Tag: teach children

Tips for Helping Your Pre-Schooler Build Math Skills

Monday, December 2nd, 2019

Math skills are one of the most important things we can teach our children at an early age. Early exposure to math and math concepts can have a big impact on a child’s skill levels later in life. Learning math can help a toddler to develop the ability to solve problems. This is so essential to success in school and life in general. As a parent, you will find that your preschooler is naturally curious and already interested in math as it relates to his or her everyday life. The best way to teach your child valuable math skills is through every day hands-on activities, tasks, and games.

5 Tips for helping your toddler learn math skills

1 Count together. Counting everything together with your pre-school child is a great way to get started. Children love to count, so make a habit of counting all the time. Count crayons in the box, tiles on the kitchen floor, pictures on the wall and bananas in the bunch. Teach them to recognize and read numbers as they learn to count.

2 Make snack time a fun learning experience. Snack time is a great way to practice counting and other math skills. Your toddler will love counting the number of cheddar goldfish or animal crackers in a bowl. Teach addition and subtraction by adding a few or taking some away and having them count the new total.

3 Use toys and playtime to help your pre-school child count and sort. You can do the same with toys as snacks. Count, sort and categorize. How many matchbox cars are in the box? How many are blue? If we took away all of the blue matchbox cars, how many cars are left? The same can be done with blocks, dolls, or whatever your child likes to play with. Sort by color, type or whatever interests them. Combine categories or remove items to help with adding and subtracting. It’s always important to keep it fun. Playtime isn’t all about building math skills, but when made into a game it can be enjoyable.  Board games and other games can also be learning tools. Moving a certain number of spaces on a board or following the “Simon Says” directions of jumping four times can be learning opportunities as well. So can more or fewer games, sequencing games and building and counting blocks.

4 Use regular daily activities as teaching opportunities. Keep it simple and keep it fun. How many steps do we climb to get to the second floor or how many squares are on the sidewalk in front of the house? Make laundry time teaching time. How many socks are in the basket? Ask your toddler to sort the clean socks and put them into pairs. Sorting objects, putting them into different categories and then counting them again. The simple task of sorting and counting laundry can help a toddler develop problem-solving skills. Even setting the table can be a math skill learning opportunity for your child. It will help your child understand the one to one concept of one fork, one knife, one spoon, etc. for each person. Cook together and teach your child how to measure ingredients. It’s a great bonding experience, as well as a math lesson. Finally, make grocery shopping a teaching experience. Have your child help with simple shopping tasks. Ask them to put six apples in a bag for you or pick out five cans of soup. Teach strategic counting. How many Cheerios boxes do you see on the shelf? If you’re paying with cash, let them help you count out coins. They’ll love helping and learn to love math at the same time.

5 Help your child learn important math concepts. Math is about more than just counting. It’s learning concepts such as quantity (more or less), measurement and size (taller, shorter, bigger, smaller). This will help your child develop mathematical reasoning skills. Shapes and patterns are important as well. Learning and naming shapes and identifying patterns is fundamental to a child’s understanding of math. Practice recognizing shape, such as a square post-it note, a triangle-shaped slice of pizza, a cracker that looks like a rectangle, etc.

Enroll your child in preschool and let the learning continue 

Building Blocks Learning Center has preschool and daycare locations in Wilkes-Barre, Mountaintop and Dallas, PA. Our program provides an age-appropriate education curriculum that can help your preschooler excel. Building Blocks pre-k program will help prepare them for the transition to kindergarten. Learn more about all of our childcare and educational programs on our website.

New Years Resolutions For Families

Tuesday, January 8th, 2019

The start of a new year is the perfect time to teach your children about making resolutions for self-improvement. It’s a fun way to have them take part in choosing ways they’d like to better themselves throughout the year. There are many resolutions you can make individually and together as a family as well. This is a great lesson to teach children at an early age. Best of all, resolutions are something your entire family can share. Keep in mind they should always be specific and achievable. For instance, steer clear of something vague like “I will read more.” Rather be precise, such as “I resolve to read 1 book each week.” Rather than “I will eat healthier,” choose “I will eat vegetables with dinner every night.” Very specific resolutions are easier to remember, to focus on and to achieve. Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Ten New Years Resolutions for Kids & Families

1. We will help mom with the dishes every night.
2. I will limit myself to only 1 soda per week.
3. I will try a new activity this year, such as a new sport, a new class or a new hobby. Be ready to help your child explore options if this resolution is selected.
4. We will volunteer as a family in our community. (Work together as a family to select specific volunteer activities that interest you).
5. If I see any bullying, I will tell an adult immediately.
6. Do an act of kindness for someone. Visit a friend who can’t get out, help a neighbor, etc.
7. We will limit ourselves to 1 hour of TV or electronics after dinner and use the extra time to play family games or do a family activity.
8. I will make a new friend. This is a great resolution for adults as well as children!
9. We will take a long walk, hike or a bike ride as a family every weekend to get more fresh air and exercise.
10. I will read one extra book each month. Another great resolution. If your children are too young to read on their own, read that extra book to them. Reading is a great habit for them to develop. 

We hope the above suggestions give you an idea of some resolutions you can work on as a family and some that you can help your children to work on. Make deciding on resolutions an activity for the entire family, so everyone can have input. You can select one individual resolution for each of you and perhaps one for the entire family. Kindness is a resolution that we all strive for and that we encourage. We hope that you can somehow throw that into the mix as well. Teach your children about kindness and encourage them to really focus on being kind to everyone this year. At Building Blocks Learning Center and childcare, we believe these early years are the most important in building a strong foundation for your child’s development and education. Learn all about our educational programs for children, as well as our childcare and daycare options at www.buildingblockslearningcenter.com or follow us on Facebook.