Video Game Violence And Children

Every so often I post articles I find interesting. This article from The American Academy Of Child & Adolescent Psychology is titled Video Games And Children : Playing With Violence. Click on the title to link to the article.  I wanted to put two takeaways here from the article:

"Studies of children exposed to violent media have shown that they may become numb to violence, imitate the violence, and show more aggressive behavior. Younger children and those with emotional, behavioral or learning problems may be more influenced by violent images."

and...

Tips for Parents
Parents can help their children enjoy these video games appropriately and avoid problems by:

• Avoiding video games in preschool-aged children (emphasis added)
• Checking the ESRB ratings to select appropriate games—both in content and level of development
• Playing video games with their children to share the experience and discuss the game’s content
• Setting clear rules about game content and playing time, both in and outside the home
• Monitoring online interactions and warning children about potential dangers of Internet contacts while playing games online
• Allowing video game playing only in public areas of the home, not in the child’s bedroom
• Remembering that you are a role model for your children including which video games you play and how long you play them
• Enforcing total screen time limits
• Ensuring video games are only played after homework and chores are done
• Encouraging participation in other activities, particularly physical activities

February Week 3: H-H-H

Transition Song: H-E-A-R-T by the Kiboomers

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: Who/What/Where questions, big/little, labeling, describing words, have, yes/no, Heart, house, hippo, horse, hand, horseshoe crab, helicopter, honey, hamburger, hotdog, harmonica, hair, hammer, hat, hammock, hanger, helmet, Humpty Dumpty.

This week Miss Carrie taped pictures all around the room.  All the pictures started with the /h/ sound.  We practiced on our hands so we could feel the air moving out of our mouths.  /h-h-h/. We were going on a hunt for /h/ pictures!

Everyone pretended to hold binoculars to their face and said this: "Binoculars up! I have a picture and it starts with /h/."  Then we found the pictures around the room.  What is it?  Where have I seen it before?  Who has one at their house?  Do you like it or don't like it?  Is it big or little?  If there was time, Miss Carrie gave us pictures to match with the pictures we were hunting.

We knew most of the words but we didn't know horseshoe crab or harmonica. Miss Carrie showed us a video of horseshoe crabs.  She really likes horseshoe crabs.

Then Miss Carrie showed us a video of a 6 year old kid playing the harmonica.  We noticed that he was blowing so his cheeks puffed out.  We noticed that sometimes he moved his hand to make the sound different.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Go on a hunt for pictures and objects around your house, around the park, around the store, or where ever your are. Pick a sound. What can you find?  Talk about the picture/object.  Ask What/Where/Who questions, describe it (big, yellow, small, bumpy, soft), Do you like it/don't like it. Make sure you repeat the sound over and over during play to reinforce it. Picking the first sound in your family names is a good place to start.

February Week 2: What Do You Hear?

Transition Song: H-E-A-R-T by the Kiboomers

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: hear, loud/quiet, listening ears, quiet mouths, big/little, lion, tiger, bear, elephant, cow, pig, horse, dog, cat, duck, frog, chicken/rooster, bird, monkey, zebra, snake,  peacock, eagle, penguin, owl, turtle, bee, bat, hippo, camel, flamingo, What/Where questions, “I hear” phrases, home/farm/zoo.

This week we played the game "What Do You Hear".  Miss Carrie reminded us to use our listening ears and quiet mouths so we could hear.  She has an app (Soundtouch 1 & 2) that plays animal sounds.  We listened to the animals and guessed what they were.  Then we looked at the photographs of animals to see if we were right.  We talked about if we had seen an animal like that at home, on farms, or at zoos. 

Miss Carrie played a lot of different sounds.  We knew sounds like dog, cat, cow, and elephant. We were stumped with zebras, peacocks, hippos, and alligators.  We discovered that if we didn't have quiet mouths while we were listening, we couldn't hear the animal sounds.  It was so much fun to guess!  It was so much fun to try to sounds like the animal.

DO THIS AT HOME:  play animal sounds and take turns guessing.  You could find them on the computer or you could make the sounds yourself.  Or go to the zoo or to a farm, listen for sounds, try to identify the sounds.

February Week 1: Hiding Phil

Transition Song: H-E-A-R-T by te Kiboomers

NOTE: We sing just the first verse, clap on each letter H-E-A-R-T while we singing an repeat it a second and sometimes a third time.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: over/under, hide/hiding, descriptive words, locations vocabulary pertaining to the classrooms, first/next/last, Where questions, Who questions, He/She/We/They

This week we read the book Hiding Phil by Eric Barclay.  

Phil is an elephant.  The kids want him to stay but they need to hide him under things.  It didn't work!  It was so much fun to see where Phil hid.  It was fun to find the dog in each picture.  Wait till you see where Phil hid last! We decided to play hide-and-seek and hid under tables, chairs, coats, blankets, and stuffed animals. Miss Carrie counted to 10 and then came to find us.  When she found us, she took our picture!  Then we looked at the pictures and talked about Who was in the picture and Where they were hiding.

DO THIS AT HOME:  play hide and seek and take pictures.  Talk about who is hiding where.  Talk about hiding under objects.  Laugh at the pictures and show them to your family.  Get everyone involved.