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5 Things to Start Teaching Your Child Now

Easy Ways to Get Your Child Kindergarten Ready by 2-Years-Old

By Shannon HumphreyPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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There are tons of articles dedicated to what to teach your child, how to teach it, when to teach it and then, of course, all of the expensive programs to go along with each method. We tend to over-think, over-analyze, and over-complicate what, and how, to teach our children. We do not need expensive programs, state-of-the-art computers, nannies, or private daycares. We simply need repetition, time, and attention, and a whole lot of patience. Below you will find the five things I taught my youngest daughter. By 2-years-old, she knew how to sing her alphabet, could identify letters, count to 13, sing songs, knows most of her shapes, and can identify five colors. Now, at 26-months-old, she can write her alphabet and knows the phonetic connection to approximately half of the alphabet. And the best part—I didn't spend one dime on anything; no program, no computer, no books, no daycare—NOTHING.

  1. Sing the alphabet to your newborn baby. While most parents sing to their children, many do not think about singing the alphabet. Instead of the same old nursery rhymes, I simply sang the alphabet, every time. The early introduction and the repetition of singing the same thing caused my daughter to recognize the alphabet and get excited about it by the time she was 6-months-old. Think of this as the foundational blocks to the rest of what you will teach your child. Not only are you teaching them the letters of every word in the human language, but you are also teaching them rhythm and routine. Because she associated the alphabet song with happiness and comfort, I then used the song to encourage her to crawl, eat, and behave as a positive reward.
  2. When you cannot pay attention to your child, utilize age-appropriate educational programming. While cleaning the house, or just before her nap, I would tune into "Elmo" singing the alphabet, or other alphabet songs that I found on Google. I didn't mind if some included "A is for Apple, a-a-apple." While my intentions weren't to teach her phonics yet, to be introduced to them would help her just as singing the alphabet to her helped her to recognize that song as a newborn. I will say, however, that I did scan the videos to make sure that they weren't too over-complicated. I wanted to keep it simple, reinforcing only what we were learning or no more than one step ahead.
  3. Get blocks and start playing with your child under supervised conditions. Yes, this one requires a purchase, but the blocks I recommend are under $10 at your nearest superstore. The blocks come on a holder that is square and has pegs. Each set of pegs hold a different shape. There are four colors each of the rectangles, triangles, squares, and circles. I use these blocks to teach shapes, colors and the cognitive ability to place the blocks on the peg that they fit on. I repeat the colors and shapes over and over while playing with her. Also, I try to have her collect all of the yellow blocks first, then the red, then the blue, and finally the green. Likewise, I have her collect all of the triangles, the squares, the rectangles, and the circles. While you shouldn't expect your child to know these shapes and colors within the first week, or even the first month, if you continue this exercise repeatedly, you will get quality playtime with your child and your child will learn his or her shapes or colors in no time.
  4. Nursery Rhymes. While I stuck to only the ABC's when she was one year and under, as she showed that she was beginning to understand her letters, I introduced her to some nursery rhymes. All of the songs I chose were ones that had numbers in them. For instance, we would sing "Five Little Ducks Went Out One Day" or "Five Little Monkey's Jumping On The Bed." I reiterated these for the purpose of teaching her how to count. Now, when I would leave the room and put her down for a nap or a "baba" the programs that I would use, while still educational, would be those exact nursery rhymes. I created a playlist of them on Youtube and just let them play through. At least three times per week, I would mix in her old programs with Elmo and the ABC's. This helped to permanently concrete all of the learning we had done into her little, but beautiful, brain.
  5. Never make learning a required activity and always make it fun. I cannot stress the importance of this one enough. Just as we played with the blocks and said that they were "yellow," when we were away from the blocks and she was just running around being a normal 18-month-old, I would ask her what color her dress was and reiterate the word "yellow." We did not sit down for "special" learning time and I never ever made her feel like learning was a chore. It was fun mommy and daddy time. It was being done as we went outside and saw the "blue" bird, or as we counted her "piggy's" on her toes, or even as we counted the chicken nuggets on her plate. We integrated the learning into all of her fun activities, and still do. And be patient. Don't get upset with her verbally or in body language when she doesn't understand or get it! Just keep saying the same things over and over. Don't tell her or him "no" when they are wrong. Ignore it and correct it later. While this article is about toddlers, we used the same method on our children who are now in high school. They love learning! They are all dual enrolled and will receive a bachelor's degree before they graduate high school. Your child may not learn the way you do, so adjust, be patient, reiterate, adjust and make it fun!

I am a life-coach and I offer support to all those busy moms and dads out there. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions or specific concerns and I will get back to you promptly.

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About the Creator

Shannon Humphrey

I am a wife to an awesome man, and a mom of six beautiful children. I love kids, education, history, politics, philosophy and theology. I attended Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida and I am currently working on my J.D. and Ph.D.

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