Toddler Property Laws

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take it from you, it's mine

4. If I hade it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If it's mine, it must never apear to be your's in any way.

6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

7. If it looks just like mine then it is mine.

Transition To Kindergarten

Transition: What is it and why is it important?

For young children, moving from preschool or home to kindergarten is one of the most significant transitions they will experience. All adjustments are stressful. When parents, teachers, and school administrators work together, the process of transitioning to kindergarten operates more smoothly reducing the amount of stress experienced by the child.

Following are some activities that will help your child want to make the transition.

1. Talk often bout how much fun it will be to go to the "big school", and about activities your child will do there.

2. Place your child in situations where he/she needs to follow directions -- one-step first, then two, then three. Teach your child to rehearse direction in order to remember them.

3. Put your child in some situations where he cannot do the expected tasks and must ask for help. If he/she doesn't know how to ask for help, demonstrate polite asking and then wait for the child to imitate you before assisting.

4. Read books with your child every day. If your child doesn't like to sit still for long, read for a brief time each day, and make it a happy time. You will notice how your child's attention span increases. How can your child benefit from transition activities? Your child experiences increased self confidence, improved relations with other children and adults, and increased motivation and openness to new experiences.

Benefits of Music in Babies/Children

In our quest to give our children the right start in a lifetime of learning one venue to consider is music study. Recent studies indicate that music may do more than provide entertainment for your child; it may help prepare the brain for higher forms of thinking. Music seems to benefit in the development of intellectual, motor, and social abilities and skills. The first few years of life are a crucial time during which nerve cells form connections that will determine a person's ability to learn. The areas of the brain that deal with mathematics and musical skills must be stimulated in early childhood to develop to their full potential.

A Kids Today article by Nikki Landre Ph.D. informs us that infants who are only weeks old exhibit changes in brain waves when they hear their mothers sing songs that were sung to them shortly before birth. Parents can continue musical stimulation in the forms of singing or rhythmic activities throughout the toddler years and beyond. The result will be a more musically sensitive child. According to Sally Rogers, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, providing very young children with musical experiences can help them in learning language skills and independence.

Landre gives us some details of a study conducted at the University of California at Irvine by Gordon Shaw and Frances Rauscher indicating that early childhood music study improves spatial reasoning. The article tells us that, "Children in the study who had taken music lessons dramatically improved their ability to draw geometric figures, copy patterns of colored blocks, and work mazes. Furthermore, they showed a 46 percent increase in their spatial IQ, which is important to higher brain functions such as mathematics. Thus, music study may help train the brain for higher forms of thinking. This same study showed that disadvantaged preschoolers showed substantial improvement in their spatial reasoning ability after music study."

The article continues, "There is conclusive evidence that music study improves academic performance. SAT scores for youngsters who have studied music for four or more years through high school were significantly higher than average. Students with a musical background scored 51 points higher on the verbal part of the SAT and 39 points higher on the math portion than students with no musical training."

Merely listening to music may also have some mental benefits. College students who listened to Mozart's Piano Sonata K448 for ten minutes scored much higher on spatial IQ tests than those who did not listen to it. This phenomenon has become known as the "Mozart Effect."

It is refreshing that at a time when cutting expenses in our public school systems means eliminating or cutting down on study of the arts (especially music) there are some legislators who are trying to pass a bill to expose preschoolers to music. A recent new article quotes Sen. William Turner, D-North Miami, in a debate on the Senate floor as saying, "The children of Florida need more Mozart and less Barney." The proposed bill would require all programs for children under 5 that receive state money would be required to expose them to stimulating sounds and objects, including bright colors and shapes. The article says that the " legislation mentions no specific type of music, though Turner says research shows complex and non-repetitive forms work best - particularly classical."