While your children are learning and exploring at school, they are learning valuable things that they will bring home and demonstrate. This shows their progress and allows you to see how they learn, what they understand, and how they are developing. Early childhood is an important time in kids’ lives, they develop social skills, motor skills, and begin to learn important parts of everyday life.
And while your children are learning a lot at school or in daycare, developing and growing, home is an important place to get them thinking as well. Kids are constantly curious, always wanting to learn new things. Every parents knows the “why?” stage, and although being asked why something is the way that it is, over and over again, may being annoying, it is an important stage in a child’s life. Curiosity is a good thing in children, they are questioning the world around them, trying to discover how things work, and slowly grasping concepts.
At Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center, we allow kids to have this curiosity as they learn, explore, and grow. And we encourage you to do the same when your kids are at home. Get them questioning why things work the way they do. Ask them questions to keep them thinking, and add activities in throughout your day that will help them learn in different ways.
In one of our past blogs, we discuss some ways to help your child learn at home. In this blog, we will discuss activities you can start at home with your children to help them better understand things they are learning in school and to teach them new things.
Reading
Reading is an important skill for your child to learn. It is something they will use for the rest of their life, so improving their vocabulary and helping them read more efficiently are great skills for them to work on daily.
Reading to your children is a great way to get them to understand language, learn new words, and pick up on words that they know. Reading anything to your child will help, whether it is a children’s book, a magazine article, or even your own book, reading to your child can help improve their language skills.
Have them read to you. As they begin learning how to read, have them read things to you throughout the day. Ask them to read the cereal box as you are grocery shopping. Have them read a book to you while cooking dinner. This is a great way for them to get comfortable reading in front of others while helping them learn new words and correct pronunciations.
Play games. There are many different word games for kids, that help them learn more about language and words. You can create a scavenger hunt for them, leaving notes around the house for them to read to find a prize. They will be excited about the end result and work hard to make sure they read each note accurately.
Math
Have your children count everything—the amount of cars on the street, the number of forks on the table, and anything else you can think of. Keeping them counting will help improve their skills, allowing them to count to higher number and faster. Depending on the age of your child, whether they are starting kindergarten or in preschool, you can have them help you cook, allowing them to measure ingredients and learn different measurement skills and terms.
Creative
Some children are more creative than others, but being creative can enhance thinking and help with a child’s imagination. Allow them to be creative and make up games and stories. Play games with them, have them tell you stories, and listen. Make sure you do not stifle their creativity or curiosity. Answer their questions and help them learn new things. If your child asks about space, tell them as much as you know. If you don’t know the answer to their questions look it up with them and learn something together, it will help them realize that learning is a constant thing and that even you are still learning new things.
Social Studies
Learning about the world is important for your child. They won’t grasp the concept of how large the world is, but they will understand that there are many more people and places than what they know. Show them globes, teach them about different cultures they seem interested in. Take your children to museums so they can find new interests, take them to the library so they can find more information on their new interests, and talk to them about what they are learning.
There are many different ways to improve your child’s learning development, enhance their curiosities, and keep them learning even when at home. But the best way to stimulate these things is to talk with your children. Keep the conversation going, ask them about what they are curious about and answer their questions, talk to them about numbers, words, places, people, and anything else they seem to have an interest in.
Helping your children gain interests in different things will help them stay interested. Teaching them that learning is fun can keep them invested in school throughout their lives, which is why starting young is so important.
At Yellow Brick Road, we encourage curiosity. Our child care center helps students learn, grow, and explore in an environment that is stimulating and allows for increased development. Get your children the education that will last them a lifetime, enroll now or contact us with any questions.