The Homeschool Scuttle

In case you missed it, there has been a lively discussion on the Unpreschool list on the merits and pitfalls of television viewing for young children. Author and lecturer Diane Flynn Keith provided a terrific list of activities to take the place of television viewing...

An Unpreschool List Member named Michelle wrote:

Our family will start the New Year out right, as of January 1 we will begin a 30-day TV fast. Anyone want to join me? We still are deciding what that will look like for us. Will we unplug the darn thing, or just finally limit it to 30 minutes a day? (Even if it's 30 minutes a day, I think we'll still unplug it in between times to help our self-control!)

It's amazing how much more productively our time is used when we don't have the fall back of the TV for entertainment. My kids actually pick up books to read, or help with household chores. My husband and I play board games (with or without the kids) and talk or read books. I totally agree with a poster yesterday who said they don't want their kids to grow up dependent on the screen. What a gift it would be to my children if they learned at a young age how to entertain themselves and be comfortable with silence. I want to give them that gift. Anybody with me?

Unpreschool List Owner Diane replied:

Great idea, Michelle! If you need more motivation go to Kill Your Television.

You may or may not be aware of TV Turn Off Week in April of every year. It's April 21-27 in 2008. Screen-Time offers suggestions on things you can do other than watch TV. They have kits and contests and all kinds of stuff.

I put together this list of things to do besides watch TV:

Note: Many of these ideas come from different articles at UniversalPreschool.com and the Home Preschool Curriculum that contain lots of contributions by Fran Wisniewski.

Alternatives to Television Watching

1. Talk with your child. Conversation starters.
2. Read. Books, magazines, newspapers, poetry, nursery rhymes, myths, etc. Go to the library for an evening storytime or go to a bookstore and hang out for a while.
3. Go for a walk. Check out our Fun Walks ideas
4. Start a hobby. Stamp collecting, rock collecting, coin collecting, jewelry making, collect things from nature, collect hats, dolls, action figures, stuffed animals, etc.
5. Go for a drive. Bring along a family-friendly audio-book or music on CD. (Try the Jim Weiss Stories or Raffi music.)
6. Do a jigsaw puzzle. Ravensburger has great Children's Puzzle selections for kids.
7. Clean up a mess or a room. Kids love to help. Play Trap the Toys! Take a big, empty cardboard box and write "Toy Trap" on it. Tell your child that you've noticed the toys keep escaping from the bedroom. They are everywhere throughout the house. Explain that you've built a toy trap to keep them in a safe place when your child isn't playing with them. Ask your child to help you round up the toys and put them in the trap.
8. Play with your kids. Have some flashlight fun: Turn off the lights in the room. Shine a flashlight on a bare wall. Ask your child to stand in front of the bright light and experiment with making shadows of all shapes and sizes on the wall. Show them how to make Hand Shadows. Experiment with casting different kinds of shadows by holding different objects up in front of the flashlight. Try a stuffed animal, scissors, a pencil, a toothbrush, small toys like cars and action figures or doll house dishes and cups. Puzzle pieces cast interesting shadows too. I'm sure your child think of many more to try.
9. Show your children how to repair something. Sew on a missing button, mend a tear, change a light bulb, change a washer in the faucet, use a hammer and nail, use a screwdriver, etc.
10. Paint! With a little advance preparation you can all have fun with relatively little mess. Check out this article for some simple painting ideas.
11. Make up a Story. Check out these ideas for some story-telling fun.
12. Build an Indoor Obstacle Course! Learn how.
13. Go on an Indoor Scavenger Hunt - or try these "rainy day" activities that work every day.
14. Have fun with Dry-Erase Markers! Try these fun activities.
15. Color! Get the crayons out and start coloring. You'll find free coloring pages to print out.
16. Visit a friend. Bake a special treat to give to your friend.
17. Dance! Turn the music on and have fun moving to the beat!
18. Play board games. You'll find a great selection of cooperative board games for little kids and their families.
19. Go bowling! Even little kids can bumper bowl!
20. Play Math Games! Here are some fun ones.
21. Go on a Field Trip! Many of your local community services and stores offer tours such as the fire department, police department, grocery store, bank, hardware store, post office, bus and train stations, museums, zoos, state parks, etc. Even large chain stores offer opportunities to see how things are made - such as Krispy Kreme donuts and Noah's Bagels.
22. Go to an entertainment event. Try a play or a concert.
23. Play with the dog! Or go to a pet store and look at all of the animals, fish, reptiles, and other critters.
24. Play with Balloons! Blow up different sizes and colors of balloons and bat them around. Bat them back and forth to each other. Kick the balloons! Who can keep the balloon from touching the ground the longest?
25. Make something. Build with blocks, make a fort, make a piñata, make a paper chain, make a cereal necklace, make finger puppets and more. Check out these ideas.

Have fun not watching TV!

~Diane
Founder, http://www.UniversalPreschool.com

Protect your parental rights. Vote NO on Universal Preschool legislation and ask your representatives to do the same. For more information visit: http://www.UniversalPreschool.com

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Labels: activities, entertainment, preschool, television

In lock-step with the California Teachers Association, and marching to the beat of the do-it-for-the-global-economy-and-new-world-order drum, California Assembly Member Gene Mullin (Democrat, South San Francisco) introduced the heinous Assembly Bill 1236: Kindergarten Readiness Act that will be heard on Wednesday, April 25th before the Assembly Committee on Education.

AB 1236: The bill...

1. Makes full-time Kindergarten mandatory under penalty of law for children who turn 5 years of age by September 1st of any given school year beginning in 2011. The state is going to force parents of little, tiny kids to put them in school. When did we all agree that the state should have the responsibility for educating our babies? How can anyone in a free nation go along with the idea of forced government schooling of defenseless and vulnerable children? Where's the freedom and liberty in that?
2. In direct opposition to the will of the people of California who voted against Prop 82 - The Universal Preschool Initiative in June of 2006, AB 1236 Requires school districts to offer Kindergarten Readiness classes (also known as universal preschool) for all children one year before they are enrolled in kindergarten. While these preschool classes will be offered as voluntary at first, mandatory preschool is the next specious step.

The minimum school day for 4- and 5- year-olds in kindergarten readiness classes and kindergartens will be 3-hours-a-day, 5-days-a-week! This time is to be filled with state-concocted, developmentally inappropriate, rigorous academic content standards for both kindergarten and preschool programs in math and literacy. The bill requires assessment (also known as testing) of tots!

The push to detain young children in preschool and kindergarten is driven by imprudent and corrupt political and social agendas that advance the globalized future. How could there be any other explanation when policy makers ignore early childhood education experts such as the signers of the declaration of The Call To Action On The Education of Young Children who warn against too early and too highly structured education in preschool and kindergarten saying:

If such practices were effective for five-year-olds, we would have seen better long-term results by now. We call for a reversal of the pushing down of the curriculum that has transformed kindergarten into de facto first grade.

Current trends in early education policy and practice heighten pressure and stress in children's lives, which can contribute to behavioral and learning problems.

This well-intentioned but misguided policy may actually put children at increased risk of school failure.

While the monolithic, corporatized school system may be a formidable opponent, I call on all parents to protect California's (and every state's) 4- and 5-year olds from politicians who mindlessly and robotically introduce and pass legislation that is not in the best interests of young children. Their hearts and minds have been assimilated by what I can only think to refer to as "school borgs." They care more about money than they do about kids. Let's stop them in their tracks.

Your Help is Needed

Please compose a letter of oppostion to AB 1236 and send it to the Education Committee (see their contact info below). Here are some points you may want to include:

• Mandatory Kindergarten and voluntary Pre-K programs will jeopardize funding for public schools.
• A state-run voluntary preschool monopoly will put many private preschools that are owned and operated by women and minorities out of business.
• Kindergarten and Kindergarten Readiness Programs, particularly those with rigid academic structures as outlined in AB 1236, have no proven long-term benefits and may actually harm children.
• AB 1236 creates mandatory full time kindergarten and establishes voluntary full time preschool programs that open the door to make preschool attendance mandatory as well.
• AB 1236 describes the minimum definition of "full time" as 180 minutes a day and for kindergarten students that translates to mandatory attendance 3-hours-a-day, 5-days-a-week! Individual schools can opt to increase that time and the intention is to do exactly that! For preschoolers who attend voluntary pre-k readiness classes - it's 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, providing schools with the ability to increase the time.
• Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for kindergarten and preschool programs that will jeopardize funding of public schools, destroy small businesses, and harm little kids.
• AB 1236 restricts our liberty as citizens. It increases government intervention, establishes mandatory K, and establishes voluntary universal preschool which will lead to mandatory preschool. We don't need more government regulation.
• Establishing mandatory full-time Kindergarten and voluntary full time preschool creates welfare for daycare. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for costly programs that increase dependency on the government and reinforce entitlement thinking.
• 94% of California's 5-year-olds already attend voluntary private and public K programs. The other 6% are either taught at home (some through gov't home study programs via school districts and charter schools), or simply don't go to school. It is unlikely that the costs associated with this legislation will result in significant changes in those numbers.

You can FAX or send your letter of oppostion to "AB 1236: The Kindergarten Readiness Act" to the members of the Education Committee. (If you want to email them, click on their names, go to their websites, and fill out the email contact form there.) Or telephone their offices and let them know you are opposed to AB 1236. Here is the contact info for each member:

• Mike Eng
  FAX: (626) 450-6117
  Phone: (626) 450-6116
  Address: 9420 Telstar Avenue, Suite 103, El Monte, CA 91731

• Lori Hancock
  FAX (510) 559-1478
  Phone: (510) 559-1406
  Address: 712 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito, CA 94530
• Bob Huff
  FAX (909) 860-5664
  Phone: (909) 860-5560
  Address: 23355 E. Golden Springs Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765
• Betty Karnette
  Phone: (310) 548-6420 or (562) 997-0794
  Address: 3711 Long Beach Boulevard, Suite 801, Long Beach, CA 90807
• Alan Nakanishi
  FAX (209) 333-5333
  Phone: (209) 333-5330
  Address: 218 W. Pine Street, Lodi, CA 95240
• Jose Solorio
  FAX (714) 939-8986
  Phone: (714) 939-8469
  Address: 2400 E. Katella Avenue, Suite 640, Anaheim, CA 92806

Courtesy of Diane Flynn Keith and Universal Preschool.com

Labels: California, Kindergarten, preschool

Even though I don't actually have a preschooler in the house at this point in my life, I have very fond memories of those years that really weren't that long ago. This past year it has felt like my son is an alien and we can't manage a coherent conversation. We discuss two separate topics together, neither understanding what the other is saying.

Fortunately, experience dictates that this too shall pass and it won't be long until my little boy transforms into a man who will once again need his mommy. Getting back to preschool...

I started out sharing about preschool because I've had an opportunity to as the Unpreschool list is being converted into a chat group. It was like someone had uncorked a bottle or the dam broke. The list has exploded into chatter, generating over 100 e-mails to the group in the last 24-hours.

Diane Flynn Keith is a true believer in allowing children to play. She backs up her words with incredibly creative activities, which she provides to subscribers on her Homeschooling Preschool E-Zine. This free publication is packed full of fun ideas, experiments and crafts parents can share with their preschool and early elementary grades.

She started the Unpreschool Yahoo Group to encourage parents of young children in the fact that they are their childs first and best teacher. Mrs. Keith once told me that she was tired of women taking a beating by school administrators, professional educators, media representatives and legislators who consistently inform parents that only a professional is qualified to teach little children.

You can't see me rolling my eyes, so you'll just have to trust me on this one. After all, just how much education does a person have to have to make letters from playdoh? How smart does a person have to be to chase a butterfly, grow a potato, count to 100 or raise a pet? These are things that children should experience with a parent or family member, not a stranger.

List members of the Unpreschool group have been sharing some excellent ideas on how and when to teach math; which handwriting programs really work and answering the question: "Should homeschooling children prepare and take standardized tests?"

I would really like to know what you think. Is a parent qualified to teach their preschooler? What should those qualifications be and do you think you are qualified?

Labels: homeschool, preschool, qualified, unpreschool