Be A Good Dad

As you may know, I work for the YMCA, where our tag line is We Build Strong Kids, Strong Families, Strong Communities. But building strong families as a job is different from building a strong family under my own roof.

I hate to admit this but I have been known to leave the healthy environment that is the YMCA, get in my car and, on the way home, stop off at a local fast food restaurant to pick up dinner for the gang at home. (I’m only telling you this because I KNOW I’m not the only one out there who does this. Right? Yeah, I’m talking to you.) And while I do my best to pick out items that are semi-healthy (salads, chicken, etc.), it’s still fast food.

The point is, we all know we need to lead a healthier lifestyle.  We all know we need to teach our children the importance of eating healthy.  We know this.  But we let our lives get so hectic that grabbing a bite to eat (even if it’s deliciously fried food) is all we can do to fit everything in.

That’s why the YMCA created some tools to help families get back to the basics.  Eating healthy, exercising and, perhaps most importantly, spending time together as a family is something we all need in our lives.  This tool kit helps us think about how we can fit a healthy lifestyle into our busy lives.

Sometimes, we just need a little push.  Here’s to building a stronger, healthier family!

My uncle brought his XBOX 360 and a copy of Rock Band complete with drum set, two guitars, and microphone to a party the other day (that link is to the soon to be released Nintendo Wii version - more on that later).

I used to play video games non-stop between sundown (when the darkness forced us off the basketball courts) and sometime between when I should have gone to bed and sunup. Somewhere along the way, the first person shooters and real time simulation games were introduced. I hate both types of games and have since hung up my controllers.

But Rock Band might just…nay, definitely will be bringing me back into the gaming world. I had more fun with this game than any game that I have played since retiring my Intellivision, original Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Turbo Graphix 16 and original Playstation (I never really had any fun with the XBOX).

Reasons why this game is great:

• You get to live the rock band dream
• You get to play a ton of songs that I love
• There is a big amount of teamwork. If somebody in your band can’t play their part of the song, the crowd boos you off the stage
• But before that happens, the other members of the band can save you by playing extra well allowing you to continue playing the song
• It has a drum set. Everybody (Pookie and Geetle in particular) loves drum sets.

Unfortunately, Rock Band is not available on that XBOX that we still have plugged into a TV. The kids love some of the Nintendo Wii games they have played at a couple relatives’ houses (particularly Bowling), so once I finally manage to find a Wii, I’ll be pulling out the old credit card. I had read that getting a Wii was difficult. Man, that is an understatement.

So, the kids look to have a healthy mix of swimming, running in the yard, learning to read, and playing video games (in small doses, of course…but I might play some games after they go to bed).

Which will make it pretty much like every summer I had after I turned 12. I’ll have to invest in the peanut butter cups.

For the record, our band has been reviewed on a major internet site. Go read about how awesomely we rocked the basement. But the reviewer might be biased because rumor has it that she is sleeping with a member of the band.

The signs of summer are everywhere. Dandelions, bees, sleepy evenings from sitting out in the fresh air for too long. And the summer reading program at the library.

We always do the summer reading program which so far has meant that we have to read a certain number of books to the kids. With both kids getting ready for kindergarten and becoming “emerging readers” (that was actually in Pookie’s IEP), we decided that we are going to let the kids read their books to us this year. We have checked out a few of those very early reader books from the library and they do a pretty good job with them.

Other than just throwing books at kids, what can you do to help an emerging reader improve their reading? I’m not an expert, but these are some of the things that we currently do are and are going to try this summer.

Vocabulary
Rote memorization seems to have lost quite a bit of popularity over the years because it is boring and tedious. But when learning to read, there is no greater tool than actually knowing what the individual words and phrases are. Phonetics is great and definitely important but even with that at some point you have to know that the letters b-a-l-l spell the word ball and that a ball is one of those spherical things we sometimes throw at each other in the back yard.

But what words do early readers need to know.

• Most common words - With a quick search on your search engine of choice, you will find a lot of lists showing English words sorted by frequency. The one that I bookmarked is the 1000 Most Common Vocabulary Words on about.com. I’m sure the kids already know a fair number of those but definitely not all of them. Learning the most common words is beneficial because they are the ones they will encounter most frequently in print. Knowing these common words will make it easier to use context clues to figure out some of the ones they might not know in a sentence.
• Logical word groups - This would include learning all of the words describing things you could find in a bathroom or all of the animals you would find at a pet store or the names of all the different dishes, cups, and silverware in the kitchen. If you ever learned a foreign language in high school or college, this is most likely how vocabulary was introduced. By learning the groups of words together, you have a frame of reference for each word. Plus, when you are reading and encounter a word (lets say “spoon”), you are probably pretty likely to also see other similar words (like “fork”, “knife” and “butter dish”).
• Words as you encounter them - When you are reading and encounter a new word, you can either grab a dictionary right then or write it down to look up later. Early readers are frequently going to see unknown words in almost anything they read. These are great words to add to a vocabulary list.

Writing
One of the best ways to learn a new word is to actually write it down. The physical act of forming the letters gives the brain something in addition to just the visual input to use when remembering something. Early readers are not going to sit around making up sentences and stories for each word they encounter, so how can you get them to use the writing of the words to help learn how to read the words?

• Make lists - When you are getting ready to go on a quick trip to the store to pick up a few things, let your kids make the shopping list. Spell the words out loud and let them do the writing. If they have trouble forming the letters, write the words and let them trace your writing.
• Write letters to mom, dad, Grandma, teacher, and any pets. Have your kid dictate the letter, then you spell the words (or write them for your kid to trace) and let them do the writing. Geetle is a huge fan of this and is constantly running around the house asking us how to spell “ice cream” or “toys” for a letter she is writing. In addition to helping with reading, this is a great exercise for getting kids comfortable with holding a pencil
• Copy books - When I was a kid, my mom had an electric typewriter that I would frequently use to copy my Little Golden Books (I never sold any of my copies for profit, I promise). When the typewriter was hiding, I would use my trusty crayons. I watched Geetle doing this the other day completely unprompted. It must just be something that kids naturally want to do. After writing all the words, there is usually plenty of space for your kid to draw their own pictures, too.

Practice reading
The best way to learn to read, of course, is to actually read. Our kids are constantly looking at books. They are everywhere in the house and a constant source of entertainment. But looking at the books is different than reading them. Here are a few things we do to get the kids to actually do their own reading:

• Mess up words - When I read stories to the kids, I often “accidentally” misread about one or two words per page. They almost always correct me. I work hard to find more obscure words and misread them as words that sound pretty similar but they are almost always on to me.
• Read to the baby, pet, stuffed animals - When we are busy, the kids are often prompted to read a book to Giggles. She loves the attention (and pictures) and the kids get to practice reading. Our library has a program for kids in 1st grade and above to sit at the library and read to a dog for 20 minutes. Even stuffed animals would make great listening buddies for your early reader.
• Let them pick their own food off the menu - They will often pick things that have a picture, but with a little guidance they can learn to read all of the options before making their final choice.
• Let them pick their own books - As a kid, I hardly ever read a book that was assigned to me. But I was always getting in trouble for reading a book during class. To a kid, assigned books = boring, books they choose = cool. Our kids have a tendency to pick the same kinds of books (like only Arthur books or only Curious George books). We always let them have that free choice at this stage. If you really want your kid to learn about farm life, you could preselect a handful of books and let them pick one or two from your selection.
• In 1st grade, our teacher had us read stories out loud and recorded them on tape so we could listen to ourselves read. It was a blast. Most kids are fascinated by recording themselves. Break out the old cassette recorder or video camera and let your kid practice their out loud reading. Listening to their own voice on the playback while reading the book is also a great way for them to hear words that they might have misread the first time.

Let them see you read
Young kids have a strong tendency to be interested in the things their parents are interested in. If your kids see you sitting around reading a book for your own pleasure/interest/education, there is a great chance they are going to be more interested in reading, too.

That’s most of our summer reading plans with the kids. What things are you going to be trying? What has worked or not worked for you?

Sippy Cup Book of the Week

This next book is another good book, one that came in very handy during the sick season on the past winter, when my daughter, my wife, and I thought it would be a fun idea to pass our sickness around the house a few times, just for kicks. It can be tough for a little one to understand why mommy or daddy or even they aren’t feeling better. This week’s book, Blue’s Sniffly Day, might make understanding this a little easier.

Blue’s Sniffly Day is based on the children’s cartoon, Blues Clues, and featuring the dog Blue and her first friend Steve. The book opens with Steve telling the audience that Blue is feeling under the weather and if the audience has seen her. Of course, she is visible on the page and looking tired. That formula is repeated throughout the story.

Nearly each page ends with Steve asking the audience a question, adding to the interactivity of the book. One page has a bunch of doctor’s equipment on the floor and Steve asks if there is anything in the room that might help Blue. Another page is set in the kitchen and Steve asks the reader to find the ingredients for soup for Blue from a chart in the background. Rather than just sitting back and listening, this book gets the young reader to think. In answering Steve’s questions, the reader gets a feeling they are helping Blue, which most kids will love.

If you have seen Blues Clues on television, you know what the illustrations in this book will look like. Steve appears on the page as a live action photograph and the other characters and backgrounds are drawings. On the cuteness scale, these pictures are on the opposite creepy factor than the Dr. Seuss illustrations.

My daughter turns two years old on Saturday, and I just got done reading this book to her. As always, she really enjoyed hearing about her friend Blue and liked helping her feel better. Her favorite part was probably the soup page, especially baby Paprika (she pronounces it Pappa-Rika) holding the peas. If that last sentence made now sense, you’ll have to read the book.

As with my other two reviews, I’ll have to give this one four sippy cups. I guess the reason I’ve rated everything so high is because I’ve only reviewed books my daughter and I have enjoyed. Maybe I’ll mix some bad ones in someday. Seriously, as you can see from the Amazon link, you can pick this book up new for less than $4.00. You can’t beat that.

One of the common characteristics of autism is a language delay.

I have read and heard plenty of stories of parents being happy when their autistic kid asks them the simplest of questions. I even have a few stories of my own with Pookie.

Language delays are tough on the parents because you do not get to have the natural conversations that constantly arise with other kids.

But language delays are an even bigger problem then just making parents wish they could have more conversations.

Let’s say you have a 3-6 year old kid. They are constantly asking questions. Parents love to joke about how they get worn out trying to answer why the sky is blue, why the garbage stinks,why dogs sleep in the house but raccoons sleep, etc, etc. And that just gets you through breakfast. That is how kids learn about all of the ordinary and strange things in the world.

Pookie does not do any of that. He talks as frequently as any other kid if not more so. He frequently asks questions…but they are normally things like “can I have the markers?” “where is my Jack in the box?” “can I have more milk.”

Being able to ask these kinds of questions is important. But they are not the kinds of questions that give him chance to learn new things.

I can’t remember him ever asking the why or how type of questions. Ever.

Think about that for a second. With Geetle, she is constantly wondering about stuff and then asking us “why is it dark at night?” and then we can explain it and she can learn something new.

Pookie doesn’t do that.

So, parents of children with language delays really have to go out of their way to constantly think of these questions that kids should be asking and then just explain them to their kid. And then they have to do this for several years while they wait for their child to start asking these kinds of questions on their own.

We are actually very fortunate to have a twin asking us these questions because we can explain it to both of them at the same time.