DR> I keep thinking of more things. :)
Thanks. :)
DR> When I taught young kids, we had a couple of days where they played a 
"game
DR> that was based on some of the large motor skills. They had to jump on 
oth
DR> feet, jump from two feet to one foot, learned a "Cadberry shuffle" (see
DR> below), hop on one foot, change to the other foot and hop some more, walk
DR> forwards, walk backwards, jump and hop backwards, do a "jack be nimble" 
ove
DR> an object from two feet and landing on one, do slides (sideways) and 
gallup
DR> (forwards) leading first with the right foot and then from the left, and 
an
DR> other sort of movement such as walking on a line like on a balance beam. 
We
DR> did it gamelike - you could do it
DR> follow the leader with Aaron. Any of these skills that he is missing, 
you'l
DR> want to work on - they say that these make a big difference towards 
reading
DR> readiness.
I really like this idea... and will be trying it with both kids.  Like I 
aid,
we have a large park with several baseball fields right across the street and 
we can go over there to do things like this. :)
DR> A "Cadberry Shuffle", if you don't remember the commercial, is done like 
th
DR> jump with your feet apart, then jump onto one foot with the loose leg 
ent
DR> back behind the one you just jumped onto. Jump back onto both feet (like 

DR> jumping jack), then jump onto the other foot with the loose leg bent back
DR> behind the one you just jumped onto. Repeat. It's almost like hopscotch. 
Th
DR> can
DR> be tough for kids to learn. If he doesn't catch on right away, don't 
orry
DR> about it. Try it again later. If it catches his interest, he'll try on 
is
DR> own. If he's frustrated, don't push it. Most of my K's seemed to like it. 
I
DR> he does, you can teach him to play hopscotch.
I've never seen Aaron try anything like this... it will be fun to see what 
he
kids do with it. :)
DR> Ball skills. 
Yes? :)  I know I should participate more than I do, but I do enjoy seeing my 
kids learning to cooperate with each other in throwing the balls or frisbees. 
DR> Riding a bike. (Do you have one? Ride with him. Teach him new
DR> bike skills and review bike safety - that comes under Science and Health 
to
Yes, I have a bike I bought last year at a yard sale but I have never ridden 
it because my kids don't have bikes yet!  I'm hoping that this year I'll be 
able to get them each a new bike, and then we can start riding together.  Oh 
yes, we'll also need a car rack so that we can take them to interesting 
places, like Point Pinole, out next to the San Francisco Bay, where there is 
the remnant of an old dynamite factory. :)
DR> Pick an aerobics tape and do it together - he'll learn about taking his 
u
DR> and learn new exercises that will last a lifetime. 
I do aerobics (w/Jane Fonda) but he just watches. :(  Cimeron will try to do
them with me.  He will participate right at the end for the stretching 
exercises, though.  Jane Fonda put out two tapes just for kids, and I've been
trying to find them, but none of the stores around here carry them!!  Now I'm
just looking for someone willing to special-order them for me.  One is a 
preschool level tape, I think.  We will probably get the one for ages 7 and 
up... and hope it isn't too hard for Aaron.
DR> Check out a "how to" sports
DR> video from the library and try a few things. (Bela Karolyi of gymnastics 
fa
DR> has a great one out there called "Gymnastics is Fun", teaching a child to 
d
DR> forward and backward rolls, cartwheels, and other simple tricks, and it
DR> teaches the parent how to spot the child too.)
Oh, cool... yes, I'll look for that!!  There is a gym that does special 
homeschoolers gymnastics classes for kids here in Pittsburg... I think they
just charge $15 per month, but believe it or not, that's just too much for me
this month!  (Too many bills!!) So, maybe one of these months... but if we do 
it while Cimeron is in school she will really be upset... I'm always trying 
o
figure out things they can both do /after/ school so she doesn't feel too 
eft
out.
DR> If you have a park day or similar with other homeschoolers, you might get
DR> together with the other parents and each teach the kids a playground game 
t
DR> you used to play when you were a kid. Otherwise, our old playground games 
w
DR> disappear. Ideas: Steal the Bacon, FourSquare, Red Rover (done on grass 
s
DR> safer), Hopscotch, jumprope and Double Dutch, kickball. Maybe make a goal 
t
DR> teach a new game every Park Day, with a different parent taking the
DR> responsibility. The Park Day then becomes PE for all involved, and when 
the
DR> games are all taught, the kids can fall back on them and pick their 
favorit
We are having our first park day on the 18th of this month, but I'll have to 
miss it this time.  Oh well...
Zaynab
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