What stood out for you in the first video?
I am excited to share with you the second video!
In this video, I will show you…
P.S. Visit our blog for fun accelerated learning tips and activities! We provide you with tips and hands-on learning ideas weekly.
Congratulations!
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
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.
See you there!
Did you know that when your child is learning about shapes they are being introduced to geometry? Shapes are not only important to math but generally in life. A child who can identify shapes will learn how letters and numbers are formed.
This prepares them to have better handwriting skills.
For instance, the letter O is basically a circle. Also, shapes can be combined to make various pictures. For example, typically when a child draws a dog they include a horizontal oval for the body, rectangular shapes for the legs and tail, triangles for the ears, and circles for the nose and eyes.
The knowledge of shapes is useful for building, which is an introduction to engineering. My son learned so much about what shapes to use when building certain structures with his magnetic tiles. He learned that rectangles and squares make great bases or foundations for structures. Additionally, he noticed that hexagons resemble circles.
The houses he often creates are made of a cubes and triangular prisms. Furthermore, his towers are made with a combination of hexagons, squares, and triangles. As a result, he is able to use his knowledge of building basic structures to make more sophisticated towers.
My son knew the basic shapes as a one-year-old. If I called out a shape, he was able to point them out in books or choose the correct one and give it to me. This was mainly done through playing with shapes and reading various books on shapes.
Let’s talk about various ways to make learning about shapes fun.
My son and I love watching educational videos. Many times, after dinner, we dance, sing songs, or just watch videos about shapes on YouTube. Below are some YouTube videos about shapes.
*Please note that digital media should not be the only way your child learns the shapes. It should be a way to supplement what you have previously introduced to your child. In other words, expose your child to shapes first and then use digital media.
My son and I have read many books about shapes before nap and bed time. These books were colorful and included relatable characterers that my son liked. There were some that did not have characters but presented shapes in an engaging manner. Below are a list of seven children’s book about shapes.
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
One day my son, Cory, and I were walking outside and we saw that one of our neighbors had a wooden bird house hanging on their tree. Cory stopped to observe the house and said “Mom can we make that?” Afterwards, we searched the Internet trying to find the perfect bird home to build.
Then we came across a bird feeder that involved peanut butter, toilet paper roll, and bird seeds. Cory saw it and said “I would like to make this!” I told him it was a bird feeder and not a home. He still wanted to make it.
We had all the ingredients in our home. Surprisingly, my husband had bird seeds. After gathering all the materials, we started to make our bird feeder. We had fun with this activity.
This project also taught us a very important lesson of recycling.
I will show you how below…
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
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.
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 book provides the following and so much more…
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
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!
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
Most schools are out for the summer and families are going on road trips! Kids want something fun and engaging to do while riding in the car. Sure, our kids can watch movies in the car. However, the activities below go beyond that. They will exercise your child’s creativity, curiosity, and engage them.
This post is fulfilling my best friend’s request to write an article on Fun Road Trip Activities for Kids and it could not have come at a better time.
All of the activities below have been used to keep my son busy during road trips. I hope you find them helpful!
The Association Game involves naming objects or people in the same category. The categories may include the following…
I first discovered the Paint by Sticker Books at Chick-fil-A. This book came with my son’s kids meal. He liked it so much that I ordered one from Amazon. It is great for when your child needs to wait for long periods of time. Below is how it works…
This is a great activity to encourage creativity, literacy, and getting kids to think on their feet.
This is a great game to get you and your child’s creative juices flowing. Click here to learn how to play.
Words searches and puzzles are great for word and pattern recognition. They are fun and will help your child learn new vocabulary words.
Water Wow books provides mess free painting for kids. It includes reusable pages and a refillable water pen. Your child will see vibrant colors appear at each stroke. My son loves these pads. His favorite themes are Alphabets, Numbers, and Farm Animals. Ensure to fill the pen with water before your trip.
Playing Educational Apps in the Car is a fun and productive activity for kids. Below are some of the apps we like…
My son loves the Doodle Pad. It provides a way for children to do unlimited drawings and writing with its convenient erasable feature. It has kept my son occupied for long periods of time during road trips. Another type of Doodle Pad we use is called the Boogie Board.
Bringing paper and washable crayons or markers provides endless activities. Do the following activities and so much more…
I Spy is a wonderful game to play with kids. It helps them learn about new objects and vocabulary. I Spy is a guessing game where multiple people can play. One person will pick an object and provide a hint. The other players will use the hint to guess what object the person has picked. You can get I Spy books from your local library.
Flexi Rods is a product that women use to make their hair curly. I had some in my closet that I was not using. One day, I decided to give one to my son to bend and twist in order to keep him still during diaper changes. He has bent the rods into letters, numbers, shapes, and still plays with them to this day. Warning: Be careful because there is wire inside flexi rods. Please watch your child at all times.
Threading toys are great to help develop a child’s fine motor skills. Children have to use the pincer grasp to thread beads on the string or to thread the string in a hole. The pincer grasp is what children use once they start writing. It will keep kids busy and focused.
Tangram is a puzzle that comes with seven flat shapes called Tans. A child can put the shapes together to make various images such as animals, other shapes, and people. We have a travel Tangram that we use on road trips and it has helped my son with spatial awareness and problem solving.
Children don’t have to be in school or at home to learn colors. It can be done anywhere. Try these activities below…
Has your child ever asked you “Are we there yet” while taking a trip? Use everyday math to answer this question.
There are two ways to do this. One way is with time.
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
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.
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.
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
Pool Boats is a simple, yet scientific activity to do with kids inside or outside of the home. This activity came about because my son had a fever and could not go outside. Although he had a fever, he still had a desire to play. So, we did this activity.
A week prior, my son asked me for a bathtub boat but we did not have one at the time. So, I started doing research on how to make a simple DIY boat at home and came across this activity at the library. We had coins and aluminum foil at home and my son said “Let’s do this now!”
I encourage you to do this activity outside! It is more fun this way, in my opinion! Additionally it is a great activity to teach your child about buoyancy.
Don’t forget to check our two books, Teach your Toddler to Read Through Play and Fun and Easy Ways to Teach your Toddler to Write.
