The title of this post can be a shock to some people. A toddler reading is an abnormal concept to many humans.
This can be a normal concept for any child who likes to play, explore, and learn. It is not reserved for children who we think are geniuses. All kids are born creative geniuses. We just have to find playful ways to foster their curiosity.
Parents would approach me and ask if he was really reading. Of course I would reply by saying “yes”. Their next question would be, “How is he doing this?”
I could have talked with them for an hour telling them how he learned through toys, singing, dancing, acting, playing outside, and reading.
Below is video of my son at 25 months reading a book to me just before bedtime.
Cory-reading-at-25-months
This is why I have created the FREE Mini Course: Strategies to Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play. It gives you strategies to make reading fun, natural, and stress free for you and your child. This includes some of the techniques I used with my son to expose him to words, reading, and reading comprehension in a fun way.
This training is a four-part series. Below is what you will learn in the first video…
The learning system I used to teach my son to read.
How I address the objections people have about teaching a child to read as a toddler.
The one mistake parents make when reading to their child.
And so much more!
By the end of this video, you will know how to read aloud to your child in a way that creates meaning and connection! This will strengthen your child’s reading comprehension skills faster!
In the second video you will learn about the One Million Gap and How to Beat it!
In the third video, I will reveal the 10 Components Needed to Teach Reading in a Fun Way!
The fourth video reveals how to take your child’s learning and reading to the next level. You will also see my son spelling at 21 months and reading on a third grade level as a three-year-old.
Complete the form below to access the FREE Mini Course: Strategies to Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play
One night after taking a bath, my son suggested an activity/game for the next day called, Letter Hunt. I was intrigued by his suggestion and asked him how to play. Cory said “We will find all the letters in the alphabet in one room.”
The next day, we played the game he suggested and had a blast. We also played two other variations of the game. This activity is great for letter recognition and it allows children to get physical. Play this game even if your child knows their letters.
My son is very familiar with the alphabet but still had fun with this activity. It was raining outside when we played the game and that resulted in perfect timing.
Let’s Get Started
Letter Hunt- Variation 1
Materials:
Children and adults
Directions:
Tell your child you will do a letter hunt by going around a room or your home to search for letters.
You may find letters anywhere in your home such as magazines, signs, toys, shoes, books etc.
Keep playing the game until you find letters A-Z
My son found the letter A on his Paw Patrol Slipper.Found the letter C on a box.
Letter Hunt – Variation 2
Materials:
Foam Letter or Magnetic letters
You may also use letters you have written on paper
Directions:
Hide letters A-Z around a room
Have your child(ren) find the letters and put them in a pile.
My son hunting for the letters I hid.
Letter Hunt – Variation 3
Materials:
Markers
Craft Paper or Poster Board Paper
Foam letters or Magnetic letters
You may also use letters you have written on paper
Directions:
Draw a chart on craft paper with your name or initial on one column and your child’s name or initial in the another column.
You and your child will get two different letters.
For example, your child will get letter A and you will get letter B.
Cory picking the letter he will soon hide.
Have your child hide the letter A in a room without you looking.
You hide the letter B in a room and ensure your child is not looking at where you are hiding it.
Now both of you go find the letters each one of you hid.
For example, you will find the letter A and your child will find the letter B
Whoever finds the letter first wins a point that round.
Have your child record the points on craft paper for each round.
Keeping score for our Letter Hunt. Clearly I am losing the game.I am trying to find where Cory hid his letter. He had great hiding spots.
Hopefully, you enjoyed and found value in the first, second, and third videos of the FREE Mini Course: Strategies to Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play. This includes some of the techniques I used with my son to expose him to words, reading, and reading comprehension in a fun way.
I am excited to share this information with you.
Let me help you take your child’s learning and reading to the next level. Watch the video below and I will show you how with this limited time offer!
Thank you so much for being here! I love sharing tips on fun accelerated learning for kids. Kids are so fun and their imaginations are always at play. Let’s use this to make reading fun for our children!
I hope you enjoyed the first and second video in the FREE Mini Course: Strategies to Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play.
This includes some of the techniques I used with my son to expose him to words, reading, and reading comprehension in a fun way.
Now you have come to the final video in this training. You will receive my biggest tips here.
You will learn…
10 Components needed when exposing your child to new words and reading with examples of activities
FREE Course on how to Teach the Alphabet in a Fun Way
How to use digital media and technology in your child’s learning
How to use the world as your child’s learning playground
Toddler-Reading-In-Depth-Learning-Part-3
Below is a PDF File of 10 Components Needed When Learning to Read.
You have taken the first step in learning strategies to make reading fun, natural, and stress free for you and your child.
This is the first video in our FREE Mini Course: Strategies to Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play.
This includes some of the techniques I used with my son to expose him to words, reading, and reading comprehension in a fun way.
In this video, you will learn
The learning system I used to teach my son to read.
How I address the objections people have about teaching a child to read as a toddler.
The one mistake parents make when reading to their child.
And so much more!
By the end of this video, you will know how to read aloud to your child in a way that creates meaning and connection! This will strengthen your child’s reading comprehension skills faster!
Toddler-Reading-In-depth-Learning-Part-1
In the second video you will learn about the One Million Gap and How to Beat it!
In the third video, I will reveal the 10 Components Needed to Teach Reading in a Fun Way!
The fourth video reveals how to take your child’s learning and reading to the next level.
One day I got an email from Kiwico.com about DIY science experiments. I saw directions on how to make giant bubbles. I could not wait to show my son, Cory, the bubble activity. Once he saw it, he was excited to get started.
We had all the materials in our home except one item, push pins. We immediately went to the store and purchased the push pins and started to build the wand for the giant bubbles.
If you do this activity once with your child, it will not be your last. So far, we have done the activity three times. The first time, Cory was excited at how big the bubbles were. However, we wanted them to be bigger. So like scientists, we tested and adjusted our approach. The second time was even better than the first.
So let’s get started with how to do this fun activity.
Gather materials to make the giant bubble wand and bubble solution.
Start creating the giant bubble wand by sticking a pushpin into the end of each dowel. Don’t push it in all the way but keep the pin about a 1/8-inch from the dowel.
We put the pushpin in about 1/8 inch from the dowel.
Cut a piece of yarn about 4 feet long.
Tie one end of the yarn to the exposed metal part of the push pin.
Push the pin into the dowel to hold the knot
Thread the yarn through the washer.
Tie the other end of the yarn around the push pin on the second dowel.
Push the pin in to hold the knot.
Cut a shorter piece of yarn that’s about 18 inches long.
Tie the ends to the longer yarn a few inches away from the dowels.
This should create a triangular shape.
Now it is time to make the bubble solution.
Mix 1 part dish soap, 4 parts warm water, add a teaspoon of glycerin, and stir well.
Using the dowels, dunk the yarn and washer into the solution.
Lift up the dowel and hold it out so the triangular shape opens up.
Walk the dowel around to see the giant bubble take form.
We liked these bubbles but wanted them bigger.
Therefore, we made some adjustments.
We made the yarn longer by cutting it 6 feet instead of 4 feet.
My husband provided us with a bigger and heavier washer.
The shorter piece of yarn was cut to 30 inches instead of 18 inches.
We used Gazillion Bubbles because we did not have time to make our own bubble solution.
We also learned that bigger bubbles will pop MORE often in hot and dry weather. This weather makes the water in the bubble evaporate too quickly which causes the bubbles to pop.
In the picture below, it was cloudy and rainy outside.
Many parents ask me how my son started writing at such a young age. He wrote his first letter A at 21 months. He could also write the alphabet and numbers 1-100 at the age of 2.5.
My son writing numbers 1-100 outside at 2.5 years old.Here’s a video of my son, age 2 at the time, writing the alphabet outside.
Teaching a child to write can be a difficult task, especially if the child does not have a desire to learn. Below I will answer the most frequently asked questions when it comes to handwriting skills and children. You will find creative and enjoyable teaching techniques in my new book, Fun and Easy Ways to Teach Your Toddler to Write.
It has over 135 activities, resources and tips for teaching writing with PLAY.
The Book is Available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle! Click on the Image Below to Find It.
GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO GET THE FIRST CHAPTER AND HALF OF THE SECOND CHAPTER FOR FREE.
Let’s Get Started!
How Can I Help with Writing?
Part of learning to write involves remembering how letters, shapes, and numbers are formed. Most children are taught this through tracing letters, numbers, lines, and shapes repeatedly. Although this is very effective, there are other scientific-proven tricks that can accelerate the learning process and make it fun.
One Fun Scientific Trick to Use When Teaching Your Child to Write
One scientific trick I have used is called Picturing Information. I read about this method in the book, Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Teens and Kids. Picturing Information makes it much easier to remember. This involves using both the right and left brain strengths into learning. One way to do this is to convert a fact into a picture, so you can remember it more easily. If the picture is strange or unusual, it is easier to remember. Additionally, if the picture involves movement, then it makes the connection stronger.
Let’s use a letter as an example. If your child is learning to write the letter A, you may want to connect it with a picture of a triangle. While tracing or showing them how to write it, tell your child the A is part triangle with a line in the middle. It is important to use what is familiar to your child for the picture. In other words, ensure the child knows what a triangle and line look like. If they don’t know, then use another picture such as stick man legs with a line in the middle.
You may also describe an A as stick man legs with a line in the middle.
When should a child be able to write?
Most experts say that children learn to write between the ages of 3-6. I believe children learn to write before they actually start writing if exposed in the right way. This begins once a parent exposes their child to how letters, numbers, and shapes are formed through reading books, building, doing art, and participating in physical play. When children see letters, shapes, and numbers in books or in the real world often, their brain is taking note of how they are formed. When children start writing they will know letter and number formation which makes it easier to write.
How play can help In teaching your child to write
Building and doing art can help strengthen a child’s hand muscles to prepare them for writing. Building various structures with Legos, magnetic tiles, or Play-Doh helps develop a child’s pincer grasp, which is the coordination of the index finger and thumb to hold an item. This is also a great way to develop fine motor skills. A child is using the pincer grasp when they hold a paint brush, put money in a piggy bank, and learn to button their shirt.
Physical play is a great way to develop a child’s handwriting skills. Children can make letters with their bodies through creative dance. Also, crawling and yoga is a way to strengthen hand muscles which is beneficial for writing.
How can I help my child write faster?
Often I am asked how I got my son to write the alphabet and numbers as a 2-year-old. It wasn’t that he learned to write quickly, I just started earlier. When he was a baby, I read aloud to him various colorful children’s books about shapes, letters, and numbers. Not only was I reading to him, but I would take my finger and outline the shapes, letters, and numbers in the book.
We also built structures often with blocks and Play-doh. We created letters, shapes, and numbers with these toys and more. While creating we discussed our process in structuring each object and how they were formed.
So, if you want your child to write faster, simply start early through PLAY and fun exposure.
Fun and Easy Ways to Teach Your Toddler to Write Book
I wrote this book to show parents ways to expose their children to the formation of letters, numbers, and shapes in a fun way. This book will take you through a step by step process of how I taught my son handwriting skills. It gives you games/activities to do with your child along the way to make writing a process that is fun, natural, and stress free for the parent and child.
This is a great tool for parents with children ages 0-7!
This book provides the following and so much more…
Fun scientific techniques in teaching kids handwriting skills.
How to execute fun in-depth learning
How to teach children to write before they actually start writing
How to incorporate digital media in your child’s learning
The stages of writing
How to use PLAY when exposing your child to handwriting
The importance of learning in different settings
How to teach your child to hold writing utensils correctly
What to do when your child does not want to write
Hand strengthening activities that will prepare your child to write
Once your child begins to write, how to continue to build their handwriting skills
Here is What Others are Saying about the Book
This is a fantastic, thoughtful resource for anyone who wants to give their child a head start for school as well as cultivate a love for learning. It gives parents or caregivers who want to spend quality time with their child clear instructions and a wide variety of activities so they can strengthen their bond and create lasting memories with their child while teaching them valuable skills and having fun. An indispensable resource for those with young children! —Stacey K., editor and mother of 4
“This book is a fantastic resource for parents and educators in the midst of teaching their children literacy skills. It provides excellent activities, book references, and resources to teach toddlers how to write, along with educational insights regarding children’s brain development and cognition. I love how Andrea uses fun and creative literacy techniques to instill an early love of learning in young children. As a mom of two toddlers, I am excited to use these engaging techniques with my girls!” —Amber., counselor and mother of 4
This book is a great companion to Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play. The book contains many activities for different learning styles. It is definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach to learning how to write. Parents and children can bond with each other and have fun while figuring out what works best for them. If your child enjoys nature, STEM, crafts, role-playing, or music, you’ll find something to pique their interests inside the pages. Not only does this book help your child learn to write, Andrea includes scientific insight about brain development to support the value of these child-centered and age-appropriate activities. Once again, Andrea has made learning fun! —Danielle J., Attorney and mother of 2
The Book is Available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle! Click on the Image Above to Find It.
Not sure yet? Get a free excerpt of Fun Ways to Teach Your Toddler to Write by completing the form below.
My son loves balloons! He likes to inflate, toss, and hit them. So, when I saw this experiment, I knew we had to do it! This is a perfect activity for July 4th festivities!
You probably have all the materials in your home. Once your child does this activity, they will want to do it repeatedly. Have fun with this simple yet exciting activity!
Materials:
String
Balloon
Wide Straw
Tape
Two Chairs or Two Trees
Method:
Cut string about several feet long
The string will be the track for your balloon launch.
Cut the straw about 4″ long
Thread the string through the straw
String it through the straw
Tie the two ends of the string to two chairs or two trees
We tied the strings to two chairs
Blow up the balloon
Cory blowing up the balloon.
Pinch the opening of the balloon to keep the air inside
Tape the straw to the balloon.
You made need two people to help with this step.
We taped the straw to the balloon.This is the second try. We taped the straw to the balloon. The yellow balloon burst on us.
Go to one end of the string and let go of the balloon opening
One day I was perusing through the Children’s book section in the library and I saw the book Frida and Bear Play the Shape Game! by Anthony Browne and Hanne Bartholin. This book is about Frida helping Bear think of things to draw. In order to accomplish this, Frida draws a shape and gives it to Bear. Then she asks Bear to “Try to turn this shape into something.”
This book encourages readers and young artists to use their imaginations to get their creative juices flowing.
My son and I read this book one night before bedtime. He thought it was a neat book and suggested we play the Shape Game. This is exactly what we did.
I will show you how to play.
Materials:
Paper
Writing Utensil such as Crayons, Markers, or Pencils
Boogie Board (this is what we used instead of Paper and Writing Utensils)
Directions:
Draw any shape you like on paper or on the Boogie Board.
I started the game by drawing this shape.
Give the paper to your child and ask them to make the shape into a picture.
My son said he turned the shape into the letter Q.
Now have your child make a shape.
My son drew this shape.
Tell your child to give you the shape and you will make a picture from it.
I turned the shape into a horse.
My son and I had so much fun with this activity. He did not want to stop. He was excited to see what I made from his shapes.
This activity is great for spatial awareness and creativity! It is also fun to play while waiting for food in a restaurant or in a doctor’s office.
I drew this banana shape. My son turned it into a whale. I drew this shape.
My son said “Mommy, I turned your arch into a cave.
