Often Bear(3.5) sees J-jo(1.5) doing practical life work and wants to do the same. However, J-jo's practical life work poses no challenge to Bear. While there is benefit to doing the easier work - such as rest from more challenging academic work - I do want to present Bear with a bit of a challenge. Consequently, I often provide an extra tool to add that challenge for Bear.
For instance, in this "place the marble on the suction cup" exercise that I set up for J-jo,
I added a tiny spoon (from sampling ice cream at Baskin Robins) for Bear. You have to tilt the spoon just so to get the marble onto the suction cup.
In this "spoon the marble from the bowl to the tray" exercise, I added training chopsticks for Bear to use to grab the marble.
And in this "push the golf tees into play dough" exercise, I provided a hammer for Bear to hit the tees with.
How do you deal with working with and teaching two children of different abilities in your home?
That is interesting that you've posted about this. I just had a conference with L's teacher and she says L likes do to works that the other children her age are doing even though she is at a much higher level. I think it's a social thing. Looks like you are coming up with ways for them to do the same work but at their own levels.
ReplyDeleteThose are interesting extensions of simple activities. I wish Anna's classroom had more accommodations to challenge kids like Anna. Well, at least they have plenty of books.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas on how to extend the work to two different levels of skill. It got me thinking about what I can do with my sons who are similar ages to your children.
ReplyDeleteNice post! We sometimes do similar-but-different things... like the 3.5 year old works on smaller pattern blocks, the almost 2 year old works on beginner pattern block boards. Or they do the same things but at their own level, like when we play with our rice bin and the older one pours and scoops with more accuracy. It's amazing to me, though, how much closer in ability my boys are becoming... Of course the older is more advanced, but I'm beginning to see that they can do a lot of the same activities together.
ReplyDeleteI love this post!! Me puedo expresar mejor aqui en español!!lol.. Ella solo quiere hacer lo mismo que su hermanito, pero te quedo fenomenal que le dieras la oportunidad añadiendole grado de dificultad...Me parece fantastico!!! Gracias por compartir tus experiencias!!!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you find the suction cup fish? I have been searching all over for something like that to do the marbles with and have had no luck!
ReplyDeleteJen, I found those in the bath section (at the end of an aisle) at Target, and I've also seen them at Kmart.
ReplyDeleteI do some very similar things, with a two year age difference they are interested in the same things- yet their abilities vary. I love the adorable photos!
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