You can: Give your child opportunities to play. Play is how children learn. It is the natural way for them to explore, to become creative, to learn to make up and tell stories and to develop social skills. Play also helps children learn to solve problems--for example, if her wagon tips over, a child must figure out how to get it upright again. When they stack up blocks, children learn about colors, numbers, geometry, shapes and balance. Playing with others helps children learn how to negotiate.
Support and guide your child as she learns a new activity. Parents can help children learn how to do new things by "scaffolding," or guiding their efforts. For example, as you and your toddler put together a puzzle, you might point to a piece and say, "I think this is the piece we need for this space. Why don't you try it?" Then have the child pick up the piece and place it correctly. As the child becomes more aware of how the pieces fit into the puzzle, you can gradually withdraw your support.
Talk to your child, beginning at birth. Your baby needs to hear yourvoice. Voices from a television or radio can't take the place of yourvoice, because they don't respond to your baby's coos and babbles. You child needs to know that when he makes a certain sound, for example, "mamamamamama," that his mother will response--she will smile and talk back to him. The more you talk to your baby, the more he will learn and the more he will have to talk about as he gets older.
Everyday activities provide opportunities to talk, sometimes in detail, about what's happening around him. As you give your child a bath, for example, you might say, "First let's stick the plug in the drain. Now let's turn on the water. Do you want your rubber duck? That's a good idea. Look, the duck is yellow, just like the rubber duck we saw on 'Sesame Street.'"
Anil Vij is the creator of the ultimate parenting toolbox, which has helped parents all over the world raise smarter, healthier and happier children => 'expertsonparenting.com/' Sign up for Anil's Experts On Parenting Newsletter - just send a blank email ===> mailto: Parentingnews@aweber.com
Here you go….. here are some of my favorite Easter crafts and activities to do with my children for the Easter Holidays. Kids love the Holidays for many reasons. But, I like to remind my children that bottom line the Holidays are about "Family". So, remind your [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "20 Egg-sellent Easter Crafts & Activities for Kids", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2008/03/21/20-easter-crafts-and-activities-for-kids/" });
St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17th this year which is in another couple of days. In honor of the festivities I thought I would list a tons of super fun crafts to do with your kids to celebrate St. Patty’s Day. So, without further ado….. feast your eyes [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "St. Patrick’s Day Crafts for Kids", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2008/03/14/st-patricks-day-crafts-for-kids/" });
It is December 11th and it is the 8th and final day of Hanukkah 2007. Before Hanukkah was over I wanted to make sure to offer my viewers tons of links to Hanukkah / Chanukah Crafts and Activities to enjoy. Each link takes you to a site that will [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "14 Hanukkah Crafts and Activities to enjoy with your Preschooler", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/12/11/14-hanukkah-crafts-activities-for-preschoolers/" });
I came across this Website today that I just had to share with my Preschool Education Blog viewers. Tiny Prints is donating up to $50,000 this Holiday Season to Children’s Charities. And, they are asking the World Wide Web to help them decide which Children’s Charities a portion [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Tiny Prints - It’s Free. It’s Easy. It’s Charitable!!", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/11/14/tiny-prints-charity/" });
Fall may be a terrific time of year for fun crafts but you don’t want to be so focused on the fun that you forget about the great educational opportunities that the season presents. Sure, it’s great to carve pumpkins and make Thanksgiving turkeys out of construction paper during [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Educational Fall Activities", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/11/07/educational-fall-activities/" });
Do you use the terms “fall” and “autumn” interchangeably? If so, you are just like most other people in America who agree that the two words are meant to mean the same thing (the season that comes after summer and before winter). But there is another school [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "How to Explain to your Preschooler if it is Autumn or Fall", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/10/28/how-to-explain-to-preschooler-if-it-is-autumn-or-fall/" });
Fall is a terrific time to incorporate leaf crafts into kids’ daily activities. You can take kids outside to get some fresh air and physical activity while they collect the leaves. Then you can come indoors again and keep them busy with the crafts. Leaf crafts are [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Leaf Crafts for Kids", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/10/21/leaf-crafts-for-kids/" });
Your children are going to inherit the earth that we are living on today so you obviously want it to be as healthy as it can possibly be for them. Although it’s great that you’re doing your part to take care of the environment, it’s equally as [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Teaching your Child about the Environment - Blog Action Day 2007", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/10/15/teaching-your-child-about-the-environment/" });
October just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go. It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year that you’re not [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Preschool October Themes - As Fall Continues", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/10/10/preschool-october-themes-as-fall-continues/" });
What better time to teach your child about fall than when we’re right about to enter the midst of it? Fall is a great teaching tool because it applies to so many different areas of life. Not only do kids learn about the seasons, but they also [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "How to Teach your Child about Fall", url: "http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/2007/10/04/how-to-teach-your-child-about-fall/" });