Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is a how-to book filled with developmental activities for kids starting from birth to age 5. In all, there are 260 weekly activities that parents can do with their children that will help prepare them for school, and for learning in general.
The suggested activities make use of inexpensive materials that usually can be found around the house. The activities themselves are written very well — they are easy to read, with explicit instructions as well as explanations of the skills developed.
This book is packed with activities that are very "do-able". All too often as parents we can come across great ideas of activities to do with our children, but we don't always get around to doing them. The activities in Slow and Steady Get Me Ready are so easy to do and well-directed that you will actually find yourself doing them! Not only that, the activities are a whole lot of fun. We've personally tried a number of activities and all of them went over well with the kids.
On an educational level, this book seems to be extraordinarily well thought-out. By following the program, parents can be assured that they are presenting activities that are age-appropriate.
The skills covered in this book are too many to list here, but we will provide a sampling to help illustrate how multi-sensory and comprehensive these activities really are. Infants develop spatial awareness, fine and gross motor skills, tactile and sensorimotor perception, and more. One year olds can develop eye-hand coordination, early vocabulary, simple problem-solving and visual skills, confidence, and more. Two year olds develop skills in matching, memory recall, a desire to help, an understanding of responsibility, etc. Three year olds can develop freedom of expression and role playing, awareness of letters, auditory skills, simple number skills, and more. Four year olds develop an awareness of time, a better understanding of letters and their sounds, fine and gross motor skills, awareness of sequencing and patterns, etc.
Also discussed are behavioral dilemmas ranging from more serious problems like biting and destructiveness to less difficult but nonetheless frustrating issues like food playing and problems with nap and bedtime. These issues are addressed in the introduction of the book with real-world practical solutions that involve specific activities in the book.
Although each activity should not take up very much time (up to half an hour weekly activities), parents are encouraged to repeat activities for extra reinforcement.
Some parents may question the idea of getting children ready for school so early. Is it really necessary? Research into brain development suggests that the first 3 years of life are extremely important to the development and circuitry of the brain. The experiences young children have actually determine to a large degree how they learn. Parents are the most important teachers. Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is an exceptional manual that can help parents make the most of these important formative first years.
The author is a retired Kindergarten teacher who is all too familiar with children entering Kindergarten without appropriate skills or signs of "readiness". As such, an underlying principle of the book is the idea of getting a child ready — step by step — for school and learning. This does not only involve teaching a child the letters of the alphabet or other more academic skills, but also encompasses important social and behavioral skills.
Also available is a booklet called Measurable Parameters to Profile Child Development that is based on the book. This booklet will be helpful for parents to assess readiness skills in their young children. Skills are arranged in the form of detailed checklists for the different age groups — birth to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, 1 to 2 years, 2 to 3 years, 3 to 4 years, and 4 to 5 years.
The Slow and Steady Get Me Ready video shows the author of the book discussing and demonstrating different activities from the book. While the video is not state-of-the-art cinematography, it does provide parents with a visual demonstration of the excellent developmental activities of the program.
Single copies of either the book or video are $22.95 US each and a single copy of the Measurable Parameters book is $4.95, which includes shipping and handling. In Canada, the prices are the same, and shipping and handling by air is also included.. Checks or money orders must be in US funds. Buy the book and the Measurable Parameters booklet for $24.95 US; the book and the video together cost $37.95 US; all three items (the book, video, and booklet) cost $39.95 US. Remember, this includes shipping.
Credit card orders can be made by calling 800-753-6667.
