Sam's Learning

Sam loves to trace things right now. I have him tracing the alphabet, and he's proven that he can color little things in. His OT has me giving him the broken crayons, because the really short crayons force him to hold them more correctly instead of in his fist. As he does the different tasks I give him, we talk about each page, what is happening, and describing everything. Lately he seems to be on a huge learning curve that is swinging upward very quickly.

The magazine he's working in is one I got instead of Family Fun. About a year ago I subscribed to Family Fun magazine. It wasn't very appropriate for the preschool crowd; only one or two activities per issue. So I didn't renew it and instead chose something that was supposed to be preschool appropriate. Well, I'm not too happy with it either, but I'll use it. Sam seems to like it. It's called Preschool Playroom, and it's just a giant ad for children's TV shows. There are a few really great learning activities in it, and Sam was able to work his way through the entire magazine in about an hour. This is something that is published about 8 times in a year, and costs $40/year. I don't think I'll get it again either. For that much money, it should be twice a month, especially since it's cover-to-cover advertising. There is NOTHING generic in it. Learn letters with Barney, color with Curious George, Read with Doodlebops (don't ask, it's worse than Mr. Rogers and less educational), Oh, I forgot the Arthur story (for learning reading comprehension) and I have no idea who Zula Patrol is. Considering that we don't get satelite TV so that we don't have to shovel all this pap at our children, I feel rather ripped off that it's been snuck into my house, and I actually paid for it. I'm seriously considering cancelling it. Part of me wants to wait to see what the next issue brings. I'm sure it will be something like Bob the Builder, but it does engage Sam. Of course, there are other alternatives, like printing out activities off of web sites.