I know I am very lucky that my parents and my sister support a lot of the early learning I am doing with my daughter. Over the last 21 months they have helped me in so many ways, I really do appreciate the extra enthusiasm they give me.
Up until now they have helped out with making flashcards, books, resources, researching topics and support when needed. The only problem is they live so far away, so everything has to come in the mail or be communicated through email or Skype, but just recently we started a private facebook page called “read each day” Its a page where we can upload photos of family members doing everyday things and attach a short story for my daughter to see and try and read each morning while having breakfast. Its another resource to use and its working really well. My daughter loves it cos its got familiar faces, topics and appropriate words for her to read.
There is so much you can do with this idea and I think it a great we to keep family that cant be close close and in your childs life and memory.
Just yesterday she was trying to sing ‘Im a little teapot’ to a pre recoded small clip made by the grandmother. We only look at the page for less than five minutes but Im sure there is a lot of learning going on in that short time.
She is also watching me type small comments back and is learning where letters on the keyboard sit. She is seeing how different family members can have a conversation over the internet with all their little messages.
Anyway I just thought Id share this idea as it may help other family’s connect in a modern EL way.
Id love to hear how anyone else keeps distant family members close and in your child life, please share.
The Read Each Day I suppose does show her how a social network works.
I would not recommend that as a priority for a toddler.
In fact it makes me quite squrmish to be promoting that without the protective factor that we are all very real to her.
Real relationships are everything.
She does know us all outside of the virtual reality thank goodness.
As well as the five of us having fun we are using ideas from Brillkids to extend her reading and maths too.
I send short video clips and audio clips of me singing to her.
These are accompanied by the written words. She reads the words with her mum on a large screen.
Her grandad dressed as a frog and I sang “Mr Frog jumped out of the pond one day…” He hopped around our lounge doing the actions.
His comment was that he dosnt want that “going viral”
It is lovely.
lol
All this is familiar to her as we played little theatre games while we were home with her.
There is science too.
Because we are in the tropics we can post gorgeous pics of colourful beetles.
Good for counting too.
We pose questions and little puzzles for her to think over.
We are surprised by what she comes up with as responses.
Her mum and her post up her comments.
How lucky I am to be able to follow up on anything she is currently interested in.
The posts just sit there like a book for her and her mum to scroll through and talk about.