1.
Delayed gratification: A common
question we are asked is, how much candy do we let the kids have? It reminded both of us of the famous
“marshmallow experiment” in which a researcher brought 4 year- old children
into a room by themselves, positioning a marshmallow right in front them. He then explained that if they waited 15
minutes to eat it he would return and give them another one, so that they could
have two instead of just one. Only 1 out
of 3 children successfully resisted. Following
up 14 years later the researchers discovered that the children who delayed
withstood the challenge had the highest high school grades, clear life plans
and healthy relationships with others.
So consider dumping out that candy, allowing your child to select 7
pieces to eat and then give him the choice – eat them all immediately – or
parcel them out and have one piece every day for an entire week and earn a
bonus of three more!
2.
Mathematical concepts: Candy
doesn’t just have to be for eating; it can also be a tool for learning
mathematical concepts like sorting, by color, size and shape. You can also classify by type, like chocolate
or not chocolate. Then all you have to do is convince the kids that chocolate of
any kind is really yucky and that you would be willing to take it off their
hands. Being a magnanimous person, though, you will allow them to have all of
the DELICIOUS non-chocolate treats. They
can also match pieces, count and group.
Graphs could be drawn. And then
of course there is the art of negotiation. I’ll give you one Snicker for 2 KitKats.
3.
Creative thinking: Costumes and
masks can actually be frightening to young children, as well as expensive to
buy. So why not use this as an
opportunity to be creative. Go through
your old clothing. Pull out the unused
cosmetics you were convinced to buy by that great salesperson and never used
again. Create your own costumes – heck
this can go on for weeks and turn into writing a play.
Teachable moments surround us. Enjoy!
Would just like to comment on the marshmallow study. Researchers recently did a follow up study and found that reliability played a big part in the kids' decision. Kids who grew up in a reliable environment were more likely to wait for the 15 minutes for more marshmallows because they believed the researchers would return. Those who had experienced unreliable environments were more likely to eat the marshmallow right away because they did not trust the researchers would return. This makes sense for the grades as well, because if kids grow up in a reliable atmosphere they can focus more on academics and less on managing home stresses.
ReplyDeleteLove the ideas here!