Teaching toddlers...

Comments: 16

lynn a. Oct 16, 2007, 9:37am EDT

Good idea. I don't have small ones in the house anymore, but if I did, I'd think this would be fun to do with them.

Sherine W. Oct 16, 2007, 9:47am EDT

I home educated my children, so every moment was a lesson on something. One of my favorite teaching times was when we went grocery shopping. We estimated weights, practiced multiplication by figuring out how much a certain weight of vegetables would cost based on the price per pound, practiced addition by keeping a tally of the cost of each item and adding it up as we went along. At the end of the shopping trip, we could use multiplication (& decimals) again to figure out what the tax would be. I even gave my older daughter a list of her own. She would have to compare prices to find the best deal on the items on her list. Those are good memories...who knew grocery shopping could be so fun and educational.

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Rita j. Oct 16, 2007, 9:59am EDT

I make up songs to get them to remember things

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Joseph H. Oct 16, 2007, 10:22am EDT

we have foam letters and numbers that we play with in the tub. And when they are wet, they stick to the side of the tub. So he is learing his numbers and letters and colors as well.

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The Red Headed Witch of Gather G. Oct 16, 2007, 11:17am EDT

I don't have children so I don't know anything about this, but 10 anyways.

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michelle K. Oct 16, 2007, 11:57am EDT

These are some great ideas! Keep them coming! I'll need them in about five months!

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Leah A. Oct 16, 2007, 1:27pm EDT

Congratulations, Michelle.

We would play "I see something", and one person would have to describe what they saw and the other would guess what it was. Then, it would be the other person's turn to describe. It's great for learning colors, shapes, identifying objects, learning to observe the world around us, etc., in a fun way.

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B F. Oct 16, 2007, 1:39pm EDT

Michelle~Congrats!!! Talking is a great way to work with the kiddos no matter how young... Talk about everything all the time anytime... We just keep talking til we can talk no more...

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M & M. Oct 16, 2007, 4:12pm EDT

I always played a game or sang a song to teach them. Worked like a charm.

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Karen E. Oct 17, 2007, 10:09am EDT

On the way home from the hospital with my newborn son 35 years ago, when there was no such thing as strapping them into a car seat, I held him so he could see out the window of the car and talked to him, saying, that tall thing over there is a tree, up above is the blue sky, there are white fluffy clouds in the sky, oh, see that thing flying through the air, that is a bird. Yeah, I know he probably could not see those things, but the point is, babies don't know what anything is, you have to teach them everything, so start early. Talk to them, read to them, sing to them, move there little arms and legs. They will learn from every thing you say and do.

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Victoria H. Oct 17, 2007, 8:28pm EDT

My kids and I just walk around our yard outside and see what we can see. Spiders, caterpillars, flowers, fire ants, trees - it's all a learning experience. Sometimes I know what it is. Sometimes I don't. When I don't, we come back inside and try to find it in our insect book or online. They're learning a lot and I am too! Plus it's fun!

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