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← A Morning Page with a Grandchild

A Morning Page with a Grandchild

Three short lessons for grandparents on five calm minutes with a small child: one page each morning, a two-minute game, and letting the child teach you.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/a-morning-page-with-a-grandchild · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. One page a morning

Small and regular beats big and rare. Five minutes at breakfast, most mornings, adds up to far more than one long afternoon a month.

Keep it the same each time: the same seat, the same small sheet, one page. A child who knows what is coming settles quickly.

Question. Which plan is most likely to work with a four-year-old?

  1. One hour every Sunday.
  2. Five minutes at breakfast most mornings.
  3. Whenever the child seems bored.

Say it back. In your own words: why short and regular?

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Lesson 2. The two-minute game

Each page has one small game: find three red things, count the spoons, say a word that rhymes with cat. Two minutes, then stop while it is still fun.

Stopping early is the trick. A child who wants more tomorrow is the best result a game can have.

Question. The game is going well after two minutes. What do you do?

  1. Keep going while they are happy.
  2. Stop while it is still fun.
  3. Make it harder.

Say it back. Say it back: why stop the game early?

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Lesson 3. Let the child teach

End with the child teaching you something from the page: show you how to count the spoons, or tell you the rhyme. Get it a little wrong on purpose and let them put you right.

Children love being the expert, and saying something to someone else helps them hold on to it.

Question. How does the morning page end?

  1. With a quiz for the child.
  2. With the child teaching the grandparent.
  3. With a sticker.

Say it back. In your own words: why let the child correct you?

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At the table: The breakfast page

Players: a grandparent and a child, 3 to 6. You'll need: a sheet of paper folded into a small booklet, crayons, and five minutes.

  1. Draw one simple game on today's page: three circles to colour, or five spoons to count.
  2. Play it for two minutes, then stop.
  3. Ask the child to teach it to you. Make one small mistake for them to fix.
  4. Close the booklet until tomorrow.

Answers

  1. Five minutes at breakfast most mornings. — Five minutes most mornings is short enough to enjoy and regular enough to expect.
  2. Stop while it is still fun. — Stopping while it is fun leaves the child wanting more tomorrow.
  3. With the child teaching the grandparent. — The child teaches you, and corrects your deliberate small mistake.