Caution - What Books Can Do To Your Toddlers - Book Recommendation

Effects of vigorous book reading sessions as per my son's demands!

My 2 year old son 'A', playing with his local train miniature and telling me -

A : mumma jab delhi jaayenge to local train me baithenge (when we go to delhi, we will go in local train)

Me : mumbai has local train like this you have in your hand, delhi has metro train. We will go in metro train when we go to delhi

A : ok...mumma bangalore me kaunsi train hai? (Which train is there in Bangalore?)

:O

PS - He is a big fan, rather an addict of mumbai book, absolutely adores delhi book and we just started reading bangalore book day before yesterday. This book series from Funokplease publishers is a must have for kids!

Geography has a new meaning in our house ;)

Happy reading aloud & happy parenting :)

Read More »

Importance Of Puzzles For Toddlers In Early Years & How To Teach Or Introduce Your Toddler To Solve Puzzles (VLOG)

Hands down, puzzles help in developing so many skills for those little beings. Here are some of the benefits of solving puzzles - 

Fine Motor Skills / Hand Eye Coordination
The ability to hold those pieces, putting them rightly in the slots/grooves does not come across as easy to the toddlers as it appears to us. 

Emotional Skills & Confidence
Ever seen the triumph face of a toddler after s/he successfully solves the puzzle? They learn patience & gain confidence in the process of solving puzzles!

Memory 
To remember which piece fits where & which one does not, no doubt the memory is being sharpened when your toddlers solves a puzzle

Logic & Problem Solving
Do I need to elaborate more? :) This soft skill is very much needed as they grow into independent individuals. 

Enhances Visual & Spatial Intelligence 
If you have not read about the multiple intelligence theory by Howard Gardner, please do read a summary HERE. And puzzles provide a beautiful opportunity to enhance the visual & spatial intelligence in an individual.


Now, something magical happened in the last 1 week. My son turned 2 yesterday and suddenly he wanted to do puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles! Who is complaining? :) Watch more in the video how & when I introduced puzzles to my son.

We have loved such 1 piece / knobbed puzzles in the beginning of our puzzle solving journey

Then we graduated to 2 piece puzzles like these



Now we are trying to do multiple pieces jigsaw puzzles like these

By the way, once your child has mastered a specific puzzle, if you are wondering what to do with that puzzle, here is an idea how you can repurpose a bunch of puzzles :)



I loved THIS post on how to introduce puzzles to toddlers. Do find time to hop on to this amazing blog.

Read More »

What's On Our Montessori Inspired Shelf For Toddlers (2-3 Years) & Toy Recommendations (VLOG)

Here are our Montessori inspired shelf activities for the next couple of days that I set up for my 2 year old son. Watch the video for the details & the sources of materials I used in the description box of the video on YouTube.

Source of the wooden puzzle shown in this video - search for facebook groups named "tiara toys", "ionica toys", "kidstop". All of them have this kind of wooden puzzle in various designs.

Megabloks - http://amzn.to/2kD3L1A

knobbed cylinders from aliexpress.com

Read More »

Montessori Inspired Budget Friendly Arts Corner At Home For Toddlers & Preschoolers (VLOG)

A budget-friendly, Montessori inspired arts corner for my 2 years old son to foster creativity, love for arts & independence :) And he is loving the experience! So am I :)

Child-sized furniture, prepared environment, inviting & beautiful setup - Thanks to Montessori for all these knowledge & nuggets!

Watch this video for a quick tour of this space that my son absolutely loves!

Read More »

Exclusive Discounts On Kids Imported Books & Indian Publisher Books - THE BOOKMARK

[NEW DISCOUNT OFFER ON KIDS BOOKS]

We, at THE K JUNCTION, realize the importance of reading aloud to kids - starting from newborn phase to toddlerhood & beyond. We are excited to roll out an EXCLUSIVE 10% discount offer on kids preloved imported books & all major Indian publisher books that are available at this awesome webstore called THE BOOKMARK. The discount code is available in our closed group here www.facebook.com/groups/thekjunction and it expires on 15 MARCH 2017. So join my group right away & grab the books with this irresistable offer from THE BOOKMARK. Please note that you have to sign in to their website http://thebookmark.in/ to be able to use this discount code. 

Now you can, rather you SHOULD, go on & read the details below :) 

Here is what Swathi, Founder @ THE BOOKMARK has to say -

Reading to children, even before they can understand words, teaches them to associate books with love and affection. There are so many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. BOOKMARK is a complete bookstore for kids of all age groups, where the books are available at unbelievable prices and will be cheaper than any other stores without compromising on the quality. LET US SPREAD THE JOY OF READING. Shop without draining your pockets. “There is more treasure in books, than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”-Walt Disney. 

Join THE BOOKMARK facebook group today - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebookmark4kids/

Brand New Website - http://thebookmark.in/

Here is my own short & simple story - 

Books have been our best friends since my son was in my womb. I used to read a lot of spiritual books when I was pregnant. I would sometimes read him Panchatantra stories too back then. After he was born, once I got settled in some kind of a routine, I or any family member would read aloud books to my son. He seemed to enjoy a lot :) It was when my son was 3 months, I came across the concept of preloved imported books, those were sold for much less than the MRP. There was no need to browse Amazon or Flipkart for the international bestsellers & US/UK publisher books & make a huge hole in the pocket. Preloved books were much more affordable. Then I got to know many of the Indian publishers as well, for kids' books. They are equally good, sometimes better because the illustrations, storyline, characters in Indian publishers' books were very relatable. THE BOOKMARK has been operating through their facebook group for long & I myself am a happy customer of THE BOOKMARK. Recently, they have launched their beautiful website & this offer is to celebrate the website launch.

So what are you waiting for? Browse away their wonderful collection & build a mini library for your child! Gift him/her the treasure & love for books :)

Read More »

BADMASHIYAN - Which Song Have You Played For Your Valentine Today?

Happy Valentine's Day Folks :)

This is an old song that I am revisiting today, this Valentine's Day :)

I had sung this song way back in 2013 & released online on Valentine's Day. Thanks to Facebook, this reappeared on my timeline! This was a totally online collaboration between some awesome independent artists, which means the team never met each other & everything happened online. The internet had been a great tool for me to collaborate with musicians around the globe in the last couple of years.

This song is called BADMASHIYAN. It is an attempt to use a Hip Hop outfit for an Indian melody. Hope you like this experiment :)

Music - Rishi S Composer
Lyrics - Vishwa Deepak
Vocals - Kuhoo Gupta
Label, Production & Copyrights - Sonore Unison

Read More »

How To Introduce Continents Of The World To Kids - Geography (VLOG)

Are you looking to introduce some geography to your toddlers? Check out this wonderful world map foam puzzle where your kid can learn about continents in a hands-on, Montessori inspired & play way method. 

We started this puzzle as a pattern matching & visual discrimination activity. He continued to ask what is what, and that is how he learnt the names of the seven continents. The emphasis here is not on memorization of continent names. It is easy at this stage when the child is imitating & reproducing anything exposed to them. It can be an item song or a nursery rhyme or continent names. But this serves as a starter for introducing geography to kids - world, continents, countries etc. My son is 23 months in this video.

I supplemented this activity with the following storyline for my toddler -

We live in our house. And our house is in a society named XYZ. He knows this for a fact. Then I extended this concept from known to unknown - what he knows is house & society. I told him there are so many societies like ours in our area & the area's name is ABC. Similarly there are so many such areas in a city & we live in Pune city. I expanded this concept till the level of continents & world.

It is still kind of abstract for him but I am guessing he will get the concept soon. Also, he had been asking a lot these days, where did that uncle aunty come from, where do they live, I want to go there, we will go by car, train etc etc. So I picked up these cues by him to expand more on this concept.

I got this foam puzzle from a facebook page called Creative Express. They have many more exciting products in their store. You can avail an exclusive 15% discount on all of their products. Just mention this discount code while placing an order with them - RPP0107

Check out our SHOP & OFFERS page to find exclusive discounts on many more educational products & kids books.

---

Do not forget to follow "The K Junction" on Facebook page & closed Facebook group, Twitter and Instagram for day to day updates that might not always find a place on this blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to know more about our early learning journey, DIY & Montessori & Waldorf inspired activities for kids, kids books & toys reviews and much more!

Hope to see you around. Happy Parenting!

---

Read More »

5 Ways To Introduce Music To Your Kids At Home (VLOG)

My parents tell me that I started to sing at the age of 5.

That's Me At Around 5 or 6 YearsOf Age :)

They tell me I used to rewind & play cassettes in the tape recorder again all by myself till I learnt a particular song. And that is how my journey as a singer started. My father is a good singer, though he calls himself a bathroom singer, but I think I got those musical genes from him because my mother is still as lost when it comes to music as she was years back when my younger brother tried to teach her simple tunes & she would mess them up gloriously :) I do not know if she used to just make it up for us to have some fun or otherwise!

Nevertheless, I got my dose of music in some or the other way right from the childhood. I am sure my father had sung to me and also played music on a tape recorder or a radio when I was in the womb. You know, the film music back then in 1980s was much more melodious & meaningful. So even if an individual who had no sense of music, played anything to a child, there would be very less noisy music going into the ears. These days, film music ranges from absolute disasters to decent tracks to some awesome tunes to some glorious evergreens. So it is for us, the parents, to filter out such stuff & let good music reach to our kids' ears, well, as much as possible.

Being a singer, a mother and now an early childhood education enthusiast, I have got this question umpteen number of times from fellow moms, that how to introduce music to their kids. And these kids are infants, toddlers, preschoolers & older kids too. The answer is not too short. Before reading on, please find time to understand why music is beneficial to a child in my article HERE.

Now coming to how you can introduce music to your child -

• Listen To Music During Pregnancy - Read my article (HERE) about my experience & effects on my son, of listening to music when I was pregnant

• Singing To Your Child & Dance Your Heart Out - Do not hesitate even you are one of the most besura persons in the world :) Your child loves your voice the most! And dancing funnily & merrily is a great bonding exercise plus it teaches a sense of beat to your child. For me, I sing to him sa re ga ma alankars randomly when I feel like, be it while getting him ready or while feeding him or any time. I also sing to him songs, mantras, bhajans, rhymes when I feel like. Basically, I try to make it a fun, non-routine, open-ended practice.

• Playing Music In Your House At Waking & Sleeping Hours - . Yes, I play music for some time, even when my child is sleeping. Children spend most of their time in Alpha and Theta brainwave cycles, which corresponds to a meditative or hypnotic state. That is the time, that little brain is in the most receptive state! So it makes all the more sense to play good music while they are asleep. Read more about brain waves & the receptivity HERE

• Exposing Kids To Different Music Instruments - Music is best learnt by kids when it is fun, engaging & a non-routine thing. Kids are curious by nature, so let them explore music instruments & understand how sounds are made. There are so many musical toys available in the market today but most of them are fancy & super expensive because of the baby tag. You can hunt temple shops or actual music instrument shops or local haats or streetside vendors for some good music instruments. Many facebook groups these days also stock wooden child-size music instruments. This is what we have & use : keyboard, maracas, ghungru rattles, drums, xylophone, flute, trumpet, mouth organ, manjeera, dumru, mini dholak, chimes, ektara and my real music instruments - tabla & harmonium. I have not had the courage to give him my real string instruments yet : tanpura & guitar ;) 

My Son At 6 Months Playing A Keyboard Using His Head ;)

• Attend Parent Toddler Classes That Are Focussed On Music - There are many such classes running in various cities under the names like Musical Bonding, Music Together etc [I am in no way endorsing them]. You can search any in your location & attend a trial class to see if it works for you & your child. I am also trying to come up with a curriculum for one such series of classes where I can expose infants/toddlers/preschoolers to this beautiful world of music. Once it is finalized, I will roll it out as a set of classes in Pune first. I am also working on a Taal Appreciation project, targetted for infants, toddlers & preschoolers specifically & this will be an online program, available for anyone round the globe. My son is doing the testing & QA job for the same! So, does that mean, you should be in touch with The K Junction or subscribe to our updates? ;) You can either subscribe to this blog or join our Facebook Community HERE. I share lot more things on facebook related to our early learning journey & much more because it is easier to share there. Blogging is a little more time consuming, hehe. You can watch my almost 2 year old son reciting Indian classical beats in this video below

And now if you are stuck over baby rhymes or Bollywood & wondering what music to listen or play to your child, here are some pointers you can build upon - 

• Mantras & Chants - Search for Gayatri Mantra, Shanti Mantra, Mahamrityunjay Mantra, Buddhist Chants and the likes on YouTube & pick up the version/artist you like the most. There are tons of versions of mantras & chants on the net.
• Bhajans 
• Indian Classical Music - Search for music by the maestros like Kishori Amonkar, Pandit Jasraj, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Shobha Gurtu, Bheemsen Joshi and the likes
• Instrumentals - Search for music by the maestros like Pandit Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and the likes
• Old Bollywood Classics - Songs by Lata, Rafi, Kishor Kumar, Asha, Manna Dey and the likes.
• Sufi & Gazal Music - Search for music by singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Wadali Brothers, Ghulam Ali and the likes.
• Music From Different Cultures - A simple YouTube search will give you loads of music from various cultures. For example, this Christmas, I searched up Carols from different languages & cultures, see the post HERE for links & examples.

Read More »

Montessori Flower Arrangement - Practical Life Activity - 23 Months Old (VLOG)

One of our Valentine's Day activities, that I had been wishing to do for long - Montessori Flower Arrangement. Not strictly as per Montessori but still we loved it :)

I did not have a flower vase handy, so I used a water bottle. Montessori does not need to be expensive always! You can work with what items you have at home.

Sequence of the activity - 

1. pour water from a pitcher to the vase
2. remove leaves from the stem
3. insert flowers in the vase
4. if the length of the stem is too much, use scissors to cut it to appropriate length
5. Wipe off water spills if any

It is a great way to teach care for surroundings to toddlers, a wonderful fine motor & practical life skill. And it serves as an introduction to botany - what is a stem, petal, leaf etc. A great vocabulary builder - learning flower names. And a sensory activity, smelling the flowers, not to forget. By the way, I went to the florist shop along with my son & he loved the experience. He socialized with the florist, got to know who is a florist. He asked names of all the flowers from the florist. He gave money to the florist while we bought the flowers. There is learning happening everywhere & everytime!

I have lost count of the reasons, why I love Montessori :)

Watch my almost 2 year old son in action in this video!








😊

Read More »

Montessori Inspired Valentine's Day Theme Activities For Toddlers & Preschoolers (VLOG)

Love is in the air with the Valentine's day approaching!

Sharing our set of Montessori inspired Valentine's day theme activities for my almost 2 year old son :) Have a look & pick any ideas you like for your child! I have tried to cover almost all key areas of Montessori in this set.

Fine Motor Skills

Practical Life Activity - Montessori Flower Arrangement

Maths

DIY Logic Puzzle

Craft Work Using Cotton Balls From Activity Above

Practical Life

Quick Science Experiment - Sink & Float

Stamping & Sticker Peeling - Fine Motor

For more details about the activities & explanation, watch this quick video, which also shows my son in action for some of the activities :)

These activities were also featured on BabyChakra.com, If you prefer reading text than the video, then check out my article HERE!

Happy Parenting :)

Read More »