For Children - Curriculum Enriching Experiences

Religion

• Set up your own quiet area for prayer and reflection.  Include religious artifacts, a candle, a Bible storybook…
• Read books, stories about people helping others.
• Compose an acrostic family prayer like we do at school with our class prayers.  Method:  Write your family name vertically along the left side of a page.  Compose the body of your prayer, including the ideas your family members come up with; whatever they want to “say to God.”  Each line of the poem will begin with a letter in your family name.
• Model and expect appropriate church behavior.

Language Arts

• Establish a consistent routine for reading quality children’s literature. Discuss the story as you read.
• Visit the library often and get your child his/her own card. 
• Help your child set up and trunk/box for dramatic play items. Include hats, dresses, shoes, boots, costume jewelry, pretend food, plastic dishes.…
• Create a permanent writing area for your children) that is equipped with various sizes and colors of paper, envelopes (recycle envelopes from the mail), markers, pencils, crayons, stamps, stamp pads, tape, children’s scissors, ….
• Sing!

Math

• Provide real-life, meaningful opportunities for your child to count objects.  For example, ask your child to help set the table with the appropriate number of place settings.
• While driving, encourage your child to find shapes in buildings or natural elements, for example, square or rectangular windows, oval or triangular trees.
• Play simple board games requiring counting spaces.
• Allow your child to measuring ingredients for cooking or baking.
• Ask your child to count how many steps it takes to get from A to B, for example from the front door to the car.
• Help your child identify natural patterns in the environment

Science

• Encourage your child’s questions about the natural world, for example, How do trees grow?  Where does rain come from?  Why doesn’t it snow in Tucson?  If you don’t have the answer, research the topic together through a trip to the library or on the internet.
• Encourage your child to observe and record changes in the environment, for example, draw a picture of a cactus in the winter and in the spring when blooming.
• Take frequent family field trips to experience the natural world first hand.  Take hikes, visit your local park, museums, botanical gardens….
• Encourage your child to classify things into categories, for example, living/non-living, animal/plant, solid/liquid/gas, mammal/non-mammal.
• Experiment in the bathtub with which objects sink and which float. Bathtub toys don’t have to be fancy.  Recycle items such a scoops, funnels and plastic containers for pouring and measuring.  The measuring cups from liquid laundry soap are a good size for little hands.  Don’t forget the bubbles!

Music

• Expose your children) to a variety of music: classical, jazz, country, rock….
• Encourage your child to move to the music, however he/she feels.  Provide scarves or ribbon for your child to wave in the air to the music.
• Provide simple rhythm instruments for your child – as simple as a pot lid and a wooden spoon.  (Don’t forget the earplugs for yourself!)
• Attend concerts together.  Outdoor concerts are great for young children since they aren’t confined to a seat and can move around a little more freely.

Art

• Provide materials and opportunities for your child to express his/her creativity through various media such as tempera and watercolor paints and play dough and clay, glue, glitter…  (Art projects can be done outdoors, if possible to aid in ease of cleanup.)
• Recycle materials to use for collage projects:  fabric scraps, ribbon, yarn, meat trays, scrap wood, sawdust, thread spools, strings, scrap paper, frozen juice cans, dried beans, macaroni, bird seed, bottle caps, confetti, corks, straw, cardboard, pebbles, sand paper, aluminum foil…
• Projects should always be open-ended with the emphasis of the process of creativity over the product.
• Provide space for your child to display his/her favorite artwork.

Physical Development

• Ensure that your child has regular, unstructured opportunities for freedom of movement  - running, jumping, balancing, climbing.  The ability to control their own body provides children with a sense of satisfaction and promotes positive self esteem.  Trips to the park are just fun, too!
• Provide experiences for development of fine- motor control by encouraging your child to pour his/her own juice or milk, spread his/her favorite topping on toast, dress his/herself, string beads or dry pasta for a necklace, play with building toys like blocks or duplo, puzzles and play dough.