How I Teach My Child Life Skills on A Saturday Morning
I decided to make use of one extremely practical book to teach my three-year old daughter Drian some life skills this Saturday morning. ”Teach Me To Do It Myself: Montessori Activities For You And Your Child” by Maja Pitamic” really helped me guide my child through several life skills, and every time she would complete a task or activity, I could see her glow with confidence. Being able to accomplish tasks on their own truly gives children a self-esteem boost, and these life skills, though they seem easy, are important things to know since such activities are part of the every day routines we go through.
Here are a few of the activities that fall under LIFE SKILLS that we tried today, and I’m so happy that we were successful…My child was able to accomplish the tasks well, and I was pleased that even as we did a few over and over, she was able to remember what to do. I still plan to reinforce the learnings by repeating these activities in the coming days.
- Setting The Table
I traced utensils and a plate on a rectangular piece of paper with a marker so that she could match the silverware and plate with the the corresponding shape on the paper. After letting her correctly place the utensils and plate in its proper place, I turned the sheet of paper over (the side without any markings) and let her set the table by herself. She was able to remember the right placement of items.
- Learning To Use Clothespins
This was the only activity that my child didn’t like, perhaps because we tried using small scrapbook clips instead of clothespins. This activity helps muscle coordination. I should have used bigger clothespins. When I finally found a bigger clothespin, my child had lost interest in the activity. I plan to try this activity again using big clothespins that her little hands can use.
- Buttoning A Shirt
It was fun teaching my child to button her shirt. She was so intent in putting the buttons through its buttonholes, and I was pleased to see that she was able to do so even after I unbuttoned them and let them do it herself for several times. This promotes dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
- Learning To Pour
We used beads and I showed my child to transfer the beads from one container to another without spilling. This is a good way to train them to pour. Later on, I allowed her to use water from a plastic glass and let her pour the contents into a cup. The bead pouring exercise worked like a charm, there were minimal spills and later on, no spills at all.
- Learning To Transfer
In the beginning, my child was so eager pouring beads from one container to another that she still kept doing so, but in this new activity, I let her use a spoon to transfer beads from one container to another. She was able to finish this activity. My next step was putting the beads away. And then we proceeded to pour Froot Loops cereal into a bowl and letting her use a spoon to transfer the contents from that bowl to another container. It was to my delight that after completing the task, she happily scooped cereal from the bowl straight into her mouth, munching happily. No spills at all.
- Opening and Closing Objects
As you can see, my child was busy putting away her bowl of Froot Loops before doing her next activity, which was learning how to open and close objects. I laid out a cereal container, a breakable cookie jar, a milk separator and a plastic food bin on a tray, leaving their caps next to them and showed her first how to close the objects. Then I opened them. She followed suit.
- Threading Buttons/Lacing Beads
We lingered a little longer over this activity since threading buttons or lacing beads helps improve hand-eye coordination and dexterity. We used her lacing threads and beads. I modeled the activity by picking out green beads and lacing them on a thread, making a necklace. My daughter happily followed my example and was giddy when she was able to finish the activity. We always “make necklaces” for her teddy bears to wear.
Apart from some of the life skills activities we tried, we played “Peek-a-Boo” together. It’s a game that teaches the child object permanence (the awareness how objects continue to exist when they are not visible to us), and it’s simply a fun way to imprint information about emotions and expressions. I let Drian “hide” in her Mickey Mouse playhouse as we took turns playing “Peek-A-Boo” and later on, “Hide and Seek.”
“Now You See Me…Now You Don’t!”
We also went through a few pre-k activities:
- Sorting, Grouping, and Identifying Colors
I let her sort her lacing beads by color by using a muffin tin that had several cups in one pan.
- Identifying Shapes By Completing Shape Puzzles
I let her enjoy completing two colorful shape puzzles, and I could see her glow with pride when she was able to complete the puzzles without help. I know that doing so helps her independently focus and finish an activity, and of course, she gets to remember shapes and colors as she goes about the task.
It takes some genuine time and effort but I do appreciate taking time to do these things with my child. In the next few months, she’ll be moving on to a whole-new experience…attending nursery classes. And I believe that being able to “unofficially homeschool” her these times will prepare her for the exciting learnings up ahead. More importantly, I love our bonding time together. I appreciate my child’s teachers and their wonderful efforts in helping us, parents. I realize now more than ever that while kids get to enjoy school and its numerous and countless benefits, learning truly begins at home. I’m still in the process of learning even more how to be a good teacher and mentor to my child.
More to share in the coming days! If you have suggestions and comments or simply would like to share your own experiences in teaching your children life skills and other subjects, feel free to share! Would love to hear from you.
5 Responses to “How I Teach My Child Life Skills on A Saturday Morning”
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i just love this blog. this is home-schooling at its best!
Hi May! I appreciate you so much!!! Hugs to you and kudos, supermom!
Wow! This is definitely one blog I’ll be reading over and over again! I’ve been looking for helpful articles on homeschooling for my son. I have 3 kids and you gave me useful hints on how to homeschool my younger kids as well. Thanks for the post. Great photos as well (served the purpose of complementing the text).
Wow!There’s tons of things I can learn here on homeschooling! I’ve been looking for useful material via Web on homeschooling. Your blog has a lot of ideas to offer on the subject. And the photos really complement what life skills you’re writing about. Bravo!
Thanks very much for your comment! Glad that I was able to be of help.
I will be posting more on homeschooling. Here is a link to more information about the upcoming Philippine Homeschool Conference 2012, you might want to check it out:http://hapihomeschooler.com/the-philippine-homeschool-conference-2012/ God bless your homeschooling journey!