Pre Social Studies
Benchmark 1.2: Knows personal information
“By nurturing children’s self concept, you help them feel accepted and valued by the people who are most important to them. As parents provide opportunities to assert their independence, gain confidence in their abilities, and express pride in their accomplishments.”
MARCH PRE-SOCIAL STUDIES ACTIVITIES
Ages 1-2: Create a small photo book (one picture per page) of pictures of the family. Go through the book often and point to the picture and say the person’s name. If the family member lives a long ways away, your child will begin to become familiar with relatives they do not see them much. The ideal thing is to have a picture of the child with that person.
Age 2: Can begin to identify the family members by name. Begin to use personal pronouns that show ownership, by using the words “your, he, his, she, hers, mine, and me.” Use the words “you, he and she” correctly this year as well. They will begin to express things that they like, need or dislike.
Age 3: They know their name and whether they are a boy or girl. Begin to teach them their phone number and address as well.
Age 4: This year seems to be a very “talkative” year!! They will share their experiences with others, and should be able to share personal information in addition to their name. They have a great feeling of pride when they accomplish something on their own or when they help you. Little jobs around the house are a great place to start. Check in your Tools for Motherhood class textbook for the list of jobs each age can do.
Age 5: Create a certificate for a new skill he has mastered. In preparation for going to school this next year, you can create a timeline with your child to show all that he has experienced in life. Tell how he is ready for the next exciting part of life that is school, whether that be public, private or homeschooling. The timeline can show the births of himself and siblings, any moves to new homes, other major events, and all he has accomplished.
TOOLS FOR MOTHERHOOD GRADUATES are sharing some of the Pre-Social Studies activities they tried with their own children.
Cooking Role PlayingHeather of Topeka
The other thing was not even planned but all pretend play for the girls. I cut open one of those red netting bags that apples and oranges come in and the girls put them on their heads as hair nets and then they “cooked” in their little kitchen. What a great social studies lesson where the girls got to pretend to be cooks or deli workers (like the deli people wear at Wal Mart Zoe said). It was a great, not even planned, thing where I got to actually use everyday things to teach them something. Soo much fun!!
9 Months old, Peek a boo By Joanna, Topeka
If you put a blanket over his head, he will pull it off and grin at you. He also likes it when I put my hands over my face, he pulls them down and I say peek a boo! If I'm around the corner and I say "where's Benny" he's looking for me when I come around the corner and say peek a book.
Recommendations: Yes, its fun because my son enjoye it so much.
4 Years Old, Chutes and Ladders By Heather, Topeka
I had Zoe "set up" the game board and then we picked out the player she wanted to be which was the little blond girl-of course. I was the little boy in overalls. Then she would spin and move. Then it was my turn and so on. Zoe tends to "get lost" on which way to go when she gets to an end as we tend to do thing from top to bottom-so this is backwards and then to go both left and right gets confusing too, so we really try to get her to "read" the numbers in order so its not as confusing, but still... (We stop and explain how doing good things get rewarded and bad things have consequences.) It is one of our favorite games to play.
Recommendations: Yes, great lessons and fun too.
9 Months Standing in front of a light switch, I showed him how to trn it on and off. Then I helped him, and pretty soon he figured it out himself. Whe we went to a different room, he was able to remember what to do at a different switch. He was not only learning cause & effect, but he was also proud of himself and what he could cause to happen. --Joanna
3 Years Old I painted my daughters hands with washable paint and had her do a hand print of each hand on a piece of paper. Then we wrote on the paper all the roles she has in her life and how much she is a very important person to God! She is a daughter, granddtr, greatgranddtr, niece, cousin, and most importantly a child of God's! This activity was fun but very messy. : ) She enjoyed having her hands pained through. Any recommendations might be: It was a great and an awesome opportunity to talk about Jesus with her. For Christmas, we could make handprints on tissue paper or white wrapping paper. Once the handprints were dry on the paper, we could wrap the gift to the grandparents. --Kahle
4 1/2 Years Old We made a book called "All about Me". Ahead of time, I cut out scrapbook pages of ideas for her to choose from. We stappled several blank typing pages together and at the top of each page we thought of a heading of things about her. Some ideas were: My favorite food, my favorite pets, my favorite toys, my favorite colors. Then she would take a pair of sissors and cut and glue what she wanted on each page. It was so fun to just sit down together and talk. She really had some great answers that really surprised me. This will become one of those keepsakes to cherish in years to come. It was sure fun to find out what their favorite things were.--Heather
Ages 1-2: Create a small photo book (one picture per page) of pictures of the family. Go through the book often and point to the picture and say the person’s name. If the family member lives a long ways away, your child will begin to become familiar with relatives they do not see them much. The ideal thing is to have a picture of the child with that person.
Age 2: Can begin to identify the family members by name. Begin to use personal pronouns that show ownership, by using the words “your, he, his, she, hers, mine, and me.” Use the words “you, he and she” correctly this year as well. They will begin to express things that they like, need or dislike.
Age 3: They know their name and whether they are a boy or girl. Begin to teach them their phone number and address as well.
Age 4: This year seems to be a very “talkative” year!! They will share their experiences with others, and should be able to share personal information in addition to their name. They have a great feeling of pride when they accomplish something on their own or when they help you. Little jobs around the house are a great place to start. Check in your Tools for Motherhood class textbook for the list of jobs each age can do.
Age 5: Create a certificate for a new skill he has mastered. In preparation for going to school this next year, you can create a timeline with your child to show all that he has experienced in life. Tell how he is ready for the next exciting part of life that is school, whether that be public, private or homeschooling. The timeline can show the births of himself and siblings, any moves to new homes, other major events, and all he has accomplished.
TOOLS FOR MOTHERHOOD GRADUATES are sharing some of the Pre-Social Studies activities they tried with their own children.
Cooking Role PlayingHeather of Topeka
The other thing was not even planned but all pretend play for the girls. I cut open one of those red netting bags that apples and oranges come in and the girls put them on their heads as hair nets and then they “cooked” in their little kitchen. What a great social studies lesson where the girls got to pretend to be cooks or deli workers (like the deli people wear at Wal Mart Zoe said). It was a great, not even planned, thing where I got to actually use everyday things to teach them something. Soo much fun!!
9 Months old, Peek a boo By Joanna, Topeka
If you put a blanket over his head, he will pull it off and grin at you. He also likes it when I put my hands over my face, he pulls them down and I say peek a boo! If I'm around the corner and I say "where's Benny" he's looking for me when I come around the corner and say peek a book.
Recommendations: Yes, its fun because my son enjoye it so much.
4 Years Old, Chutes and Ladders By Heather, Topeka
I had Zoe "set up" the game board and then we picked out the player she wanted to be which was the little blond girl-of course. I was the little boy in overalls. Then she would spin and move. Then it was my turn and so on. Zoe tends to "get lost" on which way to go when she gets to an end as we tend to do thing from top to bottom-so this is backwards and then to go both left and right gets confusing too, so we really try to get her to "read" the numbers in order so its not as confusing, but still... (We stop and explain how doing good things get rewarded and bad things have consequences.) It is one of our favorite games to play.
Recommendations: Yes, great lessons and fun too.
9 Months Standing in front of a light switch, I showed him how to trn it on and off. Then I helped him, and pretty soon he figured it out himself. Whe we went to a different room, he was able to remember what to do at a different switch. He was not only learning cause & effect, but he was also proud of himself and what he could cause to happen. --Joanna
3 Years Old I painted my daughters hands with washable paint and had her do a hand print of each hand on a piece of paper. Then we wrote on the paper all the roles she has in her life and how much she is a very important person to God! She is a daughter, granddtr, greatgranddtr, niece, cousin, and most importantly a child of God's! This activity was fun but very messy. : ) She enjoyed having her hands pained through. Any recommendations might be: It was a great and an awesome opportunity to talk about Jesus with her. For Christmas, we could make handprints on tissue paper or white wrapping paper. Once the handprints were dry on the paper, we could wrap the gift to the grandparents. --Kahle
4 1/2 Years Old We made a book called "All about Me". Ahead of time, I cut out scrapbook pages of ideas for her to choose from. We stappled several blank typing pages together and at the top of each page we thought of a heading of things about her. Some ideas were: My favorite food, my favorite pets, my favorite toys, my favorite colors. Then she would take a pair of sissors and cut and glue what she wanted on each page. It was so fun to just sit down together and talk. She really had some great answers that really surprised me. This will become one of those keepsakes to cherish in years to come. It was sure fun to find out what their favorite things were.--Heather