Educational Ideas for Pre-schooler!?

Question

Hi I have a 5 year old son that has just started preschool. He has always been at home with mom and he is a little behind the other kids with his numbers shapes colors and some animals.

He loves to learn but I dont have a whole lot to spend so was wondering if anyone had any ideas for home made games or any fun ways to learn for him and fun ways for me to teach him. I could purchase some things so list all ideas please! I also have a one year old girl that Im trying to teach so she is not behind when its her turn. So anything at all please!

Thanks In Advance!

Answer 1

Everyday experiences can be a learning experience.....the color of a car passing by.....how many flowers in the bush.....textures of fruits and veggies in the supermarket...etc.

Answer 2

When he gets to Kindergarten next year, the things he will need are: Letter recognition with sounds- Put little papers around the house with letters on them, like a 'L' on the lamp and then say 'will you please turn on the Lllllllamp?' This will make it a constant game.  Sorting by size and color.  At Walmart in the kid school stuff row there are little sets in clear boxes (about 4 x 4 x 6 ).  They have one with  50 colored bears and matching dishes for only about $5 and you can use this for sorting, counting etc.  Also, there are lots of web sites like Noggin, Playhouse Disney, Lets Go Sprout, PBS Kids and many more that are full of kid online kid games that help with learning.  Using the computer is a skill that he will need in Kindergarten too.  I am sure he will catch up soon.

Answer 3

play with toys, cook

Answer 4

buy him a vsmile or vflash my 4 year old son loves them and learned alot of things be for he even started in pre k this year

Answer 5

you could print of some coloring sheets that have numbers on them and each day you could learn a new number. and ask him to repeat the numbers to you. also you could use cheerios for counting also or any other cereal he likes.  -learn the numbers and then put some of the cereal out for him so he can count it and in the end if he gets most or all of them right he can have a few pieces of cereal. also reading books, and watching educational t.v. shows like reading rainbow and arthur etc (on pbs no need for cable, but if you have cable then dora the explorer is good too.)

hmm. flashcards are always fun too.

Answer 6

Greetings!  There are lots of lotto games you can create for your child using clip art from the Internet, if you want.  You can use color, shapes, letters, numbers, animals.....the list goes on and on.

If you do have time, I would also suggest that you take your child to your local library and let him choose books he would like for you to read to him.  This helps develop cognitive skills also.

There are two important factors to remember when you are doing either one.  First, it has to be interesting to your son.  If it has little or no interest, you will find yourself in a power struggle very quickly.   Second, make sure you end the game before he gets tired or bored.  This way it saves on grief for both of you and also helps promote positive educational ambitions for your son.

I hope this helps.  Take care.

Answer 7

When my son was little, I had very little money to spend and found garage sales and thrift stores a great place to find games and books.

Answer 8

You can download gameboard templates from the microsoft website and use them to create your own games that involve the skills your child needs to work on.

Answer 9

toys in letters or the sound table the sound table when he point to something it repeat the shape which he pointed or computer

Answer 10

When I was little, I had these letter magnets. They were exactly what they sounded like: plastic letters with magnets on the back. Anw, my mother worked with me enough with those magnets to the point that before I could actually talk, I could spell out words (small words) and I could read as well.

Now I am considered an advanced reader and do amazing on spelling tests. Though I haven't taken spelling tests this year since we don't do those anymore...but you get the point.

Answer 11

Read to them, tell them stories, just make conversation with them.  You would be amazed at what reading for 20 minutes a day will do.  

Work the numbers, shapes, colors, whatever he needs to learn in your daily activities.  For example, if you walk past a flower, talk about the color.  When he gets dressed, make sure you discuss the colors.  Don't just tell him, try to get him to talk about it too.  

I don't know if you meant he was having trouble counting or recognizing numbers, but if it is counting, you could do it with any kind of objects (including fingers).  Fun things might be M&Ms, Jelly Beans, etc.  Besides counting them, he could sort them into colors and name the colors.

For shapes, you could talk about different shapes of food (when you're eating pizza, talk about how it's a triangle), round oranges, etc.  

If you have a computer, just google interactive games for shapes, colors, etc and you will find a ton.  this would also help a lot and he would have a good time.  They're usually free.   BBC is a good source.  

These could all work but the important thing is for you not to stress too much.  Boys will often lag behind girls in their development and everyone is different.  He'll learn it, I can't think of an adult that was educated here that doesn't know their colors, shapes, numbers.  These are all taught again in Kinder anyway.

Answer 12

Spend more time with him ..  he needs  YOU .. not a list of toys .  C;mon . .be a  MOM .