Our Children Learning About Business

22 de octubre de 2020

Written by Cassandra Escobar, Trinus co-founder

In Class 6 our students learn business economics and then put these skills into practice by starting and running their own business! It is an amazing way to teach our students about how our society functions. It is also an opportunity for them to learn that when we work we create something of value for others and that people will pay for the goods or services.

Christian Erichsen, Trinus’s father and business manager shared some of his BUSINESS knowledge WITH OUR STUDENTS. You can view part of his talk with them in the video below.

I would like to share what Cristina Castillo wrote after the talk.

“Everything Mr. Erichsen said was very interesting and true. I think every business in the whole wide world makes the best effort for people to come back. I think it may be very, very stressful to pay at least 2,600 people. It is a huge responsibility to manage a big business. When Mr. Erichsen said that a lot of pharmacies together are called a ¨CHAIN¨ of pharmacies I just thought of collective nouns. I think running a business means you have to find people you can trust that you know are not going to take advantage of you. I think it will really help us to make a good business of our own now that we know all of that to make our business better. I now really realize how much pressure adults have now that I really understand all the adults I know, I could try to not be such a headache. I did not know that when you start a business you have to think of so many details. When you start a business you need to have a very big vision. I think we are going to make a great business thanks to Mr. Erichsen. We are going to do great. I think it is totally amazing to have your own business. I learned a lot from Mr. Erichsen.”

That is so powerful! By learning more about everything that running a business entails, Cristina is more appreciative and mindful of those adults who surround her and have all these responsibilities. She is more aware of all the pressure they could be going through some days and she can understand more and be more mindful of her interaction with them. It also inspired her to think about their class business.

We also had a few other students who took good notes of what they learned:

Maria Sandoval Cáceres:

We need to do everything with excellence.
When people buy from your business with the money you get you can sell more.
For your business, you need a personal purpose.
Sell your products for a higher price than you bought them so you can earn more, and that is called THE GROSS PROFIT.
You need a bank account so you can pay your security, and your employees, pay the government, pay the taxes, and what is left is yours.

Luca Gonzalez:

To start a business you need suppliers.
You need customers.
You need salespeople.
You need to put your business in a commercial area.
You need people to sell the products.
You need a manager to run a business.
Business is interesting.

Juan Pablo Charchalac:

The more commercial an area is, the more they charge you for being there.
There are companies that make their own products.
You can invest in another pharmacy or in better pharmacies that already exist.
I believe that I will work in human resources.
I think the most important department is marketing.

Our children are currently working as a team to start creating a business of their own with the support of Miss Petersen. Throughout the year they will put these concepts into practice, and learn through trial and error. They will also experience the challenges of learning to work together- which is crucial in business. We look forward to finding out more about their business and to supporting them once they start selling or providing their service. Good luck Class 6!!

Sincerely,

Cassandra Escobar

Inclusion in Education in Guatemala, is it Lacking?

20 de octubre de 2020

Written by Rocío Colina, President of 502 Down Syndrome

In Guatemala, we lack of options for schools with inclusive education. There are only a few schools that are open to inclusion, even though education is a human right of every child, regardless of his or her capacities.

In some cases, schools are willing to open to inappropriate inclusion, such as “accepting” children but in a “special needs class”. A true inclusive learning environment is not a place where students with a disability learn in isolation from their peers. In other cases, they accept children and have them form part of the same class as other students, but only with a shadow teacher or by attending the class simply as listeners, only occupying a space, but without learning or without a code from the Ministry of Education, which means that the institution does not have an educational commitment towards the student. In other words, it doesn’t matter to the institution if the student with a disability learns or not, because there isn’t a commitment.

Real inclusion means regular schools welcome the child, permitting him or her to form part of the same class as regular children, with pairs of the same age, learning the same contents with pedagogical adjustments, based on an educational commitment. Inclusive education is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs, and activities so that all students learn and participate together, in which the student has an educational curriculum that is adapted based on his or her needs.

For children with Down syndrome, it is especially important for them not to have a shadow teacher because the purpose is to make them independent for adequate development. In some extremely rare cases, they might need a shadow teacher only if a multidisciplinary team determines it would be better for the student.

In Guatemala, the Ministry of Education has already a special education department, enabling all students to attend regular schools with pedagogical adjustments. The majority of educational institutions in Guatemala ignore the fact that they can count on this department.

A lot of times, because of the lack of information, they perceive it as something complicated to implement, or they might think that it can get difficult to deal with the Ministry of Education, which might lead to cause fear to be opening up for inclusion. Other times this openness is denied due to the absence of attitude, information, or will.

It is significant for schools to inform themselves and prepare their teachers to initiate a real inclusion in order to have a successful inclusion. An excellent teacher who is skilled in inclusion becomes an extraordinary teacher.

Parents need to also be informed, learn, and empower themselves to help their children on this path, inclusion requires teamwork, and the most valuable members are the parents. Parents need to focus on learning to help their children, and that means also recognizing things that need to be worked on and being persistent on these things without guilt.

It is also important to recognize that inclusion is a human right, not charity. A lot of associations are working towards inclusion, respect, and equal opportunities. There are a lot of myths, preconceptions, or lack of information that make this task harder. These associations work to create awareness and educate about equality, including avoiding name-calling and labeling people with Down Syndrome or disabilities. When we use names to describe a person with Down syndrome or a disability, we are making them different and not part of it, which makes inclusion more difficult.

Inclusion has to be a commitment between the parents, the teacher, and the educational institution, that needs to put in the same effort to every student that becomes part of their school. In spite of that, the Ministry of Education of Guatemala already has a department that can help schools with inclusion.

Another problem in Guatemala is that there isn´t any educational degree for special education, or some other therapeutic degree, leading to the lack of professionals that may manage or follow up on the work of inclusion. We need to have these university degrees and start to, not only have inclusion, but a social culture of inclusion.

Inclusion does not only benefit students with disabilities but also regular students, because they develop into more humane individuals, with a higher degree of tolerance, solidarity, and respect for others. With the rejection of children with disabilities in regular schools we are teaching our future generations to refuse to include people who make an effort to succeed and who want to learn to form part of a society and be productive; we teach them instead to be competitive rather than humanistic.

Benefits For Kids Learning A Second Language

15 de octubre de 2020

Author Bio: Cristin Howard runs Smart Parent Advice, a site that provides parenting advice for moms and dads. Cristin writes about all of the different ups and downs of parenting, provides solutions to common challenges, and reviews products that parents need to purchase.

It can be challenging to help your child learn a second language. So here’s a list of great reasons why it’s worthwhile. If you find your enthusiasm for language learning flagging, you can review this list to recover your motivation. We’ve identified the benefits your child will experience, right now, as well as in the future.

Immediate Benefits

Improved Ability to Focus

A study done at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab showed that children who learn a second language are better able to focus. Even in the face of distractions, children who have a second language can block them out and keep their attention on a single thing.

This ability to focus is believed to be because learning a second language exercises the part of the brain responsible for selective cognitive processes. In other words, because they have learned to choose a language selectively, then can apply this selectivity to other aspects of their lives.

Faster Learning With More Fluency

While children are young, their brains are hardwired for language learning. The older they get, the harder it is to pick up new languages. So the earlier you start them learning a second language, the more quickly they will pick it up. This is in part because they have less to learn while they’re young. They can focus on the vocabulary that they need. The older they get, the more they have to learn to get started.

Ultimately they are likely to reach a higher level of fluency than if they started to learn that language later. Starting with a small vocabulary makes it easier to get comfortable with the building blocks of a language.

Better Problem-Solving Skills

Children who hear and speak two languages are getting much more cognitive exercise. There is much more processing going on inside their head. This extra work has benefits beyond the ability to speak a second language.

A study looking at preschoolers showed that even at that young age, they were experiencing benefits. The bilingual children were able to sort objects into groups based on shape more accurately. They could do this even when it meant matching against color: Eg, a round green shape into a blue bin.

Future Benefits

Wider Vocabulary

Kids who speak a second language end up having a broader vocabulary in their first language. They discover that there are lots more words to know, and some begin to ‘collect’ them. Having a wide vocabulary in any language is an early indicator of academic success.

Higher Academic Performance

As we’ve noted, children who speak two or more languages have advantages in processing information. This is what lets them focus on one thing while ignoring distractions. Studies have shown that this applies to spoken language as well. So bilingual children can focus on verbal information, even when there is background noise.

It’s thought that this is responsible for an improvement in their academic performance. After all, it’s a lot easier to learn in class if you can tune out other kids chatting so you can listen to the teacher.

Encourages Creativity

The language that we speak can shape the way that we think about the world. Language is a tool that we use to describe everything around us. Each language does this in a slightly different way. So the more languages your child speaks, the more views they have on the world.

When a child is used to looking at the same things from slightly different viewpoints in their day-to-day life, it fosters creativity. They automatically look for more than one solution, more than one answer. This creativity can have all sorts of benefits as they grow older, especially when it comes time to find a job and perform in the world of work.

Can Protect Against Dementia

This one is a benefit that you’re probably not going to be around to witness. But, bilingual people have significantly lower rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s. The act of speaking more than one language is a great mental exercise. So you’re giving your child tools for success and health at all stages of their life by helping them to learn a second language while they’re still young.

There are plenty of reasons to persist and help your child pick up a second language while their brain is programmed to do so.

Does Music Make You Smarter?

8 de octubre de 2020

By Amanda Jones, Trinus Educator

The long-contended phrase goes “Music makes you smarter.” Is this true to some degree? Is it true at all? It’s more easy to believe this about some types of music more than other types of music. This is evidenced by the popularity of playing certain classical music for children before they are even born. The image of headphones on a pregnant mother’s stomach comes to mind. Does music really make you smarter? What does research say?

In a live Facebook event, we went deeper into these questions. You can watch the 30-minute talk below or read about the topic.

So, does music make you smarter? What do we mean by that? While some studies have reported that you can achieve a higher test score while listening to Mozart, more current research says that “believing listening to music raises test scores and IQ is an oversimplification of what music does for your brain” (Musacchia & Khalil, 2020).

Music has been shown to do several things for your brain. Music, especially actively participating in and making music:

Increases your neuroplasticity,
Creates more active neurological pathways,
Interweaves sensory input,
Makes a stronger bridge between the right and left hemispheres of your brain (Musacchia & Khalil, 2020).

Let’s break each of those things down a little with examples.

Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to change, adapt, learn, and grow. The more neuroplasticity your brain has, that’s like saying the better it is at “going with the flow”. Your brain has more resources and tools to use for the things you experience, both in everyday events and traumatic events. Benefits of neuroplasticity include, “enhanced memory abilities, a wide range of enhanced cognitive abilities, and more effective learning (Ackerman, 2020).” For those who experience a stroke or other traumatic brain injury, having greater neuroplasticity means your brain is able to compensate and reroute functions away from the damaged part of the brain. You’re able to relearn abilities lost in the damaged part of the brain. According to Harvard Medical School, patients with speech problems are “capable of singing words that they cannot speak (Harvard Health Letter, 2007).” I’d say that’s pretty amazing!

Because music uses so many parts of your brain simultaneously, you’re training multiple parts of your brain to work together in an organized and sensible way. It’s like doing a full-body workout versus focusing on one part of your body. If I’m someone who is a couch potato, certainly doing some hammer curls and push-ups every day will help. But, it’s like all the cardio exercise videos that are really serious; not only do they have you lifting weights with your arms, but you’re also in a plank position or balancing on one foot, or moving your legs at the same time. Sometimes you wonder if the video is really trying to help you or give you a heart attack with how hard you’re working. With music, you’re hearing things, having to pay attention to timing, and rhythm, creating the right words and pitch, and also using your sense of touch and sense of where you exist in the world all at the same time. It’s a major brain workout, making all the parts of your brain work together for multi-faceted sensory input with more neurons firing simultaneously. Music is never a passive activity.

In a very real and literal sense, it has been found that every part of the brain is bigger and more developed in those who participate in creating music (Musacchia & Khalil, 2020). Studies done on children who actively participate in music have found that even by the age of 7 the corpus callosum, also known as the “information superhighway” connecting the right and left side of the brain was 25% larger than the average child who did not participate in music (Miller, 2008).

What are the benefits of a larger corpus callosum? In certain instances, we like thinking of ourselves as either right-brained or left-brained. That if we’re artistic and completely disorganized and terrible at spelling and math, well, “we’re just right-brained.” It’s a nice spin on it. “That’s just the way I’m wired.” Right? If we’re always correcting others’ grammar, a bookworm, and have trouble drawing stick figures well, “I’m just left-brained. I just am not artsy.” Really, because music connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain, it means we can use both sides of our brain equally well.

A personal experience from my life: In about 6th grade every student at our school was given an aptitude test. This was supposed to help us plan which elective courses we could take in high school before we graduated. I had chosen band as my first elective in 6th grade and was greatly enjoying it and made many friends in the band. We all were eager to take our test and get some guidance because there seemed to be a lot of choices for which classes to take. Did I want to take more physical education classes, and some computer technology classes with programming? Maybe some hands-on classes with wood or metalworking? Should I focus on reading more, more art classes, animal or plant sciences, and languages? The aptitude tests were supposed to measure what you’d be most successful at, and along those lines, they gave you a printout with a little graphic, showing you if you were more right-brained than left-brained, and by how much.

If you received your aptitude test and it said you were very dominantly right-brained they might not have suggested you do some of the elective courses to learn what accountants do, for instance. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t do that, but it’d probably be much harder for you. Well, so we all took the test, and in a few weeks got our print-outs back that would tell us which side of our brains were used more and it also was supposed to suggest three classes we’d be good at, with a sentence or two about why. Of course, we’re teenagers, so the first thing we all want to do is compare ourselves to everyone else and then probably just take whatever classes it said our friends were good at because we just wanted to be with our friends anyway.

Well, we all brought our tests out at the end of band class, and we were all so terribly disappointed. All of us looked at the image of the brain, with the line going down the middle, and for all of us, the “dot” that marked which part of our brains we used most, fell exactly on the middle line of our brain. For suggested classes, all of our tests simply said something like, “No clear aptitudes emerged from this test. You should choose classes from your own interests. You have no clear strengths or weaknesses.” What a downer of a test. We all felt like it was saying, “You’re boring and completely normal and there’s nothing special about you.” But really, when you look at that, that we all had the ability to use both sides of our brain equally, it was a bit like a golden ticket. It was essentially saying, you’re going to be pretty successful at anything you try. You don’t have anything holding you back that’s going to make anything inherently difficult for you.

So, how can we have music work for us in education, outside of band and orchestra classes? At Trinus educators establish structured learning spaces and routines that become safe environments for students to learn and grow. These routines include music in several ways. Students are immersed in a language-rich English setting full of stories, and narratives offering a more advanced approach to language acquisition and ownership.

At Trinus, educators are constantly singing. Each day begins with a series of songs and movements that are age-appropriate and directly relate to what we’re learning in class. Music sets the tone of the classroom and creates an inviting atmosphere. Singing helps children really arrive and creates that sense of a safe environment. This looks different depending on the age of the child, but singing very effectively and immediately creates a feeling of reverence, excitement, awe, quiet, focus, or energy in the classroom.

Singing music and movement as a class is a regular part of the routine for each class at Trinus. Singing as a class greatly improves and builds memory. This is easily evidenced by thinking back on your own schooling and things you know because of songs. I can still repeat mathematical equations in songs from 8th grade. I don’t even know what the equation is and haven’t used it since 8th grade, but I still know the song.

Singing and movement as a class also builds social and emotional awareness and expressiveness. You learn things like blending your voice with others, and being aware of and listening to others while simultaneously speaking yourself. You have to share space and coordinate the song and movement with those around you. This is not an easy thing to do, even for professional musicians.

When you sing and move together in the classroom you are also working on impulse control, or the ability to stop and start together, on a cue. This is very important to develop, especially in young children, and a very good way to do it that is less abrasive than telling the toddler, “It’s time to pick up your toys now.” But, you’re working the same skills and the same parts of the brain when a child stops singing with their class as when you tell them it’s time to pick up your toys, and they listen and do so. Studies have also shown that students who play music together are more likely to interact positively with those they play music with (Musacchia & Khalil, 2020). The class that plays music together stays together!

Singing has also been shown to improve our ability to hear (Musacchia & Khalil, 2020). The more finely tuned ears are then better able to pick up the nuances of speech better. Better hearing leads not only to better speech but also better reading. Students who engage in music have been shown to be better, more advanced readers and have better reading comprehension (Musacchia & Khalil, 2020). The benefits to reading and speech with musical participation have been shown to be true both in a person’s native language, as well as a foreign language. When you participate in music activities you don’t just get better at reading or speaking one language, you get better at all languages (Hausen, Torppa, Salmela, Vainio, & Särkämö, 2013).

By combining singing and movement in the classroom you activate the whole brain and have a whole physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and interactive experience. At Trinus students connect and live what they learn in order to gain meaning. Experiencing learning through movement and music is a key way to do this. Music is much more than a way to entertain. Neuroscience has shown that music activates many parts of the brain simultaneously. When we engage in music in the classroom we’re helping our brains grow in ways that will benefit us and our students for the rest of their lives.

References

Ackerman, C. E. (2020, September 01). What is Neuroplasticity? A Psychologist Explains [ 14 Exercises]. Retrieved September 22, 2020, from https://positivepsychology.com/neuroplasticity/#:~:text=7 Benefits Neuroplasticity Has on the Brain,-Building on the&text=Recovery from brain events like,pick up the slack);

Harvard Health Letter. (2007, March). In Brief: Sing along for health. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/In_Brief_Sing_along_for_health

Hausen, M., Torppa, R., Salmela, V. R., Vainio, M., & Särkämö, T. (2013, September 02). Music and speech prosody: A common rhythm. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00566/full

Adversity, An Opportunity to Build Resilience

9 de septiembre de 2020

Written by Gabriela de Erichsen

Since March, Guatemala, and the whole world has been facing an uncertain situation through this pandemic. This situation has affected not only the economic area but also the emotional well-being of all humankind. It is very important for us parents to be strong for our kids. We have to keep in mind that everything has also changed for them. We are all struggling with uncertainty and hopelessness. As parents, if we break, our kids will break too.

Here you can find the entire talk and the highlight of Ms. Petersen´s talk. There is so much wisdom shared and amazing tips for us parents to keep in mind to build resilience in our children.

What is resilience?

Merriam Webster defines resilience as:

The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation is caused especially by compressive stress.
An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

My journey through this pandemic has been one of constantly having to bounce back and it’s not easy! Bounce back from disappointment, having to totally change the way I do my work, not going home- this is now the longest I have gone without seeing my family, and friends – Cape Town my City.

In her book “The Gifts of Imperfection”, Brene Brown speaks of cultivating a resilient spirit as one of the guideposts for wholehearted living. So I decided to work backward from these things resilient people DO to explore how we can help our children learn to be resilient so they can do the things resilient people do.

She identified 5 of the most common factors of resilient people:

They are resourceful and have good problem-solving skills

They are more likely to seek help

They hold the belief that they can do something that will help them manage their feelings and to cope

They have social support available to them
They are connected with others such as family and friends

I think the biggest lesson we need to learn and teach in regard to resilience is that the only way is through. We cannot avoid it, we cannot escape it…. So how can we help each other through?

One thing that comforts me is that children learn and adapt more quickly than adults!! They are more flexible and resilient than us. They adapt quicker.

There is no step by step on how to guide when it comes to cultivating capacities. Resilience is a skill, a feeling, a confidence, a trust in oneself and in life.

Resilience comes from solving problems, and going through situations, it’s not in your head it’s from or out of what you do.

In my opinion, FAMILY is what is going to teach our children resilience in this moment. And that’s wonderful because we can help all of us get stronger through this. Our children are our mirror! So if we are constantly criticizing, being negative, and complaining, they will learn to do what we do.

Practical tips to keep in mind

Spirituality – knowing, trusting believing there is something bigger than ourselves.

Gratitude practice

Awareness- checking on loved ones, family conversations, and sharing.

Being aware of nature and beauty

Worry jar

Talking about the good and bad AGE APPROPRIATE! We cannot tell a 4-year-old that thousands of people are dying of COVID and expect them to deal with that. But you can say “I also feel sad that we can’t go visit grandma today, it makes me want to cry too.”

Make a point of acknowledging when someone solved a problem no matter how big or small, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CLEAN UP A MESS! So that becomes part of their vocabulary- I made a mess and I clean it up

Let them see our mistakes

Apologize when you are wrong

Connection
How to express feelings? Because we have to go through: what color do you feel today? What animal? What color is angry? Older ones: draw, speak, write, exercise. What can we do to feel the feeling and then what helps us transform that?

The bad news: Our children learn through the US! So immediately we need to know that we cannot teach them anything that we are not. So, from now on I want you to be thinking about how resilient are you. I want you to start thinking about how you can grow your resilience because that will be the most powerful gift you can give your children.

What are we going to do?

I personally loved how Ms. Pettersen ended the talk by saying, “The ball is in our court now, what are we going to do with it?”

And remember, we all go through dark times. And what gets us through is hoping and praying for that light at the end of the tunnel. And that light at the end of the tunnel is our presence now, having life, health being able to wake up every morning, and having our loved ones near and safe.

Great Games for Kids

8 de septiembre de 2020

Written by Cristin Howard from Smart Parents Advice

Children get bored easily, and keeping them entertained can be hard work. Great games for kids can spike up a birthday party with friends. In a family setting, they can also create special moments and fantastic memories for years to come.

Regardless of your child’s age, you should find the perfect games that your little one will love. Some of them can be homemade, while others can be found in most children’s stores.

Old-School Games

Our dear old-school games can sometimes be much more fun than the newest ones on the block. This is, of course, if you don’t tell your kid they’re vintage.

What we love about these games is that they’re accessible to anyone, anytime. You don’t need to purchase any equipment or supplies. Here are our favorite ones.

The Telephone Game

This game is suitable for kids of all ages and will generally provoke lots of laughter. You will need at least several kiddos or family members to play this game—the more, the better. Place them sitting down, forming a straight line.

The first child whispers a word to his or her neighbor’s ear, who then repeats the word to the next person sitting beside them. The whisper continues until it reaches the last child, who then says what they’ve heard. For more of a challenge, pass on a sentence instead of a word!

Musical Chairs

To play this game, you’ll only need chairs—one less than the number of kids playing. If five little ones are participating, only set up four chairs. Position them in a circle, with the backs towards the center.

Let them walk, run, or dance around the chairs to music. At your signal, when you pause the music, they’ll have to rush and sit on one. One child will remain standing and will be removed from the game.

Remove one chair and repeat until you have a winner!

Active Games

Physical activity is crucial for any child and at all ages. If you’d like your little one to get some exercise while playing, there are plenty of excellent options.

Hide And Seek

“Hide and Seek” is a classic and never disappoints. It can be done both indoors and outdoors and is a popular game for all children. Plus, it can be played with any number of kids or adults you have at home.

The only element this game requires is good hiding spots!

Indoor Obstacle Course

This game should also get your child moving. It consists of placing objects on the floor and around the house to create an obstacle course. Parents then create rules around each item.

For instance, children would have to crawl under a chair, balance along a piece of tape on the floor, then use a hula hoop. Kids who reach the finish line with all obstacles completed the right way get a point. The game can last as long as your kiddos’ endurance!

Scavenger Hunt

You’ll find scavenger hunts to purchase that are ready-to-play, but you can also make your own. Kids have a list of items to find in various rooms of the house or garden. The one who finds them all first wins the game.

These types of games require some thinking and independence. While they’re best suited for older kids, young ones can team up to take part.

Sports

Organized sports can be a blast as well. Soccer, basketball, baseball, and softball are all great team sports. Then there are individual sports like tennis. These sports can teach kids about teamwork and competition too.

Memory Games

Memory games are fantastic activities to work children’s brain function and learn to store information. Most of them can also introduce new vocabulary.

Memory Cards

You’ll find many card games featuring popular illustrations such as Disney characters or superheroes. If you’re looking for a more educational memory game, some of them display animals, birds, or plants.

You could also make some DIY cards at home by printing the same pictures twice. Your child may be thrilled to play with a custom dinosaur or truck memory game. Some parents even use photos of family members.

What’s Missing?

This game can be played anywhere, anytime on the fly. Not only does it test a child’s memory, but young toddlers should be able to learn new words. You could create the game with fruit, toiletries, or even regular home objects.

Start by placing several items on a tray. The longer you talk about each object—colors, shape, purpose—the easier it is for the child to find the missing object.

Let your child observe each of them for a minute. Then ask them to cover or close their eyes and remove one of them. Your kiddo will have to guess which one is missing.

To increase the challenge, start adding more objects. You could even remove more than one object at a time.

Intellectual Games

Great games for kids also include those that’ll make your child think and build strategies.

Connect 4

Connect 4 is another classic game that withstood time and fashion waves. It’s also a game that can easily pass from one generation to the next.

The concept of this game is simple. It comes with a vertical grill and red and yellow disks. The winner is the one who can place four discs of the same color in a row, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally without being blocked by the opponent.

This teaches your child how to create a strategy. Your kid will also have to watch the opponent’s game, planning for the next move.

Battleship

Although Battleship can be played by all kids, it’s very popular among the boys. Your child places ships of various sizes on a grid—showcasing numbers horizontally and letters vertically.

Players need to call a boat by guessing its exact position—such as A7. They’ll then have to figure out the length of each ship to sink it entirely. It’s a fantastic strategy game that also allows kids to practice tactics, numbers, and letters.

Puzzles

Puzzles are a great game to get your little one thinking. They enhance hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills for the youngest ones. It can also teach patience and logic.

There are different types of puzzles designed for all ages. Models aimed at young toddlers are typically made of wood and come with knobs for little hands to grab.

Toddlers can also try out two-piece puzzles before pushing the challenge to more complicated models. Puzzles can easily turn into a hobby that continues into adulthood.

Creative Games

Other activities are fantastic to develop our kiddos’ creativity, imagination, and artistic side. They generally make excellent family games, bringing laughter and building bonds.

Pictionary

Who hasn’t played Pictionary at one point in their life? This game can also be made at home by creating cards from which kids pick. The goal is to draw the word well enough for the rest of the players to guess it.

This game may uncover real talents and little artists!

Charades

If your child isn’t about drawing, what about acting? This game consists of describing a word only with movements, without speaking, and in a set amount of time.

It’s a good method to get your child to think outside of the box. It also encourages self-expression and is engaging even for older kids—and adults.

You’ll find charade games ready to play. Other parents print pictures and fold them up before placing them in a bucket for kids to choose from. Either way, it should bring entertainment for everyone!

Board Games

If you’re looking for games to play on vacation or to create quality family time, there are a few worth considering.

Monopoly

Monopoly can’t be ignored, although young kids may need to be teamed up with someone older. While my favorite remains the classic model, it now comes in “Avenger,” “Lion King,” or even “Star Wars” versions.

Labyrinth

This is another popular game that can be played in a family setting with up to four players. The characters need to find the fastest route through the labyrinth to reach the final line.

Game Over

If you’re looking for a great game for kids, there are plenty to choose from. Some can be created using objects at home, while others are popular games available to purchase in-store or online. Either way, they create fantastic memories, whether playing with friends or family.

These games are generally educational and should keep your kiddo away from electronic devices. What better ways to combine learning and fun?

What Are The Benefits of Crafts?

14 de julio de 2020

Written by Julie Moon

As Ingun Schneider remarks in her article “Supporting the development of the hand,” many children today are using their hands almost exclusively to manipulate electronic devices such as computer mice, and are increasingly unable to hold a pen/pencil with any confidence or skill. Traditional craft skills such as knitting, are not widely practiced. The consequences of this are alarming. A great deal of research is published today which makes a clear case for the link between ‘nimble fingers, nimble minds’- that is, the relationship between healthy neurological development and the engagement of the fingers in fine motor activities. The more we take into account that intellect develops from the movements of the limbs, from dexterity and skills, the better it will be (Rudolf Steiner, The Renewal of Education).

Working with this picture of human development- that thinking grows out of movement and dexterous skills developed through activities such as craft- Waldorf educators work to bring craft throughout the curriculum. Our craftwork includes knitting, weaving, sewing, and woodwork.

The brain discovers what the fingers explore. The density of nerve endings in our fingertips is enormous. If we don’t use our fingers, if, in childhood and youth, we become finger-blind, this rich network of nerves is impoverished – which represents a huge loss to the brain and thwarts the individual’s all-around development.

If we neglect to develop and train our children’s fingers and the creative form-building capacity of their hand muscles, then we neglect to develop their understanding of the unity of things; we thwart their aesthetic and creative powers. Today Western civilization, an information-obsessed society that overvalues science and undervalues true worth, has forgotten this (Matti Bergstrom, professor and neurophysiologist).

Recent neurological research tends to confirm that mobility and dexterity in fine motor muscles, especially in the hand, may stimulate cellular development in the brain, and so strengthen the physical instrument of thinking.

Craft begins in the early years with the children consciously using their hands, and refining the movements of their fingers – improving fine motor skills. Finger knitting is the beginning of the knitting curriculum; sewing is refined year-by-year (Margaret Skerry – a former teacher at Sophia Mundi school).

The crafts of ancient peoples were part of everyday life and they were made with a disciplined attention to detail, loving care, and artistry. Joy seemed to be in the making and our children also find joy, challenges, and a sense of achievement in their craft lessons!

Sometimes we might get the sense that crafts are a waste of time and would like to see our child more involved in information-involved activities but we have to keep in mind the amazing neurological impact that it has on our child.

How to Explain Fractions to A Child?

1 de julio de 2020

How do you introduce your children to fractions? To do so, we will begin with a story. Please grab an apple, and a knife, and tell your children the following story. Ask him/her to cut the apple as the story evolves. Helpful tip, I encourage you to change the names of the children in the story to the names of friends of your child. Have a pen and paper to write down the names of his friends so he/she can distribute the pieces between his friends.

The story was taken from the book The Teaching of Arithmetic and the Waldorf School Plan by Hermann von Baravalle, Ph.D

Picture from Hometown Harvest.

Have an Apple!

Melinda came to school with an apple. She was just about to eat it when Christopher arrived and saw it. She wouldn´t keep it all to herself so she cut it into two pieces and gave half of the apple to Christopher. Just then Jeanne and Ralph came in. Melinda and Christopher cut their halves in half. At that time the apple was in 4 pieces. Each person had one-fourth. Before they could eat the fourths, Donald, Lisa, John, and Linda came in. Now the fourths were cut in two and there were eight pieces for eight children. The apple had been divided into eighths that were about to be gobbled up when Claude, Francis, Erich, Olivia, Miriam, Max, Michaela, and Hilary busted into the room. Now they had to cut each of the eight pieces of apple in two, to make sixteen pieces, very tiny, each piece being one-sixteenth of the apple. They were all so small.

Before, there was one piece. Now there were sixteen pieces; but though 16 is a larger number than 1, each piece was smaller, by far, than the 1 apple.

We started with one apple. To share it, we cut it into 2 equal pieces.

$fractions$

Each piece is one-half of the apple. As the 2 halves of the apple make one whole, they are related to the whole by the number 2 but we have to allow that 1 is divided into 2 pieces.

$fraction in two$

What would be a good way to show that in writing? We can use the knife-cut line as a divider line and if we write it, it could read «1 divided by 2» or «one half».

Now you are ready to teach your child how to add fractions!

How to Establish a Daily Rhythm

16 de junio de 2020

We know the importance of having a daily rhythm, especially in this circumstance that we need to stay at home. Today is the day you will get your daily rhythm created and mapped out! We are going to help you. We are sharing with you this article where you will find great ideas and tips on how to create your daily rhythm.

Excerpt from Save your Homeschooling Day document written by Jean from Waldorf Homeschool Simplify.

Waldorf –Inspired Learning.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through 2 simple steps to help you. Plus, I’ll share some great visuals with you for creating your own rhythm chart! The answer is to start with the basics of rhythm and build from there. And in this guide, I’m going to show you how that’s done so you can start small and grow as you go.

“Have fun with rhythm because rhythm is your friend”, Jean

What is Rhythm? Rhythm is simply your daily routine of what you do first, and then next, and then next. I’m going to help you discover your own rhythm to provide a structure for your days so that your children can feel secure in knowing what to expect. This actually makes daily life with children easier for everyone – you and your children!

With a sense of rhythm, you can move throughout your day with alternating activities of inward focus and outward focus, much like the rhythm of breathing, inhaling, and exhaling. So a pattern is established. And then repeated.

Rhythm is more about sequencing and grouping activities than it is about a schedule with time slots.

Why Daily Rhythm?

It is important to build patterns and routines, before planning, customizing, and implementing the activities.

Rhythm is natural, Do you struggle with rhythm? Or have a resistance to it? Here is a great place to begin – with an image of how the naturally occurring rhythms within us connect with the naturally occurring rhythms all around us.

Picture a warm, glowing heart in your mind. It represents love but it also represents the rhythm of your heartbeat.

Rhythm is “a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.” A steady rhythm can be a steady beat, a recurring sound, or a repetitive activity. We can think of not only our heartbeat but also our breath, in and out. These are the natural rhythms that live inside our bodies. We can also observe external rhythms. There is the rhythm of day and night, the rhythm of the days of the week, the rhythm of the months, and the rhythm of the seasons.

All of these rhythms are part of our lives. Their repetition brings us comfort because they are regular and expected. Rhythm provides an anchor and especially helps children, who have little control over their environments, to feel secure.

Steiner even said, “Rhythm can take the place of strength and will.” Rhythm is the reason why Rudolf Steiner suggested warming up at the start of our lessons with verse recitation, speech exercises, or singing. He even began each of his lectures to the very first Waldorf teachers-in-training with speech exercises and verse recitation to help regulate everyone’s breathing, their natural in-breath and out-breath their internal, natural rhythm. He reasoned that this practice teaches us flexibility and helps to ground us in the present moment. That’s what a strong rhythm can do.

AS YOU EXPLORE RHYTHM…

A word to the wise as you develop your own rhythm: Be yourself. Be authentic. Waldorf Rhythm is not about doing what you’re supposed to do, doing what I suggest you do, doing what other mamas are doing on Instagram…

This process of laying the foundation for your daily and weekly rhythm is about you and your family. Stay connected to your own unique life and do what is best for you, and no one else. Courage comes from being willing to be who you are! Don’t wait until you’re confident to show up. You have everything you need right now and can show up just as you are. Now let’s dive in!

2 Steps to Create Your Daily Rhythm

Step One: Design a Daily Rhythm that Works for You

Now it’s time to create your daily rhythm! Start by thinking of the rhythm of the week, where each weekday has a different flavor and often different activities. Like pizza on Saturday nights, or errands and grocery shopping on Thursday afternoons after lunch. These are activities that we do regularly and repeatedly. They are not necessarily assigned a particular time, but more of a general time slot or relationship to another activity. While some activities might vary from day to day, there are other activities that you repeat daily.

Think about what you do each and every day. Start by making a list of your daily activities from the time you wake up until you go to sleep at night. Include chores, mealtimes, rest times, and bedtime – plus lessons and activities.

Be gentle with yourself and breathe into your daily rhythm. No need to include the exact time unless you want to. Just start with Wake Up and end with Bedtime. Add in Meal Times, Lesson Time, and Rest Time, and you have your basic structure. These provide anchor points or pillars in your day that form the basis of your rhythm. On the next page are a few time chunks in your day to reflect on as you craft your daily rhythm.

YOU TIME

What do you need to do before your children get up and ready for the day? Even just 15 minutes to yourself to listen to a meditation, recite a verse by heart, light a candle, or sit quietly can nourish you before the day begins.

MORNINGS

Make a list of what you and your children will do together. On this list, you can include breakfast, chore time, circle time, lesson time, and outdoor time…you can even include the specific steps of lesson time if you have children in the grades.

MEAL TIME

Regular mealtimes help to provide anchor points in your day. And when you sing or recite a blessing before eating, you’re adding a ritual that can make this daily activity even more special.

REST TIME

Keep rest or nap time going as long as possible as your children grow older! Even pre-teens can benefit from quiet alone time each day. And so can we! In my family, this was a good time to encourage my boys to separate for a while each afternoon.

TIME IN NATURE

Time in nature helps to ground us in beauty while giving us and our children extra space. Try making time for unstructured play outdoors each day after breakfast or lunch.

AFTERNOONS

Don’t forget about the afternoons. Aside from daily quiet time or time to play outside, consider doing handwork, reading aloud, painting, cooking, or baking in the afternoons. This can also be a good time for errands or other outside-of-the-house activities.

EVENINGS

Evenings are a great time to consider a family activity such as reading aloud, a game, or making music together that can include everyone. Here is an example of a simple daily rhythm:

Wake Up Morning Chores Breakfast Morning Activity or Main Lesson Lunch Play Outside Read Chapter Book Rest Prepare Dinner & Eat Playtime Get Ready for Bed. The Waldorf approach is really very simple.

Not always easy (especially in today’s world where so much swirling all around us is a-rhythmic, meaning you can access just about anything any time of day or season you want)…but simple. And we can give ourselves permission to let it be easy!

I invite you to embrace the simplicity. And to allow yourself to experiment and get comfortable not knowing everything before you begin. So truthfully, gosh darn it, rhythm is always the answer when things go awry or seem utterly chaotic. The beauty of rhythm is that it’s comforting. It helps us all know what to expect and frees up our brain space and our will so we can do good work. Make rhythm your friend!

Step Two: Create a Visual Reminder

And finally, I encourage you to make some kind of visual chart of this daily rhythm. No need to get too elaborate, but it really helps to create something clear and colorful to hang up for everyone in the family to see. You could create a chart to hang on the wall. Or you might simply write your daily rhythm on a chalkboard. Or write your activities on cards that can be moved around.

This visual reminder will help you remember your plan and stay committed to it. It’s also nice to have a basic rhythm to go back to when things get off track instead of inventing one as you go! Now for some examples. I want to show you a few different ways some of the parents in the Waldorf community have created a visual for themselves.

On the next page is an example of starting with the activities written on cards. You could hang these on a long ribbon, or add magnets to the backs of the cards and arrange them daily or weekly.

Here’s what this mom said about her rhythm chart: “I have the rhythm that I created with your Plan It Out course inside my kitchen cabinet. I don’t follow it every day. But it is WONDERFUL to have right there on days that I am tired or confused. The answer to what to do next is ALWAYS waiting for me. It is such a comfort.”

Here are some other great examples of rhythm charts to inspire you to create your own!

And one more from a parent of three children.

Another example.

See how different each of these rhythm charts is?

You really can experiment with rhythm and make it your own.

Now it’s your turn to use your imagination and create a daily rhythm chart that’s just right for you and your family.

LET RHYTHM BE A COMFORT!

Sometimes we get stuck on how to keep the rhythm going. Either life gets busier or something comes up to throw our rhythm off. Or we might even get bored with it!

Don’t stress. Let go of some things. Be mindful. Choose intentionally.

Establish a family rhythm and revisit it from time to time to tweak and adjust as needed. Be kind to yourself.

It’s important to know what to do when you start to feel like your rhythm needs tweaking or even a complete overhaul. It’s OK to change your daily rhythm as a new season arrives or your circumstances change. And it’s also OK to mix it up some days.

The daily rhythm you create is not meant to hem you in, but to offer you a sense of freedom – knowing what comes next but also knowing that there’s flexibility.

When your rhythm goes off the rails (and it will from time to time), how do you get back on track?

Scale back until your rhythm is working again, and build from there.

Start with three anchor points: morning chores, mealtimes, and bedtime. When these feel solid, add more activities and lessons back in.

Less is more, I promise!

Remember… make rhythm your friend so you can relax and enjoy.

Guiding Children to Solve Problems

29 de abril de 2020

What is the role of adults in the lives of children? Many times we wonder about this. How are we disciplining them when they do not make the right choice? Here are some tips suggested by «Love and Logic Institute» an entity created during the early 1980s to research the area of discipline and behavior management.

Power is a major issue between children and adults. While still very young, some kids realize they don’t have much control over anything. A toddler unconsciously thinks, «I’m the smallest. They tell me what to do, and I don’t get to make decisions. I need to find a way to get some control.» Then, winning the power struggle becomes all-important, more important than making good decisions.

When we offer children a choice instead of making a demand, no power struggle ever begins. When we make a demand, we make the wise choice, leaving the child with only one way to win the power struggle, by making a fool choice. Given a range of choices, a child will have endless opportunities to choose wisely in the future.

Always be sure to select choices that you like. Never provide one you like and one you don’t, because a child seems to have a sixth sense in selecting the one you don’t like.
Never give a choice unless you are willing to allow the child to experience the consequence of that choice.
Never give choices when the child is in danger
Never give choices unless you are willing to make the choice for the child in the event he/she does not choose within ten seconds.
The way you present the choice is important. Try to start sentences with:

You’re welcome to _______ or _______.
Feel free to ________ or ________.
Would you rather ________ or ______?
What would be best for you ______ or _______?

Children learn from their mistakes when:

They experience the consequences of their mistakes; and
Adults in their environment provide empathy

Bad choices have natural consequences. If David fails to wear a coat, he gets cold. If Jan misses the school bus, she stays home with an unexcused absence for the day.

As adults we are tempted to scold and reprimand, but may be surprised to learn that children actually learn best from consequences when adults empathize:

«I’m sorry you’re cold, David»
«What a bummer that you missed an after-school party on the day you were absent, Jan»

If adults reprimand them, children may transform sorrow over their choice into anger with the adult, and the lesson may be lost.

If adults express sorrow, children have a significant learning opportunity. David may think, «Tomorrow I’ll wear a coat.» Jan may decide, «I’ll get up fifteen minutes earlier tomorrow.»

These are a few tips to consider this week. Start by trying to implement them. Little by little you will see the transformation in your child’s behavior. Next week’s article will address more issues and will give you more tips to build a stronger discipline plan to help you guide your child.

Written by Cassandra Escobar, Trinus co-founder

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Author Bio: Cristin Howard runs Smart Parent Advice, a site that provides parenting advice for moms and dads. Cristin writes about all of the different ups and downs of parenting, provides solutions to common challenges, and reviews products that parents need to purchase.

Immediate Benefits

Improved Ability to Focus

Faster Learning With More Fluency

Better Problem-Solving Skills

Future Benefits

Wider Vocabulary

Higher Academic Performance

Encourages Creativity

Can Protect Against Dementia

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References

Harvard Health Letter. (2007, March). In Brief: Sing along for health. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/In_Brief_Sing_along_for_health

Hausen, M., Torppa, R., Salmela, V. R., Vainio, M., & Särkämö, T. (2013, September 02). Music and speech prosody: A common rhythm. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00566/full

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What is resilience?

She identified 5 of the most common factors of resilient people:

Practical tips to keep in mind

What are we going to do?

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Old-School Games

The Telephone Game

Musical Chairs

Active Games

Hide And Seek

Indoor Obstacle Course

Scavenger Hunt

Sports

Memory Games

Memory Cards

What’s Missing?

Intellectual Games

Connect 4

Battleship

Puzzles

Creative Games

Pictionary

Charades

Board Games

Monopoly

Labyrinth

Game Over

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Picture from Hometown Harvest.

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Excerpt from Save your Homeschooling Day document written by Jean from Waldorf Homeschool Simplify.

Waldorf –Inspired Learning.

Why Daily Rhythm?

2 Steps to Create Your Daily Rhythm

Step One: Design a Daily Rhythm that Works for You

YOU TIME

MORNINGS

MEAL TIME

REST TIME

TIME IN NATURE

AFTERNOONS

EVENINGS

Step Two: Create a Visual Reminder

LET RHYTHM BE A COMFORT!

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A unique Waldorf Education in Guatemala.