What Learning Type are You?

Ever wonder why you can tell someone something and they completely understand it? And with others you can tell them 10 times and they still don't really get it even though they are intelligent? Because it's not about intelligence.  It's about HOW you learn and process information.

It's been proven there are 4 basic learning types which you may have heard of: Auditory, Kinesthetic, Tactile and Visual.  Below are some general characteristics for the 4 learning types:

Auditory

• Can repeat verbal instructions
• Will not look at speaker to comprehend
• Do not do well reading instructions; rather be told
• Asks questions

Kinesthetic      

• Like to use their bodies in the learning process 
• Enjoys tasks that involve manipulating materials and objects 
• Learns through moving, doing, and touching
• May find it hard to sit still for long periods 

Tactile

• Like hands-on opportunities
• Manipulate and gestures when speaks
• May be a poor listener 
• Would rather touch than look

Visual

•  Needs eye contact to communicate
• Usually takes detailed notes to absorb the information
• Scans everything; wants to see things, enjoys visual stimulation
• Often closes their eyes to visualize or remember something

Now that you've read the list, do you know what kind of learner you are? What kind of learner are your children?  Keep in mind, parents, that children will exhibit all 4 learning types up until about age 10. By that age their propensity towards one learning style will be obvious. 

In our next blog post we'll discuss learning types and outings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 "Kidding Around Town" is the ultimate outing guide for you and your kids to explore the DFW Metroplex. 

With a comprehensive listing of destinations, Catherine Cates provides detailed outlines on how to create educational and fun experiences for kids of every age AND their parents!  Also included are featured destinations in each category that go into specifics related to that particular destination. 

"Kidding Around Town"  will help you create wonderfully well-rounded memories for your kids, and develop a springboard for noticing the lifetime learning that surrounds them if they have been taught to look for it!

Have Ms.Cates come speak to your group about brain development and the importance of outings. Contact her at: info@aroundtownkids.com

Taking the Fear out of Cemeteries

Add caption

With Halloween coming up I thought this is a good time to discuss cemeteries and taking the fear out of them. Find the cemetery nearest you and use this as a learning opportunity. Maybe you'd like to stop by and pay your respects to a loved one.

As a kid you may have participated in the "old  wives' tale" to hold your breath around a cemetery for fear that inhaling would bring on an early death. Cemetery lore is still in use in our language today such as the expression of having the "graveyard shift" at work or claiming to be "dead tired."  Still in use today, these activities and sayings highlight interesting cultural values that can best be explored by visits to their origins: the cemetery.

While death is a "heady" subject, children are generally more comfortable with it since they do not fully understand it as we adults do.  Taking a trip to the cemetery can dispel some of a cemetery's mysteries, erase misconceptions about this human cultural activity and teach religious and secular values associated with burial practices.

Be prepared for some interesting questions about the physical process of a body's decomposition, factual discussions about some of the better documented cultural burial practices from around the world and introducing the cemetery as an outdoor art museum with its stone etchings, poetic epithets and stone marker designs.

There are many cemeteries in the area including ones associated with local churches. You might consider Pecan Grove Cemetery in McKinney. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in North Texas and is rich in history. Heroes from several wars such as the Texas Revolution, the Mexican War, the war for Southern Independence and every war after are buried here.  This outing could include a history lesson as well.

Here's a few things young children can learn at a cemetery.

2 & 3 Year Olds:
*Identify numbers and letters etched in the stone markers.
*Introduce cemetery etiquette - speak softly, no running, do not sit on markers etc.

4 & 5 Year Olds:
*Talk about why the stone markers are there and what is their purpose.
*Make a rubbing of several stone markers using paper and peeled crayons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 "Kidding Around Town" is the ultimate outing guide for you and your kids to explore the DFW Metroplex. 

With a comprehensive listing of destinations, Catherine Cates provides detailed outlines on how to create educational and fun experiences for kids of every age AND their parents!  Also included are featured destinations in each category that go into specifics related to that particular destination. 

"Kidding Around Town"  will help you create wonderfully well-rounded memories for your kids, and develop a springboard for noticing the lifetime learning that surrounds them if they have been taught to look for it!

Making the Pumpkin Patch Educational

Now that my NEW BOOK, Kidding Around Town,  is about to launch let's get started on some fun yet educational content!

You've probably already guessed that Fall is my favorite season. I could tell you endless things I love about Fall, with one thing being Pumpkin Patches.

Most of us take our kids to the pumpkin patch because it's fun, festive and we get great photo opps. But did you know you can also take your kids to the pumpkin patch to learn?  Even your one year old can learn something at the patch. You were probably teaching your child all along and just didn't know it!

What can they learn at the pumpkin patch?

Here's what your ONE YEAR OLD can learn at the pumpkin patch:
* Children of this age are still learning about their environment. Stimulate their sensory input with a tactile exploration of the pumpkin, its stems, vines and leaves.

Here's something your 6-10 YEAR OLD can learn at the pumpkin patch:
* Use a measuring tape and record several different pumpkin sizes. When you get home plot them on graph paper and then compare your findings.

If you like what you read, this is just a sampling of the type of information you'll be able to read in my new book, Kidding Around Town. Stay tuned for launch date!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 "Kidding Around Town" is the ultimate outing guide for you and your kids to explore the DFW Metroplex. 

With a comprehensive listing of destinations, Catherine Cates provides detailed outlines on how to create educational and fun experiences for kids of every age AND their parents!.  You will also find featured destinations in each category that go into specifics related to that particular destination. 

"Kidding Around Town"  will help you create wonderfully well-rounded memories for your kids, and develop a springboard for noticing the lifetime learning that surrounds them if they have been taught to look for it!

Apples Galore!

When you grow up back east you quickly learn all the different types of apples. There’s your typical McIntosh, Delicious (red or golden variety) and Granny Smith. Then there’s some you may not have heard of:  Winesap, Fuji, Pink Lady, Gala, Rainier and more.  Some are juicier than others, some have tougher skin, some are sweeter and some are more tart.  You quickly learn your favorites. And which ones are better for baking.

Once we picked the apples and brought them home to clean them, we’d move on to eating or cooking with them. My mom had this old-fashioned looking gadget for squishing apples. It was round and had a paddle like blade that you turned round and round to squish them up. That was oftentimes my job and it could be fun to watch them get all squishy.

Once I was done squishing we’d make the applesauce.  I’d provide you a recipe but there really isn’t one. Just add water, sugar (or not) and cinnamon (or not) to taste. My sister loves cinnamon so her dose of apple sauce always looked browner than the rest of us because she sprinkled extra cinnamon on hers. I preferred my applesauce chunkier so it had some texture. Most kids tend to like theirs smooth.

I don’t recall my mom making apple cake, but maybe she did. Years later I got an apple cake recipe. Then recently my mother-in-law made an apple cake that my husband loved.  I decided to make him apple cake for his birthday. When I compared the recipes – one from a long time ago and my mother-in-law’s – they were the same!

I’ll share my tasty apple cake recipe on the next post.

Apple Picking Fun

I truly miss the seasons we had back east. It seems in Texas we have “hot and hotter.”  Not that I miss really cold temps and snow, but spring and fall are quite lovely back east.

To me there’s nothing quite like feeling that crisp chill of autumn in the air and getting to wear your sweaters for the first time of the season.   When I lived back east I had quite the collection of sweaters, mostly wool. When I moved to Texas the moths ate the wool so consequently my sweater collection became comprised of cotton.

Apples are a sign of Fall back east.  When that cool crisp air rolls in a nice hot mug of apple cider warms you up!  Since moving to Texas it seems we don’t have near as many occasions to bother with a hot mug of anything (except your morning coffee or tea).

Apples were so prevalent we’d often go to apple orchards to pick our own. I can still smell those wooden baskets emanating that earthy apple smell. While us kids were busy seeing how many apples we could stuff in a bushel my dad was busy eating apples!  It’s a known fact in our family that he loves fruit so he would eagerly volunteer to take us kids apple picking.   That freed up mom to get things done around the house without a bunch of kids around. We’d come home busting with pride as we showed our mom how many apples we picked. (And dad came home with a stomach ache!)

Then we were on to the next apple adventure – squishing them! That didn’t involve bare feet and large wooden vats like grapes.

More on apple squishing next. 

Fall is in the Air!

Fall is my favorite time of year.  Growing up on the east coast fall was a sight to behold. If you have never had the chance to take a trip back east during the fall, I highly recommend putting it on your list.

When I was younger we used to describe the smattering of leaf color as looking at a “bowl of Trix” with Trix being the kids’ fruit flavored colorful cereal. The trees light up with color in so many gorgeous shades of red, orange and yellow.  We didn’t have to go far to see the leaf color – it was everywhere as deciduous trees are so prevalent.  The same trees we climbed on and gave us shade during spring and summer were transformed during autumn into glittering gems of rubies, amber and citrine.

Our family loved nature so we’d often drive around marveling at all the beautiful leaf colors. We’d “ooh and aah” at the spectacular leaves at every twist and turn eager to point out our favorites.  My favorite was the red leaves.  I used to love to collect them all and form a “bouquet” of leaves to bring to my mom.  She’d always react with a big smile and thank me for my efforts.   Oftentimes we’d pick the best specimens and press them between wax paper as you do with wild flowers.

My brother still lives up north and is treated to a spectacular autumnal display every year. Attached is a photo he took one year that I now share with you to enjoy.

Stay tuned for more on Fall.