Teaching time for toddlers

[Jenna]

So, I have a 3 year old, for those of you who have been hiding under a rock while I go on and on about her like an obsessed Mommy. lol

Anyway, I have been a little lackluster in her studies. I've been working with her on her letters and numbers a little bit at a time, but our environment is all wrong for learning. Because of our housing situation, there is never a quiet place for us to work on things without TONS of distractions. As y'all know, one distraction is too many with a three year old.

Well, shortly we will be moving into our new house. So, when we get settled in, I would like to make more of an effort to really get busy with her schooling. She is a real bright girl, and she really wants to learn how to read. She is understanding a lot of things, but we really need a chance to sit down so I can try and teach her how to recognize and write her letters. She does real well with counting, and goes to 15.

What I wanted to ask is, does anyone have any tips on how I can make our house more productive to learning? Can you think of ways that I can make lessons interesting enough that she will want to learn? She is fascinated with the idea of "school", since she knows that that is where her aunt Caitlynn (9yo) goes during the day. I thought about getting her a little table so she can have her own 'school desk' and such, but I don't know if that is going too far. She just really wants the school type environment, but I don't want to overwhelm her or anything.

Anywho, any suggestions and/or help from folks who have gone through this kind of thing are very welcome. I'm kind of lost, being that I've never done this kind of thing before.

 

[alaskamolly]

Been there! You are such a good mommy--I can tell! *grin*


Make it FUN. Figure out what she likes best, and the learning style she seems to be showing, and teach to that.

If she's on a 'fish' kick, then do FISH stuff for a week or two--decorate the house, buy a Betta, read books about fish, whatever...

If she's into her ABC's, then teach her the ABC's but make sure you don't push her beyond where she's ready to go. After she can identify her ABC's, you can teach her the sounds that they make. Use lowercase letters for that, and it's a simple way to help prepare her for reading.

Most children aren't ready for reading until they are AT LEAST 4 (and many not till 7 or 8--usually boys), so I would spend less time trying to teach her to read, and more time showing her how fun learning is. You will work five times longer to teach her to read NOW, than you will if you just wait a year, when her brain is going to be even faster on the draw! Make it easier on you both and just wait till her brain is ready (which may be at 4, or may be at 5, or maybe even later)...


We homeschool, so my 3 and 4 year olds are always dying to "do school" like their older siblings, so we've had to come up with all sorts of things to do for school for them. But I've found the thing that works the best is just to include them in my day whenever I can. Helping fold laundry, helping make dinner, etc... being proactive about finding ways to involve them. Teaching them to work hard and have fun while doing it will come in SOOOOOOOOOOO handy for you when she's older!!!!!!!!!! Promise!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We did an ABC year when I had a 3 and a 5 year old--where we did one letter a week. I cut the letter out in big bold construction paper colors and sticky-tac it to the wall, and then we go 'study' all sorts of things that begin with that letter...etc...and they do art projects and handwriting practices with that letter, cooked something that started with that letter, learned about a country or a color that started with that letter, painted, drew, etc., (which the drawings also all get sticky-tacked to the same wall)--it was our 'letter of the week' wall. It was always very fun and they LOVED LOVED LOVED it.


Just some 'idears' to toss 'round that thar head of yars...

Love,
Mol

 

[Lena75]

Since she's only 3, go easy. When our 6 yr. old was 3, he wanted to do a lot of things already, too. Ok, so I got everything out and we got busy. He was interested only for a couple days. Turns out it was just a phase. Kids go through alot of phases too.
A desk is a good idea. We had one and it got fought over all the time! LOL. Our 4 yr. old has her own "backpack". It's just a toy one and she seems happy with it until she gets her own real one for next year. (Oh, why did I have to remind myself about that? She's my baby!!) Anyway... a small pencil case or whatever and a few crayons, pencils and erasers might help her to feel more school environmental. Wanna know what we did to eliminate distractions for our oldest son? Since he too, became easily distracted, his EA set up a fridge box around his desk. You can put a hole in top for a 'sun' window. This worked very well. And he did a lot of his work that way. Now he's gotten better and there's no need.
You can also teach a 3 year old a lot just by going for a walk. Say, look, there's a tree. Can you help me spell tree?

Good luck!

 

[Jenna]

I've been taking her learning at a real easy pace, mostly because I recognize that there are things that she just isn't ready for. We seem to have a little different schedule for things than other people because Anna was premature by nearly three months. So, she was slower than many kids her age, just because she had so much growing and developing to do.

I've noticed that in the past year, she has started to pick up a bit more and is really growing in her vocabulary and motor skills. Now, instead of scribbling all over a coloring book page, she tries to color specific areas, like coloring pink lipstick on the girls. lol I also let her do some funny things, like learning her colors and coordination by opening my make-up case and letting her do my make-up. I'll tell her what color I would like on my eyes, and it's her job to find the color and try to get it on my eyelids instead of my nose and cheeks. lol

When she was smaller and we were having a hard time with her vocabulary, I would take her for walks and tell her the words for what we saw, and let her touch things. She learned what a tree was, and what it felt like because she'd hug them. We're still doing the same basic thing, but we're doing it to work on how she pronounces her words. She has a real hard time with some letter combinations. Like, she knows that snake is an "S" word, but while she can make the "s" sound she can't say snake. It comes out as 'nake'. You don't want to know what 'stick' comes out as. *laughs*

I figured that she was ready to really start spending more time with her letters when she would go into the bathroom and try to play "Wheel of Fortune" on the tiles of the bathroom wall. "Mommy! Say two O's!" She likes to be Vanna White.

I really like the idea of doing a 'letter of the week'. That really sounds like it will be fun for all of us. I've tried doing the flashcards with her, only taking out a few at a time. She gets hung up on the pictures on them though. We only work at it for about 10-15 minutes at a time.

 

[Busybee]

My daughter will be 4 the 19th of this month.

We practice unschooling and you can learn more about that by checking out the following link. http://www.pipeline.com/~wdkmg/homeschool/WhatIsUnschooling.htm

I learned verrrrry quickly when she was 2 and started wanting to learn letters NOT to set up a formal area of learning with a set time. She got frustrated, wanted to stop, and so did I.

Soo we'd learn like 3 letters a week or so. I used cheap flash cards from fred's that only has the letters on one side and pictures on the other. I had to make it fun for her.

So if she'd learned A B and C, I'd lay those cards out and when I called a letter out, I'd have her smack the correct one. Also I used a dry erase board where I'd write out a bunch of the letters she knew and when I called out that letter she would erase the correct one (SHE LOOOOVED THAT ONE). I'd suggest just starting with upper case letters first.

Now, we never set up a time and do it as it comes daily. She learns science any time we're outside. I also review by just asking out of the blue if she remembers something.

A typical day goes something like this (she also loves to quiz me).

Setting: Outside and she sees a mosquito and we've learned about it. Great opportunity to review.

Her: Mom which mosquitos drink blood?

Me: Answering wrong intentionally (the boys?)

Her: Noooo, only the girls drink blood (usually excites her that she's right)

Me: Oh ok, why is it that only the girls drink blood?

Her: They need it to lay their eggs.

Me: Where do they lay their eggs? In trees?

Her: Noo mom, they put them in water!!!

Me: I wonder why our mosquito bites itch.

Her: Because they put their spit (saliva was a bit hard for her to comprehend) in your body before they suck out your blood.

So at 4 she's moved on (knows colors, upper/lower case alphabet, identifies her name when seen, knows her address, her full name, mom, dads, baby sis's first and last name, majorly interested in science, etc etc)

She now knows what words begin with and we have lots of fun with that. If she asks me what a word starts with, I say the word, then sound it out, and then ask..."what do you think it starts with now?" and she tells me. She learned colors, because if I wanted something I'd ask for it by saying, "bring me your red shirt, etc".

Whew, now counting, we've got to work on. Someone suggested using candies and we're going to do that. She knows how to count items out up to 10, but when it comes to saying the numbers past ten, it gets kinda ugly

She'll start going to a small private school next year and I still plan to work with her since they'll be getting out at noon.

Good luck and remember the important thing is to find what works best for you and your lil girl.

P.S. We also used a free educational CD from Publix Preschool Pals when she was smaller (unfortunately they only supply to people in certain southern states). If you'd like to have it, please let me know and I'll copy you ours for free. We're moving on to JumpStart Kindergarten and waiting for it's arrival.

 

[Blindfaith316]

aww you sound like a great mom!!!! being a homeschooler, have you tried checking out your church for used curriculum, (our church has free bins) I found some great pre-k things for my son in them. I think making games out of learning would be great... if you want, you could get her educational materials (flashcards, workbooks) you can find them at $1 stores. My daughter loved the color/paint by numbers at 3, (they went up to #10 and #20 depending on which you bought) she has a little desk, and she sits in it when she wants to, but its not a 'rule' through ABEKA my son has these great games, you set up number or alphabet flashcards along the wall(we use a dry erase board) and then there is a picture of a hen and eggs with doubdle sided tape.. we quizz him by saying the letter or number and he has to point to it, then he gets an egg and gets to 'give it to the mommy hen' with him, I added a variation of running around the room and then placing it, so that hes active (otherwise he gets antsy)

children at that age absorb like sponges, so anything that you teach her she will easily retain and remember. My daughter could write her name at 3, and she is reading (just turned 5) now, and is in mostly 1st-2nd grade curriculum.

we have a 'play school' time, where I am the student and she is the teacher, which she loves, (and again, she is learning!) a simple walk outside is learning with my kids, they want to know so much, for instance, yesterday we came home from our walk with a pocket full of leaves we had to look up the names for (I didnt know them!)

this is such a neat topic, gotta love little kids, so curious, so innocent and so smart! being a mommy is the best!!!

 

[Sheena_Va]

The previous replies have been right on target. I've picked up quite a few pre-school books at a $ store...along with "good job" stickers and my kids love them.
My kids are 2 (Rebe'kah) and 3 (Joseph), and I started to notice that when they were learning their memory verses for Sunday School, they enjoyed "reading" along with me from the index card. My son, who only knows a couple letters by sight, eventually started pointing to certain words and saying them. I don't kid myself in believing he is actually reading, but it sure does look like a strong foundation for it.
I got the idea from that to put little index cards all over the house, naming what the items were : table, lamp, phone, chair......and so on. Now I can take the cards down, flash them, and he is pretty accurate in "reading" what is on the card.

 

[E-beth]

I teach three-year-olds for a living, and I agree that you have to sort of "fool" them into learning. Things like games, songs, etc are the best ways to learn stuff. But really, all a three year old needs to know is stuff like shapes and colors and then you can begin doing things like patterning (math readiness) and color mixing and problem solving.

Three-year-olds love to cook. It also helps them follow directions, and they learn science by watching things cook.

My son is just a bit over two and he already knows his shapes and some colors thanks to his Little Touch Leappad by the Leapfrog company. He has loved it since he was 18 months old. I recommend the LeapFrog products to any stage of learner.

 

[Jenna]

Oh, Anna loves her "Lilly" the leapfrog. She used to talk to her in the morning, while we were in bed. They were "friends". lol That is how she learned how to count to ten. All of the practice in the world didn't help me with her, but that silly frog taught her during their together time. lol

 

[Crofter]

Good advice for you here... learn through play and when out workind also so on... and she can set up school for teddies or pets and teach them to read too... but there's no rush... kids learn very well in their own time and learn a lot of very important informal stuff all the time that we don't even notice...

My daughter was ay ahead f her years and it gave her problems at school. She coud read and write and do maths a little when she started nursery at thhree but while she was they she just chose to copy what the others did and scribbled and didn't revelal her ability in that field until she noticed that half her peers were begining to write their names... the teachers had been pushimg them to write their names and they called me in though cos they found it rather amusing that Rachel had sudenly produced a whole page of neat writing sayng my name is Rachel. Looking back I think it was more from frustration than pleasure because she hadn't really wanted to write her name for them. I don't think it is good to push young kids and agree heartily with what folk have said here.

 

[Busybee]

the teachers had been pushimg them to write their names and they called me in though cos they found it rather amusing that Rachel had sudenly produced a whole page of neat writing sayng my name is Rachel.

Crofter that is absolutely hilarious!!!!

 

[yeshuaskid]

We're teaching our daughter Sign Language. She's been signing since she was seven months old. Now, at a little over a year old, she points to everything for it's word and sign. It's a good way to help a child to adjust to new things. If you want info...let me know.

 

[Zoomer]

My 3 year old is also enamored by the idea of school. She's so excited that she will start next year. I agree that fun is the key to learning at this age. I try to incorporate learning into mudane, everyday activities. On car rides, we play "I Spy", to reinforce her knowledge of colors. We also count in the car, I am teaching her to count by 10s right now. We like to count in silly voices, I say the number then she repeats the number in the same silly voice. The way she learned her uppercase letters was with an alphabet puzzle. We would sing the ABC's, and she would find the letter and put it in it's place. Right now, she is learning about the states. She knows that we live in the United States of America, and in which state and city we live. I printed out a map of the USA from the internet to help her learn the states. She can name and locate 5 so far. I also try to use a variety of words when speaking to her. The best way to increase her vocabulary is to use words, she picks up on them and uses them. If she does not know the meaning, she asks for it. I love this age, 3 years old are veritablely sponges.

 

[Katydid]

OK house set up, which is a big question for you I think.

Low bookshelves or her books on the bottom shelves.

Beanbag chair that she can relax in while she "reads"

Teach your Child to Read in 100 Lessons
this takes about 15 minutes a day and only about 5 of those need to be at a table.

Keep TV locked up tight (have a set amount of time and time of day that it can be
turned on)

Keep puzzles, ed. games etc. in easy reach

That is a good start at least. We are starting to work on all of this though it will never be perfect.