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Always Learning - February 2009

Developing Alphabet Awareness

February 24th 2009 05:40
Starfall is a free site which offers educational tools for alphabet and phonetic awareness as well as stories and related activities.

My daughter enjoyed going through each letter of the alphabet and in particular enjoyed singing the vowel songs which were introduced individually. The activities were varied, the characters engaging and it was both fun and educational.


And most beneficial, the site also provides free printouts for each letter of the alphabet.
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Little Einsteins

February 20th 2009 11:12
Many children's dvds aim to be educational but one of the favourites in our home currently are the Little Einsteins. Not only do they introduce elements of classical music and art to the children but they also teach about geography as well.

I was browsing some photos of famous landmarks around the world on the internet when my daughter asked if I was watching Little Einsteins! It made me chuckle to think that what she sees as entertainment is also aiding her recognisation skills and knowledge of the world.


Our current favourite is The Legend of the Golden Pyramid set in Egypt but no doubt the favouritism will be short lived and she will have moved on to something else - but not without learning something in the process.
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, DVDs
   


Creative Play With Duplo

February 19th 2009 00:49
Creative play is something that should be encouraged with children as much as possible. Duplo is great for this and can be introduced to children as toddlers enabling them to get many years play out of the blocks up until about 6 years of age.

Duplo is great for both boys and girls thanks to the introduction of packs such as the princess, doll's house and supermarket packs. Basic block sets are a good start for children and additional sets can be purchased for those with specific interests as add ons. We purchased a Princess Pony and Picnic Set for my daughter and she loves to add these to her regular blocks easily spending an hour playing by herself in her little imaginative world.
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Toys
   


Leapfrog Learning DVDs

February 16th 2009 02:32
Admittedly I am quite fussy about the educational DVDs I purchase but my daughter and I both agree on one thing - we enjoy watching the Leapfrog Learning DVDs. We have Letter Factory, Talking Words, Reading Words and Math Circus and my daughter enjoys watching all of the dvds in the series.

Even though she is familiar with the sounds of the letters from the Letterland books and cds, she enjoys watching the Letter Factory dvd to cement the sounds in her mind. Reading Words is a little bit out of her reach at the moment but even still she is happy to watch it for the story alone.

And Maths Circus - well what can I say. Anything that helps her improve her maths is a plus for me. Over the past couple of months we have seen a great improvement in her comprehension of addition and subtraction and this is largely due to the Maths Circus dvd and Reader Rabbit.
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, DVDs, Reading
   


Valentine's Day Craft

February 13th 2009 09:00
This afternoon we sat down to make a Valentine's card for my daughter's dad and discovered some gorgeous Disney Clipart to add to her card.

Making cards is a great craft actvity for children and gives them an opportunity not only to let them make something special but also to appreciate the gift of giving.

Valentine's Day may be over commercialised but giving a card and showing someone how much you love them definitely isn't - particularly when it comes from the hands and hearts of a child.

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Age 3-4, Age 4-6, Age 6-8, Craft
   


Reading Eggs Program

February 12th 2009 05:10
If you are looking for a fun way for children to develop their alphabet recognition and reading, I recommend the Reading Eggs program.

The online website runs through a number of games and activities and presents small reading books at the end of each chapter which are also available to purchase in hard copy form. The characters are engaging for the children and the musical numbers are a fun way to keep the child motivated.
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar Card Game

February 7th 2009 07:52
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of my favourite books as a child and was one of my daughter's favourite books as a toddler. I am delighted to see her continuing love for the caterpillar in the form of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Card Game which we often play before settling down for the night.

This is a great game to introduce the days of the week in succession and the aim of the game is for the caterpillar to eat his way through the days of the week and like the book, turn into a beautiful butterfly. The game is marketed for children aged 3 plus and I would say this is accurate as they need to pick up the concepts of the hands in order to play the game.
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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: No Category
   


Learning Basic Language Skills

February 3rd 2009 07:40
My daughter is a huge Dora The Explorer fan and needless to say her basic Spanish skills are pretty good because of the programme.

Not as popular as Dora, but equally as cute, is Kai-Lan Chow, a cute little Chinese American girl who is being particularly helpful in teaching my daughter some basic Chinese words. Kai-Lan, like Dora, hangs out with a monkey named Hoho, as well as Tolee the panda and Rintoo the tiger


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The Introduction Of Maths

February 1st 2009 13:45
Admittedly I enjoy reading. I also love reading to my daughter and fostering the enjoyment we have with the books we read but I was a little hesitant about which way to approach the subject of Math.

She is currently enjoying playing games on the computer so I thought I would try the PC approach and purchased the Reader Rabbit Math Adventure for 4-6 year olds. We have a number of semi-educational and non-educational games and I thought she would dismiss it quickly in order to play her current favourite - Barbie Fashion Show - but I was pleasantly surprised.
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