Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready Will help Prepare Your Child for What's Ahead
Written: Dec 11 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: age appropriate activities that promote a parent/child bond.
Cons: I need to be more organized
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready for parents, early childhood teachers and other caregivers.
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| jillmkk's Full Review: |
Anyone that has read my past reviews knows that I am a strong believer in early education. I do homeschool my children, but even if I didn’t I know that all parents are their children’s first and most important teacher. So, when I came across Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June Oberlander a few years ago I was intrigued. I now often recommend this book to parents-to-be, as well as parents of young children?
What is the book?
The book is a collection of 260 weekly developmental activities from birth to age 5. Each week, starting with the week the baby is born and ending with the child’s 5 th birthday a different activity is described.
The activities are very simple and can be done very cheaply, primarily using normal household items. They are also developmentally appropriate – although of course every child is different.
At the beginning of the book there are some tips on solving behavioral dilemmas. Rather what activities can be done to help with certain problems. For example, is your child coloring all over the walls, have him make a “My Color Booklet” (age 2, week 45). Honestly I don’t use this section really, but it could come in useful to some.
After that, the book is divided up into 5 parts – one for each year of the child’s life that is covered (i.e. age 0-1, 1-2, etc…). Each section begins with a short overview of a child at that particular age, and then goes into 52 activities to be done that year. Each activity is very well laid out. Materials needed are given, as well as very complete instructions. At the end, an overview is given that tells what areas that activity effects. Some sample activities are:
Age 0, Week 10 – Large Muscle Activities: Lay the baby down on his tummy on the floor. Stretch out each arm individually and observe the response. Then stretch out each leg individually and observe the response. (The book tells you what kind of response to expect at this age). If there is no response, continue doing the activity through the week watching for any progress. If there is a response, put a stuffed animal in front of him and see if he responds to that.
Age 1, Week 19 – Finger Painting: Directions are given for making a very easy homemade non-toxic finger paint and gives you things to watch for as your child finger paint.
Age 2, Week 42 – Leaf Matching: Go on a Nature Walk. Pluck 2 leaves from 5 different kinds of trees and then play a matching game with them (she tells you how to play). She also gives you ideas on pressing and preserving the leaves.
Age 3, Week 8 – Obstacle Line: Take a thick piece of yarn and lay it on the floor. The yarn should curve in a snake-like fashion over the floor. Have your child walk heal to toe down the yarn, as if she were on a balance beam.
Age 4, Week 52 – The Traveling Bag: In this activity you teach a child how to pack an overnight bag.
Many of the activities have simple pencil drawings to help show you what you need to do. The book is not in color and is just very simple black and white. This is not a book for the kids – it is a resource book for the parent/caregiver.
What do I like about this book?
I like pretty much everything about this book. Ms. Oberlander was a kindergarten teacher for 25 years and you really get the feeling that she would be nice to have as a teacher. Her writing style is fairly relaxed and non-judgmental. She emphasizes a lot that you not push your child too hard. Do an activity when they are in the mood, not because “this is when you scheduled it”. If an activity is beyond your child’s ability now, try it again in a few weeks. She takes into consideration that boys and girls, and in fact each individual child develops differently.
The book also gives you a frame of reference for when a child should be ready to do certain things (i.e. use scissors, learn their phone number, etc…). As a parent, it is sometimes hard for me to know when is the proper time to let them try certain things. If you start them before they are ready, they will rebel against it and never want to do it, and if you start them too late… well, sometimes it is just too late. Not that this book is a “etched in stone – this is when they do things” type book. But it does give you a basic idea.
I could also see how this book could be helpful if you had concerns about your child’s development. Although all children do develop differently, some children do have some developmental delays and might need a little extra help. If you notice that your child can’t do activities for a child a year younger than him (for example), it might give you reason to call the doctor and have him checked out. The earlier problems are caught they easier they are to fix. Although that is not this books intended purpose, I do see how it could be helpful in that respect.
The other thing I like is that these are not just activities that you can just give to the child and send them on their way. They are meant to be done together. Playing with your children at this age helps develop a strong parent/child bond that really can last a lifetime.
What don’t I like?
The problems I have with the book are not with the book itself. They are purely my organizational problems. I need to get my act together to remember to do the activities every week. As the mother of 3 children – 2 of whom are within this book’s range – I sometimes have a problem doing that.
Or, I’ll remember and go to the book to find that I don’t have the material needed on hand for this week’s activity, so even though I wanted to do the activity right then we can’t.
So rather than do an activity a week, we do more like an activity a month. This is definitely not ideal, and I have as a goal to get more organized with it, but as of right now that is still just a goal and not reality.
But again, this is my issue, and is not necessarily a problem with the book.
Final Recommendation:
I highly recommend Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready for parents, early childhood teachers and other caregivers. Not only does it provide you with an abundance of developmentally appropriate activities for your children, it also promotes spending quality time with them and developing a strong parent/child bond.
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Publisher: Bio-Alpha Incorporated
Copyright: 1992
ISBN: 0-9622322-1-1
Recommended:
Yes
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jillmkk
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Location: Massachusetts
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Empowering Families Through Education
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