Excerpt from Beyond Potential STORY BOOK: “I Have Toes!”
(By Janet Knight & Illustrated by
Danielle Schwartz)
Look! I have
toes,
Five on each foot
In two little
rows.
One, two, three,
four, five.
Six seven, eight, nine, ten!
Ten little toes
Toes in rows!
I have a nose,
you have a nose,
His nose looks like
a big red rose!
What does he do
with a
rosy nose?
Sniff, sniff.
Of course!
Smell the rose I suppose!
All people have
knees…
Thin knees, fat
knees,
smooth knees,
knobby knees.
You have knees
that look like trees!
Are your knees
trees?
Look! She has a
belly.
You have a belly.
He has a belly
that
shakes like jelly!
Hey mister!
Is your belly
jelly?
His hair is long.
My hair is curly.
Your hair is
straight,
Her hair is
whirly.
Long….
Curly…Straight…. Whirly!
Hand, wrist, elbow, shin.
Thumb, finger,
shoulder, chin.
Teeth, tongue,
eyes, grin.
This is my shin…
And my chin…
….and my grin!
(More verses and pictures - all about self awareness - are to be found in the rest of this Beyond Potential Story Book.)
ENRICHMENT EXERCISES:”I Have Toes!”
THEME ~ “ME”
VALUES ~ SELF AWARENESS & ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS
- Self-concept: One of the first steps in healthy emotional development is for your child to develop self - awareness.
~ As you read the story-book point out your child’s
own little toes, nose, shin, chin.
~ Talk about people you know and discuss their knees
or belly.
- Self-esteem: Sources of self-esteem are both internal (the child
experiences pleasure at having accomplished a task), and external
(positive feedback from parents who recognize the child’s achievement.)
~ Ask your child to point at the toes, the rose and
the nose, the knees, and so on. Let her repeat the words, and show her that you
are pleased at her achievement.
- Body awareness: Play a game with your child like “Simon Says” and see if she
can mimic your actions. ~ As you
say: “Simon says, ‘Put your hands on your head’”, do the action as well.
(Go through all the body parts so that your child learns all names.)
- Awareness of others: Go through the family album and point out grandparents, uncles,
aunts, cousins and friends. Talk about them, their relationship to your
child and about things they do; e.g. “This is uncle Albert, he is a
policeman.” Or “This is your cousin Barney, remember when he came
to your birthday party?”
- Differences: Compare the pictures of people in this book. Talk about the
colours of their clothing, their hair styles, their facial expressions,
their ages and sizes.
- Fantasy and reality:
~ Look at the picture on page 16. Ask: are pigs really
green and red and purple?
~ Look at the picture on page 18. Ask: Do trees have
hair? What is green and hangs down? (Leaves.) Do trees have brown toes? (Roots.)
- Pronunciation:
~ Play
a game with your child and repeat all the rhyming words in the story. Listen
carefully to hear if your child is pronouncing the words correctly. DO NOT
CORRECT your child, just say the words again and allow her to practice.
