Easy ways to have your toddler fall in love with learning!
When it comes to education, you don’t need to rush. Especially in the toddler and preschool years. During those years we have 2 main goals:
- Expose our children to literacy and math.
- Help them fall in love with learning.
If we focus on drilling numbers and letters too soon when our kids aren’t interested, we are going to fail at the second crucial part of helping them fall in love with learning.
How many times have you heard “my kids know their numbers to 10” even though that is only a small part? There’s more to numbers than being able to identify, count, and even recognize the value. Numbers and letters are huge concepts with depth and complexity.
It seems like we are all racing to some finish line with our kid's education, but at what cost?
When we rush through education and move on to the next topic we are teaching a mile wide and an inch deep. But when we stay on a concept and give our kids multiple interactions we allow them to develop a deeper understanding. We teach an inch wide and a mile deep.
When you rush the basics like science and math when you don't build the foundation, it's going to crumble and fail. Having that strong foundation, especially in the younger years, will allow the bigger concepts that are coming down the line to come with ease. Making learning fun instead of just rushing through it.
I want to be 100% transparent. While I try not to worry too much about academic “milestones” at the preschool level, I would be lying if I said I am totally okay with my kids knowing zero letters or numbers before kindergarten. I don’t need my kids to master these skills before kindergarten and I am more than okay with them being interested in play vs academics. That is normal. That is age-appropriate. And they are practicing skills far more complex than memorizing letters and numbers when they play.
But, I still want them to have that background knowledge. I want them to sit in their kindergarten class and feel confident. I want them to think, “Oh I can do this, I have done it with my mom.” Or “Oh, I know this, my mom taught me.” The activities I do at home with my preschooler involve some academic concepts because of this.
If you want to see the 5 main benefits of doing preschool activities at home click to read this blog post! I know you’ll relate to these reasons, especially number 1!
If you are wondering what activities we do at our house, check out The Preschool Playbook, it is the curriculum I wrote and follow with my kids. It helps you achieve the goal of exposing your kiddos to math and literacy while having fun!
