Busy Little Learners
Letters, numbers, shape, colors, animals, these all seem to
be basic learning concepts, right? Well, we all learned them somewhere. Who taught
you? A parent? A grandparent? A teacher? Early childhood is prime time for
learning. Little minds are constantly busy and moving! Why not use that to
their advantage? Helping your little one
learn is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. This can be
very overwhelming to some parents.
Where do I start? How do I do this? What if I mess up? Well,
first there is room for error. Helping your child learn can be fun for you and
them. There are many free to low cost ways to help your child learn. Children
are naturally wanting to learn, so bonus!
How do you start? Well, with basic things like having a
routine for them helps. Setting aside time each day or as many as you can. You can do things like read together, do learning
activities like puzzles, letters, numbers, and so on. These skills are
important at a young age. Make games to help your young one learn. I find many
fun games and activities on Pinterest. Many of the things I find can be made
out of things around your home or things that can be purchased cheap at the
dollar store or a craft store.
You can even get little bags with these simple activities in
to help keep them organized. If you have the space you can create a learning area
for you child to help them learn better. They feel like they have a space that
is all for them. This helps prepare them for school by learning to sit for a
few minutes at a time. It also helps with learning to listen and follow
directions.
It is becoming more and more important that our little ones
begin learning at a young age. Also, little ones understand that learning is
important and can be fun! Pick activities and games which you feel your child
will enjoy. Make several different things so they can have a choice and switch
things around so they don’t become bored. You could even have them help you
make some of the activities as well.
By also helping your child learn you get to influence their
learning at a very young age. Plus, you as a parent or grandparent can help build
your bond between you and your little one. It gives you and your little one a
structure time to spend together each day. Then at some point once they can do
the activities on their own they and do them for themselves. This could potentially
help you have a little time to do things you need because you know your little
is busy doing something. And your little
one has their self esteem boosted because they have learned to do something on
their own! How cool is that?!
