The Top 10 Ways to Jump-Start
Your Toddler's Education
Toddlers have a greater ability to acquire new skills
and information than children who are 5, 6, or 7 years
old. Research indicates that introducing reading,
language, and math skills in the toddler years may make
school success come more easily to your child for years
to come.
1. "Narrate" your child's activities so that they will
know that they have your focused attention.
This will support them in language and thinking
development.
2. Choose children's books with large print words and
extremely clear pictures.
This will help your child to understand what they are
seeing and to learn to read words. Many children's books
have very small words and very complicated pictures.
3. Purchase foreign language cassettes and videos.
It is much easier for toddlers to pick up other
languages at this age than it will be later on.
4. Purchase computer software for toddlers.
The software will often employ keyboard skills, since it
is difficult for many children to use a mouse before the
age of two and a half.
5. Buy alphabet letters for bathtub use and make a
new word every time your child is in the bathtub.
Your child will begin to make the connection between
spoken and written language.
6. Use repetition.
Some parents get frustrated when a child wants a book
read three times in a row, but this is an essential part
of how children process information.
7. Buy alphabet magnet letters to play with on the
refrigerator.
Spell out new words for your child every week.
8. Read to your child every day.
Read with emotional expression, as if you were in a
dramatic play.
9. Remember that your child's physical education is
directly linked to his academic education.
Research shows that brain development is directly linked
to physical activity, such as crawling before the age of
one. If you and your toddler engage frequently in
different kinds of physical activities, this may enhance
brain development. Examples: galloping, running,
rolling, wheelbarrow, etc.
10. Call the Institutes for the Achievement of Human
Potential at (800) 344-MOTHER to purchase early learning
materials.
They sell books, videos, cassettes, and learning
materials to teach your toddler how to read, how to do
math, and how to gain encyclopedic knowledge.
