The Mom I Want to Be

 

The Inverse Power of Praise

 

According to a survey conducted by Columbia University, 85 percent of American parents think it’s important to tell their kids that they’re smart. But recent research conducted by psychologist Carol Dweck at Columbia University strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.

 

Dweck tested New York City-area fifth-graders, randomly pulling them out of the classroom for an easy nonverbal IQ test. Afterwards, each student was given his score and one line of praise. Half of the kids were praised for their intelligence and were told, “You must be smart at this.” The other half were praised for their effort: “You must have worked really hard.” Then they were offered a choice of tests: a more difficult one that would teach them something, or another easy one like the first. Of those praised for their effort, 90 percent chose the harder set of puzzles, while the majority of those praised for intelligence opted for the easy test. The “smart” kids took the cop-out.

 

Why did this happen? “When we praise children for their intelligence,” Dweck wrote, “we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don’t risk making mistakes.” And that’s what the students had done: They’d chosen to look smart and avoid the risk of being embarrassed.

 

“Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control,” Dweck explains. “They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.”

 

By and large, the literature in praise shows it can be effective – a positive, motivating force. But all praise is not equal and the effect of praise can vary significantly depending on the praise given. So how should we praise our kids? Here are three guidelines:

 

1. Praise should be sincere. Only young children—under the age of 7—take praise at face value: Older children are just as suspicious of it as adults.

 

2. Praise should be specific. After a soccer game, praise your child for looking to pass or working hard to get the ball instead of just saying “you did great!”

 

3. Praise effort, not ability. If your child aces a test, praise the time she spent studying instead of telling her she did well because she’s smart.

Read Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood. In this simple counting story, glossy computer-generated illustrations show a school of cute, expressive tropical fish that disappear, one per spread, providing a descending counting exercise that leaves one yellow fish. Then lonely yellow meets and falls in love with an attractive green that happens by, and the two parents create a new school of fish to be counted. The circular story and the bouncing rhymes, which create just the right suspense with each page turn, will encourage preschoolers to gleefully chant along, and the bright, tropical underwater world filled with adorable fish will delight.

 

Create your own underwater world with 10 little fish.  Tear up some blue tissue paper.  Lightly spray a piece of white construction paper with water. Stick the tissue paper pieces to the wet paper. Allow it to dry. After the paper is dry, peel off the tissue paper, leaving a beautiful pattern of washed out blues.  Add some fish cut out of construction paper.

 

This project is blowing bubbles with a twist. We first made these foamerators last summer and they quickly became a big hit.

 

An empty soda or water bottle

A washcloth

A rubber band

 

Cut the bottom off of the bottle. Fold the washcloth in half and cover the bottom of the bottle with it. Secure with the rubber band. Dip the bottle in some bubble solution or dish soap and blow! The foamerator creates long foam snakes. Lots of fun!

 

 

A fun, eco-friendly activity that uses recycled goods from home to create shaker and string instruments that allow for the exploration of rhythm and sound.

 

 

•  Use recycled materials to create a creative instrument.

•  Learn about rhythm and sounds created by different instruments.

•  Work together to create unique sounds when instruments are played together.

 

Before You Start: Have children collect used toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls, plastic food containers (with lids,) tin cans or plastic water bottles, rubber bands, and tissue boxes.  You will also need paint and decorating items (like glitter, stickers, stamps, etc.), unsharpened pencils, and uncooked rice and beans to use as the filling for shakers.

 

Make sure all cans and containers are washed and dried thoroughly. Let the children decorate the containers with craft items of choice. It may be easier to wrap some of the containers with paper than to paint on the surface. To make a guitar, have the children wrap rubber bands of varying thickness around the opening of the empty tissue box. “Plucking” the bands will create different kinds of sounds over the opening. To make a cardboard shaker, seal up one end of the toilet paper roll with thick paper held in place tightly with a rubber band. Pour in some uncooked rice and/or beans inside and seal the other end of the shaker. To make a plastic shaker, pour the rice/beans into a plastic water bottle and replace the lid. To make a guiro, children can run an unsharpened pencil along the texture of the tin can or plastic water bottle. Tape a craft stick or pencil to one side of the can to act as a handle. Tape open ends of the cans to avoid sharp edges. To make a drum, place the lid on the plastic food container and let the children pat on it with their hands or the eraser end of an unsharpened pencil. Have the children practice “playing their instruments.” Set different rhythms for them to follow by clapping your hands.

 

Let the students have a “solo” or create a symphony by seating students in sections by instrument and when you point to them they play. No instrument will sound exactly the same, and the students will have fun exploring the sounds.

 

Practice an ABAB pattern with your preschooler (useful for building pre-math skills) using a large circle and rectanglular strips (1 1/2 by 3 inchs). We alternated yellow and orange several times to fit around the “sun”. We will also be using it as a summer countdown calendar (there are twelve “rays”, perfect for the twelve weeks of summer!). You can laminate them and attach Velcro to make them last. It’s fun without the laminating as well, but more disposable.

A visual guide to hand print and foot print activities

Handprint Christmas Tree

FootPrint Snow Man

Hand and Foot Print Rudolph

Foot Print Valentine

Hand Print “I love you” in sign language Card

 

Hand Print Lion

Hand Print Elephant

Foot Print Ducklings

Hand Print and Popcorn Sheep

Hand Print Bunnies

Foot Print Butterflies

Abstract Earth Print

Foot Print Fish

Hand and Foot Print Lobster

Hand Print Octopus

Hand and Foot Print Peacock

Arm and Hand Print Tree (leaves are sponge painted)

Hand and Foot Print Turkey

Hand Print Memorial Day Wreath

Arm Print Fall Trees

Foot Print Ghosts

Hand Print Spiders – Background was marble painted to make “webs”

“How do you cook a turkey” Hand Print Activity

Fingerprint A is for Ants

Additional Activities:

Autumn Handprint Wreath

Love Bird

Hand Print American Flag

I’m Special Sunflowers

 

 

 

Sounds can be fun, especially when you’re trying to stump your mom or dad. Your child may enjoy this guessing game so much, he won’t even know he’s getting ready to learn to read!

 

Tell your child you are thinking of a word that begins with the f-f-f-f-f sound. Ask him to repeat the sound. Then give another clue: “My word stands for something fluffy and white that we use to make bread dough.” Find new clues until your child has guessed the word.

 

Now, turn the tables. Let your child take a turn to stump you. Ask him to think of a word. Don’t tell! Now have him say the first sound of the word but say it very slowly and carefully. Ask for a clue. Can you guess?

 

 

A fun, eco-friendly activity that uses recycled goods from home to create cute animal pencil cups.

 

 

Use recycled materials to create an animal pencil cup.

Learn about different animals and their different colors, features, etc.

Use fine motor skills to attach small pieces to cans.

Reinforce concepts of “same” and “different.”

 

Have children collect tin cans from home. Only one end should be cut off. You will also need paint, construction paper, wiggly eyes, feathers, scissors and tape/glue.

 

 Make sure all cans are washed and dried thoroughly. Tape any sharp edges. Discuss different kinds of animals. Talk about the colors of the animals’ fur or skin. Have the children point out how a cow and elephant are the same (they both have a tail, four legs, two eyes, etc.) Then, have the children point out the differences. Create a pencil holder in the shape of an animal. Let the children decide which animal they’d like to make. Have the children paint the can in the appropriate colors or patterns. Use construction paper to create the cut-outs for ears, trunks, horns, bills, or snouts of the animals. Use wiggly eyes for the eyes. Have the children tape and/or glue the various features to the can.

 

Let the students practice the sounds that each animal makes by playing a fun game. Set the empty animal pencil cups in the front of the classroom. Hand each student a few pencils or markers and have them take turns going to front of the classroom and putting a pencil in an animal cup. When they place the pencil inside the cup, the whole class must make the sound of that animal. These make good counting aides as well. Place different numbers of pencils, crayons, markers, etc. into the cups and ask the students questions for them to identify and count. (Ex: “How many crayons are in the chicken cup?”)