Watch your children carefully as they learn so you really get to know them , what they like doing, what they can do, what they might need help with and what the next steps in their learning and development might be. It could be a good idea to keep an observation journal. Also encourage and praise the children as often as possible, for as many different things as you can think of, so that nobody is left out.
If they make mistakes explain that this is a way of learning.
Madeleine Simon, author of Born Contemplative, wrote: “Once, when visiting a class of six-year-olds, a boy asked me to listen to a story he had just written. While he was reading, I noticed he had drawn a number of tiny pictures throughout the text which did not seem to have anything to do with it. There was a little house, a man, a ball, a flower and more, all brightly coloured. So, when he had finished reading, I asked him about them. He sidled up close to me and said: ‘When we make a mistake we don’t cross it out; we make it look pretty.’ Here, I felt, was a teacher after my own heart!” We have much to learn from children, as we prepare our courses.
Meditation builds community wherever it is practiced. Sitting together in silence, stillness and simplicity promotes connection and wholeness in all human beings regardless of faith and other forms of diversity.
Meditation comes naturally to children, who experience it as both enjoyable and beneficial. Just as they are happy with their grandparents, parents or teachers paying attention to a story, so they are happy to be quiet and still in meditation. Teaching children to meditate is giving them a spiritual practice and life skill for the modern world that will remain with the for life.
It’s less a question of teaching them to meditate and more about us learning from their simplicity and helping them to stay in touch with their contemplative gift.
Children today are exposed to adult pressures and the addictions of digital entertainment at very early ages. Meditation simply and immediately helps them to cope and survive these forces. Teachers notice the benefits very quickly in classes and schools where meditation becomes part of the regular experience.
The above is taken from www.wccm.org, the website of the World Community of Christian Meditation.
When a teacher introduces meditation to a child, who is teaching who? The answer based on experience is ‘both’.
Now meditate with your children for five minutes.
Call two students, a boy and a girl, to the front of the class. Say “are you a boy or a girl? Prompt them to say: “I’m a girl.” or “I’m a boy.” Ask other students to the front of the class and ask them, for example: “Is your grandmother a man or a woman?” Prompt the reply: “She’s a woman.”
Do the same for other members of their families and their friends. They will be boys, girls, men or women. Then ask what they are or what they do. See occupations and jobs from the last course 6.
They might be a cook, chef, crossing guard, doctor, policeman, fire fighter, engineer, soccer player, farmer, carpenter, singer, dentist or have any other job Ask: “What do they do?” or “What is your father?” Prompt answer: “She / he is a ………………”
Pass round laminated sports flashcards. The teacher chants: ‘What sport do you play? Children look at the flashcards below and call out the following: “I play football”, “I swim”, etc. Also make flashcards for rugby, surfing, fishing, baseball, mountain climbing, table tennis, beach ball, etc.
Red book, red bed, green tree, yellow lemon, yellow jelly, orange box, orange fox, blue pen, black hat, black cat, white egg, brown mouse, brown house, pink bird, pink drink in glass, purple grapes. purple tape, red, green, orange, yellow, blue, black, white, brown, pink, purple. Get the children to repeat, before you sing the colour songs together
Here comes the letter J.
J is for Jack, J J Jack.
J is for Jill, J J Jill.
J is for Joy, J J Joy.
J is for Jump, J J Jump.
J is for Jelly, J J Jelly.
J is for Juice, J J Juice.
J is for Jackal, J J Jackal.
J is for Jaguar, J J Jaguar.
J is for Joy, J J Joy.
J is for Jam, J J Jam.
J is for Jolly, J J Jolly.
J is for Jester, J J Jester.
Here are some suggestions for mimes:
