Toddler Education (preschool level)?

Question

I am sorta in the dark when it comes to what exactly I need to be doing to help better my soon to be 4 year olds learning skills... such as numbers, letters, ect.

What kind of activities should I do?

What should I be focusing on?

What materials.... like workbooks, toys, ect. will help?

What games?

Just some advice...

Give me specifics! What did/ are you using w/ your toddler!

Thanks in advance...

Answer 1

pre-school

kids learn a lot from watching,so the teachers at pre-school teach them everything from numbers-ABC's

songs and games with other children

plus most toys that they do have are educational.

Answer 2

you can tell him story telling from books such as Amara chitrakatha and other children story books which are available in book stalls. This may be attractive to him.

Answer 3

My son just turned five and my daughter is 1 1/2 .

You can do a lot of learning with every day activities. When you get him dressed, teach him his right and left by saying it and having him show you the right one (takes some time).

~ for counting, count anything you see: cars, stars, flowers, etc. (you can do this for colors too). ex: "Did you see that car? What color was it? was it blue? A car has four wheels on it"

I learned to sign the alphabet, and my kids long it when I use my hands to sing the "ABC's" so maybe you can try that. Theres a lot of websites that are easy to understand with sign language.

Sit down and color with him. Draw the numbers and letters. ask him to trace them or draw his own. say you draw a "4" and then he tries to copy you. His "4" looks nothing like a "4," but if he says "Four!" tell him good job anyways. that way you do not discourage him. He'll get it. If he draws a person, tell him" Hey, you know what the head looks like? An O." Then draw an "O" and show him the similarities.

Have him type a letter to grandma. Let him sit in your lap and as he presses the letters, tell him what he typed. "you said to grandma: X C V WENDLGHWP."

If he's very active and likes to move around, ask him to do certain things, Like: Jump 2 times. show him everything. If you want him to jump twice, you jump twice.

Do you have animals? If you do, you can teach him how to spell cat and dog or fish. Whenever you say "cat" spell it out: "have you seen the C A T cat?" stuff like that.

There is always a learning opportunity. You'll find some that work great for your son. See what he likes to do (like play outside) and base most of the learning around that.

I hope this helps, and good luck!!

Answer 4

Tiff, he should be working on copying his name, cutting and gluing, coloring inside the lines, drawing a recognizable person, recognizing the letters of the alphabet, memorizing the alphabet song, positive ways of dealing with feelings, and more. Teach him "The Number Rock" Song. Go to your local teacher's store and buy him age appropriate stuff. Make sure you work on his pencil grasp and buy the pip squeak markers to encourage the correct grasp. There are so many ways to help but your focus should be on his speech. Get him evaluated to see if he needs a speech therapist. My son has one and he has made such tremendous progress! His teachers are all impressed. Take care.

Answer 5

by  sandy c

Member since:

    July 25, 2007

Total points:

    130 (Level 1)

i actually copied this my answer to another question. so some of the tense may not apply. but the context is applicable for you.

i am a preschool teacher. but before i was, i was a parent of a first child with the desires to have the smartest kid ready for kindergarten. (i was so naive in my thinking). so i know where these parents are coming from. now i know that 3 year olds do not learn a lot from worksheets. they learn the most from play. tell your parents that their homework it TO PLAY WITH THEIR CHILD.

1. build with blocks - it will develop control of small muscles. it will increase perceptions of weight, size, shape (math skills). it will help them learn cooperation and planning.

2. do art activities. they will learn to make choices, interact with a variety of materials, and learn to be creative and self - expressive. remind the parents that the process is more important than the product. it will help develop vocabulary, as the materials are described as: rough, soft, smooth, colorful, etc. also develops fine motor skills.

3. books. read, read, read to your child. they will learn that print goes from top to bottom and left to right. listening, paying attention, sequencing and thinking skills are all being used. new vocabulary words are learned.

4. play house and kitchen. the children will learn to use their imaginations and "try out" various roles from the adult world. it will develop their social skills.

5. puzzles and games. controlled movement of the fingers and hands enable children to master the muscles necessary for writing. working with colors and patterns help children to develop visual discrimination and memory.

6. science and math. count shells, sort leaves by size or shape, classify rocks, etc. ask questions - how are these alike, different; is this bigger, smaller?

7. take them to the park or play in the backyard. this develops large motor skills, and gives the child confidence.

just PLAY with your child. they are learning so much.

worksheets and forced projects that don't really interest the child makes them bored, disinterested, and frustrated if they feel they cannont perform the task right. that is not a good beginning to enjoying school.

since you are a teacher of english as a second language, the more the parent interacts with the child in english, the faster they will learn the language. also, i really believe sesame street is a wonderful show for children to learn the language.

hope this helps.

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Answer 6

Children learn through play, their concentration span is so short that it is impossible for them to sit still for much longer than 10 minutes without them getting bored.

I put flash cards up in the house and stuck them on the door, chair, table, seeing the words a associating them helps with word recognition.

Reading with your son also helps with learning words especially if it is a simple book that he can join in with, pointing to the words as you read.

There are no rules that say words should be written on paper, holding your hand over his and spelling his name out in sand, paint, etc.. is not just fun for children but with out them knowing it's learning as well.

Also talk to him pronouncing your words correctly will help with his speech ( I am not in any way you that you don't talk properly) when he says something that's not clear repeat the sentence again sounding words out clearly.

If things are fun children will learn.

Good luck and enjoy your little boy while he's with you as school comes round so quick.