Yesterday’s blog was ways to help children as they learn about the color pink. Here is something else that’s pink and supports children’s learning…a piggy bank. Check out this piggy bank, especially the pictures of a brain on the side. It’s a brain bank. 🙂
Question: If we put pennies in a piggy bank what would we put in a brain bank?
Answer: WORDS. We’d put words in a brain bank.
Get ready for a statistic that will boggle brains…children who have heard books and stories, sung songs, been spoken to, and been included conversations at home have had over 40 million, yes over 40 million, words deposited into their brain banks. (Hart-Risely 30 Million Word Gap Study, 1995) Now, that’s a lot of verbal stimulation/enrichment for brains and wow does it ever contribute significantly to readiness for kindergarten. What are some ways to make word deposits in your child’s brain account?
- Read books and tell stories: these can be made up ones about anything–missing socks that ran away for an adventure, forks that try to eat soup, the bus that had measles, anything that your imagination can imagine.
- Sing songs, listen to cds; a word of warning, though…some of these songs get stuck in your head! You may find yourself humming Hokey Pokey at work.
- Talk and share together: at the store, talk about all the fruits and vegetables, maybe how they are the same or different, what we do with them, who likes what, and more. When sorting the laundry, have a discussion about what goes into each pile. Doing the dishes is another opportunity to talk and share. There will be other times in a day for adding more and more words.
In the years before kids go to school, their brains are growing. 40 million words stimulate a tremendous amount of brain connections. Can you enrich your child’s brains with some words today?