A learning activity gone bad (or so I thought)

Hello everyone, I wanted to share with you all an experience I had last week with my preschooler. I had been planning this totally fun activity for a few days, I was so excited and thought my son would be to. We have had lots of opportunities to learn about the body and its various parts and I bought a book that talked all about the body and had cool pictures.  I wanted to spend some one on one time with my son since I had baby number 2 a week ago. So during nap time I pulled out our cool body book and we looked all through it and talked about the body parts, skin, bones and hair. All was going well. We were both really into what we were learning and I was so happy to be spending time together.
Then came the funnest part! Or so I thought it would be. I got a roll of freezer paper and cut off a length to trace my sons body. The plan was to trace him and then spend time coloring in bones, organs, eyes, nose, ears, hair or whatever took interest. This is where it all went south! I explained what I wanted to do and my son flipped out! He kept telling me that laying on the paper scared him and that it hurt. I couldn't figure out how laying on a piece of paper hurt. I was also being a little stubborn because I was so excited to do this and just wanted him to lay on the paper.
We got into a little argument and my son went to his bed crying. I was so bummed that my great idea didn't work. I also decided that since he wasn't going to do what I wanted we wouldn't do anything. ( I know I was being really childish myself) 
I let myself cool down and then went to find my son.  He was in bed covered with his blankets crying for daddy. ( I know none of your children have ever done this:)  I sat down by the bed and we started talking about what happened and how we both felt. I was able to explain that I was excited for this activity and how it disappointed me that he wasn't as excited.  I listened while he explained that it scared him and he didn't want to do it. ( I still don't know why it was scary)  We both talked, without throwing fits, and reached an understanding. We were both done for the day.
My son has a hard time with communicating feelings and talking without flying of the handle so this was a wonderful thing for us. I was still bummed that we didn't get to draw his body, but a greater lesson was learned that day. I learned that its not always important to follow through with every lesson plan made, it is important to follow the needs of my preschooler. My son learned how to talk about the way he feels and why without throwing a huge tantrum.  I am so glad that we were able to have that moment together, talking and listening. Maybe we will get to the body another day, and maybe another way. For now it was good to teach communication skills.
Have you had a time when a lesson you planned didn't go as well as you liked?  How did you deal with it?

Pizza Time

Here at our house we love to let kids learn how to use measuring spoons and cups by helping us cook.  Here are Shawn and Tyler making their very own Italian pizzas.  What an excellent way to let kids learn how to measure and mix ingredients, and they also use fine motor skills to knead and roll out the dough.  Tons of fun!  
 

 

Little Chefs



Colors, Sorting and ...Laundry!?!

We talk a lot about learning at our house. Kenneth is currently in school, Shawn is 4 and I see that his little mind is yearning for some guided learning and I love to learn and have watched my Dad and mimic his desire to learn. I remember growing up that anytime my Dad wanted to know how to do something he would get a book or a video and pour over it until he felt he knew what he was doing. When I was a teenager we got horses and I became Daddy's little cowgirl. Horses have lots of expenses and so Dad and I wanted to learn how to do as much as we could to save on paying someone else to do them. Some of my favorite memories with my dad involve teaching Monty (our colt) how to walk on a lead, be saddled and cross small streams. We also learned how to trim and shoe the horses hooves.
My Mom is another example to me of learning. When I was in high school my mom and my youngest three siblings decided to take a stab at homeschooling. My youngest brother was showing signs of some "learning disababilities" (I don't like this term because he is not disabled he just learns differently than the way he was being taught) and my mom wanted to give him some individualized teaching/learning. The other kids decided that they wanted to try it out to. At first I was appaled! "don't homeschool" I thought "They will turn into FREAKS!" I didn't notice any horns growing or green goo anywhere but what I did notice was the way my mom took everyday opportunities and helped ALL of us to learn from them. There are two that stick out in my mind. One day my youngest brother saw a spider and was fascinated with it, so my mom got a mason jar, they carefully caught it and observed it. Then they turned to the computer and did a little research on spiders. Simple, yet they learned. My mom still won't dust down cobwebs because they are "beautiful and add to her home." The second learning that sticks in my mind is about birds. We moved from Riverton Utah to Klamath Falls Oregon and into a migratory bird path. There were so many new birds that we had never seen before! My mom bought a bird book that went EVERYWHERE with us. We all learned at least the names of some of the most common birds in the area. She made every drive we took a learning experience because there were always birds to point out and look up in our bird book.
So now your asking yourself how my childhood memories have anything to do with colors, sorting and Laundry. Well let me link them for you. I think that learning should become a part of our day and that our day should become a part of our learning. I have taken memories from my childhood to link learning to my family. About a week ago I was doing laundry (a chore that I put off as long as possible) and Shawn came into the laundry room and asked if he could help. After I got over the shock of why anyone would want to help with laundry I said "sure." Our first task was to sort the laundry. Sorting is a great thing to teach a preschooler I just have never associated it with laundry before. Well here it goes. I showed Shawn that we had three piles: Whites, Lights and Darks. Then I showed him what I considered each one to be. Then I let him do the sorting. Occasionally he would ask for my help, and I believe that here is where the real learning opportunity is, rather than tell him what pile it went in, I asked him what he thought and then we made sure it got in the right pile.
After we had all the clothes sorted he helped me start the washer and put the clothes in. He thought it was so funny to watch all the clothes get wet! We let them wash and the he helped transfer them from the washer to the dryer. During this time Shawn made an observation, he noticed that the clothes were cold! Then after the clothes were dry we pulled them out and he exclaimed "Now they are hot!"
I wish I could say every laundry day provides us such learning, but even one simple day of laundry taught colors, sorting, hot and cold and gave mom a needed break from the boring routine of laundry.

Its Swinging time!

Hello Parents, Grandparents and teachers of children. Its time to start learning with our little ones. Kenneth and I wanted to have a place where we could all come together and share our learning experiences, ask questions and get ideas. I, Tawnya, will be heading up the blog and sharing with you how the lessons and activities of Leap Swing have worked for Shawn and I. Little does Kenneth know that he gave me the fun job! Please leave comments on what you and your little ones are doing and what works for you. Leap Swing Preschool is not up and running yet (That's Kenneths job) But we wanted to start sharing some ideas that we have had so that you can see what we are like and use them with your children. Leap Swing should be in session starting January 2011 (if you don't know what Leap Swing is please visit www.leapswing.com) If you like what you see us doing here we will have so much more to offer then and would love to have you sign up for "class." Thanks for your support and happy learning.