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Preparing Twins for Kindergarten: Easing the Transition

Twiniversity — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 04:00:36 +0000

Read about preparing twins for kindergarten, including what skills they should have before starting and prep tips for starting school. This year marks a big milestone in our house…our twins are starting Kindergarten! One of my favorite things about my twins growing older is watching them learn new information and acquiring the skills to do certain activities. Two of my proudest moments as a mom were when my identical twin daughters learned how to ride a bike without training wheels and when they learned how to swim. I am beyond excited to continue to watch my girls learn new skills this coming school year as they embark on their entry into elementary school. Every parent (in one way or another) anticipates their children’s start to kindergarten. This is your little ones’ opportunity to make and build friendships that’ll often last a lifetime. They will develop new knowledge and gain an independent love of a variety of subjects. Lastly, Kindergarten builds a foundation for learning into their elementary, middle, and high school years. However, the start of kindergarten is doubly challenging for twin parents for a variety of reasons. This may be the first time your children will be separated from you for an extended period of time. Twin moms and dads need to decide whether to separate or keep their twinnies together, which is highly debated among parents of multiples and the education system alike. As a parent of twins and a former teacher, I understand the benefits and drawbacks to both. Additionally, parents of twins also stress over how their two kids are going to adjust to a new setting. As parents preparing twins for kindergarten, we should focus on their academic preparation and also their emotional readiness. Below are a few ways to prepare your twins academically: Writing Their Names Many elementary schools ask that children coming into Kindergarten have the ability to write their names – a bonus if they can write their names with capital and lowercase letters. Here are some fun ideas of how you can practice. During restaurant playtime, you can print out fake checks and have your twins “sign” the check. This will help them practice writing their names in a fun way! If your child is struggling with certain letters, you can practice writing (and repeating) these letters over and over again. To make it fun, think of all the kid-friendly writing utensils you can use (e.g. crayons, markers, pencils, chalk…if you are a risk-taking parent, you can even try using different types of food to make it even more adventurous). Read, Read, Read! Reading to your children helps boost vocabulary skills and also helps kids at the pre-Kindergarten level recognize “sight words” or words that appear often in a text (e.g. the, and, if, but, etc). It also helps children to talk about the story as you are reading, both preparing twins for kindergarten and building literacy skills for later elementary years. A few ideas of things to say are: “What do you think is going to happen next?”, “How do you think the character is feeling?”, “Have you ever felt similar to the way this character feels? Tell me about it.” Upper-Case and Lower-Case Letter Recognition Going into Kindergarten, children should be able to connect several upper-case and lower-case letters. A fun activity to practice this skill is to write lower case letters using sidewalk chalk and then take uppercase letter magnets (or any uppercase toy/item you have in your house) and play a game to see who can pair up the most matches. It’s a bonus if your children also know the letter sounds. Counting There are many options to counting that can be practiced (counting by ones, by fives, by tens, backward, etc), but most schools ask that children are able to count from 1 to 20 and are able to recognize numbers 0 through 10 in written form. We count everything in our house – from stairs to marbles, to snacks, and buttons on the remote control! This is both preparing twins for kindergarten and it’s a fun game that the girls love. Geometric Classification and Sorting Starting your children early in learning geometry will help them immensely later in their math education. Help your multiples recognize different shapes (e.g. circles, triangles, squares, stars, etc). Make it fun by making different shapes out of Play-Doh, or go on a scavenger hunt walk and take pictures of different shapes in the environment. Emotional Readiness for Kindergarten Even more importantly in your preparations for Kindergarten, is making sure your little ones are ready emotionally. There are several ways to get your soon-to-be Kindergartners emotionally prepared for this big milestone: Get Excited! Help the anticipation of starting something new by including your kids in preparations. In preparing twins for kindergarten, talk up what school will be like on a daily basis. Tell them about the day’s routine that they will likely have (reading, specials, math, PE, lunch, recess, etc.) and how they will travel to school each day. Find the book Twindergarten by Nikki Ehrlich and Zoey Abbott Wagner and read it with them several times to help them start wrapping their minds around what’s to come. Back-to-School Shopping One of my fondest memories growing up was buying new school supplies and a new fall wardrobe for the upcoming school year. Now that my girls are old enough, they have found a love of going back-to-school shopping as well. It is exciting picking out new outfits for the first day of school as well as clothes for the cooler weather days and looking forward to wearing them. Prepping Lunch Ideas Have your twins come up with ideas to bring for lunch! This could include anything from going on Pinterest and searching for “kids’ lunch ideas” to grocery shopping for snacks to accompany your kids’ lunches. Preparing twins for kindergarten includes teaching them how to eat their lunch in a 20-30 minute period. This is a top issue with kindergarteners — they… Continue Reading Preparing Twins for Kindergarten: Easing the Transition

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The Pros and Cons of Identical Twins

Twiniversity — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 04:00:14 +0000

One of my favorite movies in my young adult life (although I would never have admitted it at the time) was The Parent Trap. If you haven’t seen the movie, identical twins fool their parents into thinking they are the other twin. I never would have imagined that many years later, I would be the parent in the “Parent Trap” situation, having identical twin daughters of my own! My daughters, now only 5 years old, have yet to play the ole’ switch-a-roo on us. But, at their young age, they are already recognizing that there are some benefits and drawbacks to being identical. Last summer, at my daughters’ well visit appointment, the pediatrician detected a slight astigmatism in Twin A’s eye. We had to make an appointment to see an ophthalmologist to conduct a more thorough exam. At the same time, we prepared both twins that there was a chance that Twin A would need glasses. Twin B (without any eye issues) had a complete meltdown that her sister wasn’t going to look like her anymore and asked if she could get glasses too. Yet, Twin A was completely fine with the possibility of getting her own look. In the end, the astigmatism was too slight to warrant getting glasses, but it opened my eyes to the fact that there was a differing opinion between my twins about looking identical. After this realization, I repeatedly attempted to give Twin A the opportunity to have her own style (e.g. new hairdo, broader clothing style preference), but for now, my girls don’t want to make any changes. Being an identical twin may have its pluses and minuses, with some twins loving the thought of having a doppelganger and others going to extremes to look completely different from their counterpart. Below, I have provided some pros and cons of identical twins. Pros BFF for Life It is remarkable to be born with your best friend and have them by your side throughout each special moment in your life. To give you a glimpse into my twin daughters’ best friendship: they laugh endlessly about a secret that no one else would ever find funny; they madly scream at each other one second and the next are making up a game that only the two of them understand; each twin will go on a respective playdate and within 20 minutes of being apart, they miss each other and need to call each other. Being the Center of Attention When twins are identical, there is a greater chance they will attract attention from friends, family, and strangers wherever they go. People have a curiosity about twins and this curiosity grows when those twins mirror each other. Of course, with this interest, comes a slew of questions about looking alike (e.g. Who is who? What are the differentiating marks? Can your parents tell you apart? etc). So far we’ve had a positive experience with questions from the public and we’re happy to educate others on twinship. The Desire to Have a Unique Twinship Haven’t we all grown up wanting a twin sibling? When I was little, I longed for a twin sister – someone I could tell all my secrets, have a unique connection with, do each other’s hair, and share clothing and accessories with each day. I am now witnessing this twin yearning in my daughters’ preschool class. The other little girls tell their parents that they wish they were a twin too. It must be pretty neat for my 5-year-old daughters to feel idolized! A Stronger Bond with your Identical Let’s be honest, all twins share a special bond. They share a womb, are born at the same time, and likely spend more time with each other than anyone else. However, identical twins are the result of one egg splitting in two, thus sharing genes. In my opinion, I feel that identical twins have a stronger bond compared to other sibling relationships – even fraternal twins — due to the fact that they share DNA. Sharing Clothes Identical twins have the benefit of sharing clothes with their counterparts, which helps twins have a broader selection of styles to choose a wardrobe. My twins subconsciously created a clothes ownership (this shirt is yours, this dress is mine), but will often “borrow” each other’s garments, which in turn confuses the rest of us, since we have also assigned who wears which outfits. Furthermore, identical twins have a benefit when it comes to trying on clothes — only one twin has to go through the hassle of trying on a new outfit in the store. Playing Games on Others Like we have seen with the twins in The Parent Trap and in other movies, identical twins have the ability to “trick” others by pretending to be their twin. We have heard all the ruses that identical twins can get away with – taking tests for their siblings, switching parts for dates, taking the blame for their twin, etc. This is a definite pro for the twins — I’m not so sure about everyone else though! Cons People Not Being Able to Tell Identical Twins Apart People that don’t know our identical twins well, or don’t see them often, have a difficult time distinguishing the pair apart. This sometimes irks the twins in not having their individuality shine, without first having to identify themselves. My girls’ preschool teacher admitted to us that she cannot tell the difference between my twins and therefore lumps the girls together as one person each day. Constant Attention and Questioning Some twins prefer to go under the radar and the constant attention from outsiders is bothersome. In addition to the attention, the abundance of questions (e.g. who is older? which twin is more outgoing? who is taller?), gets to be annoying. Comparisons Could Turn into Rivalries When two people look so much alike, there is a high likelihood that their relationship becomes competitive. These competitions can be anything from who’s… Continue Reading The Pros and Cons of Identical Twins

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Teaching Twins to Embrace their Individuality

Twiniversity — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 04:00:05 +0000

Encourage your twins to embrace their individuality and encourage others to treat them as individuals with these tips, from a mom of twins. When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I made it my mission to make everyone aware that my twin daughters are individuals, rather than being seen as one unit. Their individual identities are extremely important to me. I want my twins to have the benefits of a singleton (not being constantly compared or confused with a sibling), while at the same time having the perks of being a twin. When my identical twin daughters started preschool, I became hyper-aware of how the teachers were treating my daughters — whether as individuals or a pair. I was often irked when only one “Get To Know Me” hand-out was sent home from school, or my twins had to share items that every other student in the class received their own. Now that my daughters are five years old, I am transitioning the skills to them to recognize that they should be treated as individuals and to speak up when their identity is confused. embrace their individuality However, in my goal to ensure everyone is treating my twins as separates, I have also had many key learnings at home about my twins’ individuality. For example, the first year my daughters celebrated Valentine’s Day at school, I made these adorable Valentine’s treats for their classmates and signed it from Twin A AND Twin B. I was so excited to bring them to school, until I realized they were exchanging Valentines among classmates and only one girl would have an item to exchange. I quickly scrambled to make another set of Valentines. It was at this time that I learned it was important to create separate gifts from each of my daughters. embrace their individuality A few weeks ago, Twin B revealed a shocking statement that was bothering her. In the middle of dinner, she said, “A lot of people call me ‘girl’.” I responded by asking, “Does that bother you when people call you and your sister ‘girls’?” I didn’t realize that for the past few years, in the craziness of life, it had become easier for me to refer to my twins as “girls” rather than always using their individual names. Twin B went on to say that we never called my singleton ‘girl’, but we would often refer to my twins as “the girls,” or to get their attention to say, “hey, girls”. Below I have provided you with a few ideas on how to help teach your twins to stand up for their identity. Teaching Twins to Embrace their Individuality Call/Refer to Your Twins by Their Names Grouping your twins by group names eliminates their identity in the process. Before my daughters were born, my husband and I made it a rule that we would never call them “the twins,” but at the same time we starting calling them “the girls.” We realized that we never did this with our singleton daughter and instead call her by her given name. embrace their individuality Point Out Clarifying Marks It helps people who do not interact with your twins on a daily basis to know the tell-tale signs of how to tell the twins apart. While knowing the difference between twins may be more obvious with girl/boy twins, some same-sex fraternal and identical twins are often confused. Encourage your twins to point out their differences to people to help them learn who is who, such as: freckles, hair/facial/body differences, frequent colors worn, etc. Teach Your Twins to Speak Up My extremely shy twin daughters started ballet at three years old. One of them impressed me when their ballet teacher asked them their names. One of the girls, spoke up very clearly and said, “I’m ____, and this is ____.” I was so proud that at this young age, my daughter was standing up for herself and pointing out each of their identities. From there, the girls continued to correct family and friends when they incorrectly named the girls saying, “I’m not ___, I’m ____.” Help Each Twin to Choose Their Own Activities If each multiple has their own “thing,” whether it is a sport, activity, or a love for something, it helps to create each child’s identity. It could be as simple as one twin loves butterflies and will often wear outfits, jewelry, or accessories that have a butterfly design. Or, one twin loves gymnastics and will often do tumbles, cartwheels, and handstands in her free time. Support your twins in their individual interests. That may mean signing them up for two different activities, which can get tricky, but it can also allow you alone time with each twin while their sibling is in an activity without them. embrace their individuality Treat Them Like Singletons Whenever You Can Why should twins have to share a birthday cake? This is a perfect example of how twins often get lumped together, which only encourages others to treat them as one. Make sure to have two different cakes and sing “Happy Birthday” twice. This is just one example of how you can make a public display of each twin’s individuality to reinforce the idea to family and friends. Provide One-on-One Time with Each Twin Having individual time with each parent helps multiples develop their own connections while also providing that child with a time to create their own sense of self. It is during this time that the multiple is only themselves and no longer a twin. Related Articles

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Activities to Do with 9-to-12-Month-Old Twins

Twiniversity — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 04:00:01 +0000

9-to-12-month-old twins are transitioning out of the infant stage and are becoming mobile. Your twins may be creeping, crawling, cruising, or even beginning to take their first few steps. This new mobility gives your children a new perspective on all that is around them in the world. When my twins first started to crawl, I think I was more excited than they were about their ability to move. My identical twin daughters were born at only 3 and a half pounds each and in those first few weeks, I couldn’t imagine them making it to 9 months and being able to move on their own. As a mom, you constantly look to see what other children the same age as your own are doing and I found myself wondering why other babies were crawling at 7 months, but mine were not. I had to keep reminding myself that each baby develops at their own pace. I was thrilled when my daughters started crawling at 9 months. It was so exciting to help my twins meet these big milestones, especially crawling and walking. Once my girls discovered all that was around them in their world, they quickly moved through all the strides in becoming mobile and took their first steps before turning 1 year old. I fondly remember at around 10 or 11 months my twins crawl-chasing each other around the living room and laughing loudly as they were in action. I recall thinking to myself, “These are the moments that only twin parents can cherish.” At 9 to 12 months old, my daughters’ personalities shined. At this age, they created their unique likes and dislikes, everything from food choices to toy preferences. This goes hand-in-hand with this age’s discovery of all things new – new adventures, new developments, new experiences. As parents, we can enhance our children’s discovery with activities designed for their age level. Here are a few activities that you can do with your 9-to-12-month-old twins. Activities to Do with 9-to-12-month-old Twins Play Peek – A – Boo Nothing is more fun for babies to play than peek-a-boo! It may seem like an obvious activity to play, but now that your son(s)/daughter(s) are moving, peek-a-boo can be played by hiding behind objects, therefore creating a need to crawl around the barrier to “find” the missing person. This teaches your twins about cause and effect (if I crawl around an object, I will find missing mommy) as well as the skill of taking turns. Finger Paint a Masterpiece One of the favorite activities I did with my twins was finger painting. Each of my daughters were stripped down to only their diapers and a big plastic tablecloth was set up on the floor. Two canvases with edible finger paints were laid on top. I made a heart shape out of masking tape and adhered it to each canvas, creating a spot that the paint couldn’t touch. My daughters had so much fun spreading the paint all over the canvas (and then on their bodies) and they truly showed their artistic skills at this young age. When all the paint was dry, I peeled the masking tape from the canvas and it created a beautiful abstract image. We gifted these paintings to my twins’ grandparents at the holidays (which they all loved.) Create Play Picnics Outside When the weather is nice enough, gather up a group of toys and set up a big bedsheet on your lawn. Let your babies play while getting fresh air at the same time. Bring some finger foods out with you and give your babies the opportunity to eat without being confined to a high chair. Musical Instruments for Multiples Bang, clink, and clang your way to fun! Let your multiples take turns playing a variety of instruments. This helps your 9 to 12-month-old babies hear different sounds that a single instrument can make. Help your little ones notice what happens when you tap an instrument lightly versus when you bang it with force. If you don’t have any play instruments, use pots, pans, and big spoons. Crawl Through an Obstacle Course Use your living room to create an obstacle course fit for a 9-to-12-month-old. Use your furniture, boxes, blankets, and toys to set up places for your babies to crawl through or move around. Make it extra fun by joining in on the excitement and showing your multiples how to navigate through the course. Stack and Knock Down Get items in a variety of sizes, or stacking cups. Show your little ones how to stack the blocks from biggest to smallest and then knock them down. The real excitement comes when the twins knock down the towers before they are completely built. The adult needs to get crafty in guarding the tower to get it built before it is knocked down. Soon, the twins will be able to help build the tower. Get Rolling Rolling a ball has never been more fun than with two 9-to-12-month-olds. Sit in front of your children and say, “Ready, Set, Go,” and roll a ball so that the babies will have to crawl after it. Show your multiples how to roll the ball back. This helps promote hand-eye coordination. Build Literacy Skills Your babies are constantly building their communication skills and taking in all the words (as well as the non-verbal communications) you are using. Help your multiples develop these skills by dramatically using new words – this is a “block” – pronouncing each syllable. Read a book, then read it again pointing out objects in the book, describing what the characters are doing in your own words. Get down to their eye level so they can see your mouth and start making connections between the sounds and your mouth movements to develop speech. Whatever you do with your9-to-12-month-old twins, try to have fun and cherish the little moments with your twinnies, as this stage goes by so quickly. Lori Cavallario and her husband live… Continue Reading Activities to Do with 9-to-12-Month-Old Twins

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Turning Summer Blues into End of Summer To-Dos

Twiniversity — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 05:00:28 +0000

In our house, the end of August is a mix of excitement, chaos, and a bit of summer blues mixed in between. Not only are we preparing for the impending school year, but my twin daughters’ birthday also falls at the end of summer. Typically, we are rushing from store to store going back-to-school shopping, purchasing items for goodie bags, picking up cakes, candles, and balloons. Last year, our Tangled themed bash was an all-out extravaganza, from a 32-foot Rapunzel hair braid draping out of our window to a custom-built tower, complete with a slide to exit the tower. After the party, rather than feeling like I accomplished planning a perfect party, I was anxious, frustrated, and sad that I missed most of the party trying to make everything impeccable. In my desperation to simplify life, this year I am hoping to instead enjoy the little moments and savor the last bits of summer with my twins. I am a perfectionist at heart and like to go above and beyond in most things I conquer. I have found that nit-picking every last detail has left me seriously exhausted. This year, my goal is to balance having fun-filled adventurous days while also finding time to relax as a family. One of my favorite memories of summer was spent at home, playing hide n’ seek with my twins. They were still learning that hiding meant staying in one place and being quiet. As we were going around the house trying to “find” the hidden twin, saying, “she’s not in the bathtub,” the laughter coming from the hiding spot was infectious until we all erupted in a “we finally found you” laughter. I want to bring back those kinds of moments to end the summer on a simple, relaxed, family-centered note. Below I have provided a few ideas on how you can best enjoy the end of your summer! 1. Visit the zoo – It is already fun to visit animals at the zoo but make your end of summer visit extra special by thinking out of the box. Have a scavenger hunt at the zoo, looking for the obvious (monkeys, turtles, birds) and less noticeable items (bouncy balls, the color purple, etc). Or, another idea is to try to take selfies that include each of the animals at the zoo. Bonus points if the animal looks at the camera! 2. Splash in water – Water provides a relief from the heat of the summer and is incredibly fun to play with at the same time. When you don’t have access to big bodies of water (e.g. pool, beach, lakes), there are other ways to splish and splash. My daughters have a great time using the hose to squirt each other. You can hook a kid-friendly sprinkler to the hose to make a fun game of “try not to get wet.” Fill a large tub with water, along with a selection of cups, strainers, and funnels, for hours of aqua fun. Some other ideas are wet sponge darts – make a bullseye on your driveway using chalk and throw a soaked sponge to try to reach the bullseye, getting wet in the process. Or, create a water balloon pinata. 3. Become playground connoisseurs – The slightest mention of “playground” make my children go into an excited tailspin. Summer is the perfect time to test out what each playground has to offer in your neighborhood. We like to take note and reflect on what we like about each playground – the toddler playground has a sandbox filled with sand toys, but the school playground has a tunnel slide, and the playground on the hill has the rock wall. 4. Have an outdoor staycation – Spend one of your last days of summer completely outdoors. Have a picnic for breakfast, BBQ lunch and dinner, set up a camp, go on mini adventures in your yard, collect items and make a collage, end the day with s’mores and catching fireflies. 5. Host a family game day/night – One of my twins’ favorite things to do is play games – everything from hopscotch to Hungry Hungry Hippos. They love playing the game, but more so, they cherish the times when we sit down as a family. We use this time to teach them how to be good winners and good losers. For example, there was a game we were playing where we offered a prize to the winner. The losing twin became really upset that she didn’t get the winning prize. We had to teach her how to be happy for the winning girl and how not to be a sore loser. 6. Have one-on-one time with each twin – Give your kids extra special undivided attention before they have to go back to school. If you can leave your other children with your significant other or babysitter, find activities your child loves and do it one-on-one with them. One of my twins loves getting manicures and being pampered while the other twin loves swimming, so each of them has their special play dates with mommy to end our summer fun. 7. Get ready for school – The end of summer brings new school year jitters. I fondly remember when I was growing up the excitement of preparing for the new school year with back-to-school shopping. In addition to purchasing new items, we also like to prepare our twin daughters for the emotions they may encounter as they head into a new school year by reading books like “The Night Before Preschool” or “The Kissing Hand.” Whatever your end of summer plans, be sure you enjoy the little moments with your multiples while appreciating the last of the summer weather. Lori Cavallario and her husband live in northern NJ with their three daughters, 5-year-old identical twins, and a 1-year-old singleton After her twins were born at 31 weeks, she became a Family Support Specialist in the NICU where her daughters spent 6 weeks. She has a background… Continue Reading Turning Summer Blues into End of Summer To-Dos

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