Kathy Stemke's Suggestions

As promised, here are some fun activities Kathy Stemke, author of Moving Through All Seven Days, suggests to help young kids learn through movement.

DINNER BELL

String seven bells on a string with the each day of the week spelled out. Add a picture of the foods mentioned in the rhyme below. Great for jump rope chants:

Monday, meatball, start the week, Tuesday, tunafish, what a treat. Wednesday, watermelon, red and cool, Thursday, turkey, that’s the rule, Friday, French fries, eat them hot, Saturday, slurpees, thanks a lot, Sunday, spaghetti, sun or rain, Then start the week all over again!

PIN THE DAY ON THE CALENDAR

Make a poster of seven empty boxes.

Using tacky the kids put the days of the week in order from Sunday to Saturday.

For fun you can blindfold each child, spin them three times, and see how close to the right spot they can place their day on the boxes.

SUITCASE RELAY RACE

In each suitcase there is a piece of clothing for each day of the week.

On Monday we wear mittens.

On Tuesday we wear a tee shirt.

On Wednesday we wear a wig.

On Thursday we wear a tank top.

On Friday we wear a feather boa.

On Saturday we wear socks.

On Sunday we wear sneakers.

On command, one child runs to the suitcase says, “Monday” as they put on the mittens. He runs back and sits down. They next child says, “Tuesday” as he puts on the T-shirt. Etc. The first team to be finished and seated wins!

SYLLABLE SPELLING THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

Make a poster with all seven days of the week printed out.

Cut each day into their syllables.

Sun day

Mon day

Tues day

Wed nes day

Thurs day

Fri day

Sa tur day

Give the cards to the children. Call three children at a time to make words until all the days are spelled out and in order.

To find out more about Kathy Stemke and sign up for her free monthly newsletter, Movement and Rhythm click on the link for her blog: http://educastiontipster.blogspot.com http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html

For more about Kathy and her book please look at my previous post.

Helping Young Kids Learn

Kathy Stemke has written a book full of ideas to help young kids learn. She says, "Many preschool children find it difficult to sit and learn, so give them opportunities for movement! It's commonly believed that when you hear something, 10% of the information is retained. If you see it, hear it and say it, 40% is retained. But, if you also DO it, you retain 70%-100% of the information. Using a multi-sensory approach to teach children enhances their retention and capitalizes on their natural tendency to move. In other words, incorporate movement into learning, and your child will have more fun and learn faster."

Kathy’s book, Moving Through All Seven Days, uses movement activities to teach the days of the week. The lyrical rhymes also teach them how to spell each day! The 14 pages of activities at the end of the book are designed to reinforce the concepts as well as give impetus to movement exploration.

You can find it on lulu by clicking on this link: http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965#

On Saturday I'll share some activities Kathy suggests.