wrote the letter for him to see. Lachlan would get very excited and request for another and another...Before you knew it there were several pages filled with 'A's. At least he insisted that we write them in various colours of his choosing to keep it interesting. While this was going on he began to ask 'that' about other letters he would see; mostly in books or on boxes in the house, etc. As he memorised those he began to ask that we write those as well on his easel. Memory recall in infancy and toddlerhood has always been fascinating to me. We certainly underestimate how much children are capable of doing. Another mistake we often do is put child development in a box and expect children to all be at a certain level. It is important to listen to and observe our children; making sure we don't push them while at the same time ensuring that we are provide a challenge. A child like Lachlan for example who is very much a 'thinker' longs for cognitive stimulation and is intrigued by things of that nature. A child who is a 'mover' for example will yearn for things that stimulate him in a locomotive or manipulative way such a climbing or throwing something. All children have different interest which create different desires. We as parent need to respect that and guide them in the area that fascinates them. Everything else will come together when it needs to. Right now it is all about fun and exploration.

Finding letters in a glossary

Since Lachlan has been having fun exploring letters, I put all my old teaching and researching knowledge together to try to think up creative ways for him to explore the wonderful world of letters. First, I looked at the books we have at home, which are a lot! (I buy sooooo many at garage sales each month.) I took out books with a focus on letters and also those that had a glossory in back or started a paragraph with an extra large letter; these letters jump out and Lachlan really loves to point them out to me. He he couldn't remember a letter he would point to it, look at me and say, "Mama?" I would then tell him the letter. Again, I have always followed his lead. A lot of people when they hear Lachlan name letters assume that I have sat down and taught Lachlan the alphabet. That simply has never been the case. We never sit down in front of a chart or with flashcards and begin reciting letters. I would of course if Lachlan initiated and that was fun to him. There really isn't a need to do that as we are surrounded by print all around our house and when we go out to the shops. He asks and we provide an answer and a dialogue begins. He does have some tag board letter cards but I simply put them in a basket and he does his own thing with them. Since he could crawl he would sit for over half an hour lining letters up along the bottom of the french doors in our house. He didn't want interference from us. He just wanted to look at them and put them in some kind of 'Lachlan order.'

Drawing an 'O' in the air.

I am big on provocation, as I also teach early childhood professionals to use it. Provocation just means allowing a child to expand on an idea they have by asking a question. For older children it is best to ask open-ended questions, meaning ones that will not get a single word response (best used on teenagers as well!) So instead of asking, "Is that a tiger you are painting?" or "What are you painting?;" Something such as, "tell me about your picture," would be a better way to get a descriptive response.

Exploring magnet letters

Pre-verbal toddlers are a bit trickier when it comes to provocation for obvious reasons. They can however understand the majority of what you are saying so if you ask them a question they can answer you by pointing or doing another action to communicate. Body language where you'll be getting the most of your info. Lachlan does some sign language so he indicates to us if he wants 'more' or something. If he is ready to move on he is very eager to say his favourite word, "no!" Regarding provocations, if Lachlan is showing me his magnets with the letter A and saying A, I might ask him, "where are the other A's." This often triggers something inside of him to create a new idea. For example we were out the beach house last week and he was playing with his letter magnets and he began grouping all the A's and O's and E's together and also sorting them by colour. This was just something spontaneous we noticed him doing while we were eating. To expand upon this I might ask, "where are the yellow O's" to see if he can identify the colours. Again, go with the flow. It works the best. That particular time I just let him play. I would encourage you not to interrupt every independent play session your child is engaging in to "test" him. Allow them to have their time and avoid interrupting their train of thought.

Lining up letters

Saying "R"

Something sad I often see is the systematic teaching of young children. I say 'sad' because it makes learning become a chore. Because I use a more emergent and natural approach I actually see it as militant and very authoritarian; which is probably harsh but the style really makes me feel so many emotions. Sure flashcards may be fun initially when they are new but being expected to sit and memorise or recite them time and time again becomes a drill and the fun is lost. Learning is lost because it has become something that is no longer meaningful to the child and let's face it; children will not want to learn unless the experience is meaningful to them.Think about that: what is meaningful to your child? It most likely is something very different to what is meaningful to you. This is when we have to go back in time, be nostalgic and think about what inspired us as children. Generally it is something so simplistic. For me it was dirt, leaves, sticks and water. With those resources I could do anything, make anything, be anywhere. I could create a meaningful piece of work and I'm sure I didn't really care if it was meaningful to my parents. (That's the whole ego-centrism stage talking in childhood)

While I've been writing this blog I've been go back through all my photos of Lachlan related to his literacy development. There are so many! Every stage we seem to have incorporated some new way of learning; letter cards, magnets, drawings. One thing that is constant every day though is books. Any literacy expert will tell you that there is just nothing bad that will come out of books! We eat them up in our house! I've included a lot of photos throughout the year of Lachlan and his literacy journey. He has changed so much; especially after learning to walk--he lost all that baby fat!

A quiet place, alone reading

So the best I can offer is to let things occur naturally with your child; a no pressure approach. Infancy and toddlerhood is a time of exploration. There will be plenty of taking orders when they reach school-age and the working world. Let them make sense of their world in their own unique way and allow them to find their own interests. When you do this, they will find passion and love in something as they can claim it as their own accomplishment. Offer guidance and support and expand upon what you see they are wanting to learn. All of this takes a lot of listening and observing. For some parents it will take patience and a new way of thinking. Children truly become confident and talented in areas that excite them. They show this by smiling, clapping and persistently returning to the same thing over and over again. Please don't take that away from them. They will tell you the type of learner they are; whether it is a hands-on, visual or an auditory one. It is up to use to listen and follow their lead. So give off the computer and see what your little one is up to and let him or her teach YOU a thing or two....Until next time :-)

Bottled Shake-Ups

Today we thought we'd share a fun sensory craft for your little one to explore. I made these Bottled Shake-Ups about six months ago for Lachlan but he wasn't really interested in them until recently. Just this week hepulled them out of a box and began playing with them. The bottles are a bit on the larger size also so I'm sure they aren't as heavy as they were six months ago for him. What ever size bottle you use is fine. Large ones you can shake for a little one and they will be fascinated watching the objects swirl or float around in the bottle. Smaller bottles are fun for little hands to shake and explore on their own. I made two Shake-Ups. One has plastic confetti stars with small sea shells and the second I filled with a handful of multi-coloured transparent beads. Be creative with the materials you use. They are simple to make. This is all you need to do:

Materials Needed:

• a small plastic bottle with lid, label removed (individual sized water or juice bottles works best; especially those covered with shrink wrap. You can just cut it off and not worry about gooey adhesive reside)
• Water
• Food colouring (optional)
• Fillers: plastic confetti, shells, beads, tiny plastic animals, etc. (anything that is waterproof that will fit through the opening).
• Glue

Putting it together...

Place the fillers in that you have selected. A hand-full is all you need but put as much in until you achieve the desired effect. Next, fill the bottle up with water and add drops of food colouring to achieve desired colour. Tighten the lid to test it out and give it a shake. If you like what you see take off the lid, add some drops of glue to the sides of the inside of the lid and screw the lid back on the bottle. If you aren't impressed, try adding more filler to make it more interesting. When you are done and the glue is dry, give it to your bub as a fun new sensory toy.

Here are some ideas to do with this project:

• Point to and talk about the colours and/or objects you see floating in the bottle. You could use the rhyme: "I spy with my little eye, something..."
• If you have more then one bottle ask: "Which one has a shell?" etc. or "Which one has the colour...?"
• Communicate what you are doing with the bottle; "Watch me SHAKE it" or "Watch me ROLL it" for example.
• Make two bottles one for you and one for the child and play the game Follow the Leader. Have the child do what you do. "Shake it high" next, "Shake it low" etc. Then see if you can swap roles with your child.
• Talk about what the fillers are doing such as "The beads are floating UP. The beads are floating DOWN."
• Hold the bottle up to your little ones face and look at him through the bottle. If you've used food colouring it will be a surprise to see a pink or blue mommy or daddy! 
• If you've made bottles of varying sizes talk about which one is BIG and which one is SMALL. Expand on this and talk about which one is HEAVY and which one is LIGHT.
• If your child is old enough not to put small objects in his mouth, then please allow him to make his own Bottled Shake-Up. Just step in if he needs help.

The Lion, the Witch and the Sushi

What do a lion and sushi have in common? Well, they both just sound absolutely adorable coming out of Lachlan's mouth. Lachlan is on this new kick; every time he hears the word lion he graces us with a cute little "Rooaar!" When he began doing this several weeks ago he sounded more like a lion cub with a hairball. I can proudly say that tonight he demonstrated much more gusto to his roar. This was prompted while reading Olivia's Opposites book. We turned to the page with 'quiet' and 'loud.' Perhaps Lachlan has learned how to read and finally realised his roar should be loud (okay, I'm dreaming) because as soon as he saw the lion he stopped a moment. Looked up at me with this look that said; 'I'm gathering up all my energy for this one' and before I knew it he sounded like the king of the jungle. We both began crawling on our hands and knees around his room roaring at one another. We were having so much fun that daddy decided to join in to. We were one happy Pride; mommy, daddy and our little lion cub.

We have also figured out that little lion cubs love sushi. Who would have thought? Lachlan gobbles it up and before you can say, 'nori' he's asking for another roll. I will add that he hasn't had proper raw sushi, it is the tuna rolls with avocado. I haven't braved giving him the good stuff yet, but he doesn't know the difference; whatever it is, it is manna to him. Yesterday he and I were on our way to go shopping and we were running behind schedule so I figured I'd feed him while we were out. I always like to talk to Lachlan in the car about where we are going and what we are doing. I kept mentioning that we were going to go get some sushi. "Remember, baby? You like sushi. I think it might be your favourite--sushi!" As we got out of the car and I buckled him in his stroller I said, "Here we go, off to get Baby Lachlan's sushi!" I was surprised by this little voice that responded--"she-she." I stopped and looked at him and said, "Yes, Lachlan--sushi!"...."'she-she" he repeated.I was so excited that he learned a new word. I was jumping up and down saying "Sushi, sushi we are getting sushi!" The people in the parking deck were looking at my like I was on drugs. I just smiled at them and said, "We're getting sushi." Lachlan and I walked into the mall and "she-she-ed" our way all the way to the sushi bar. I order my little baby his sushi. It was manna. He was in heaven.