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Did you know that March 2 was Dr. Seuss’ birthday? The National Education Association (NEA) celebrates every year with Read Across America… an entire day to dedicated to reading. Almost 1,000 events, just like this one, take place across the country every year… and next year, you can get involved!
Easter is almost here, and we loved this idea for a Spring Ten Frame Printable from the Fun With Mama blog. It’s such a perfect way to help your little ones celebrate Easter while building their early math skills.
Speaking of Printables, in the last few weeks we’ve put up an Animals Activity Sheet that helps kids build their motor and vocalization skills, a 3-in-1 Printable sheet for our new TotBot toy, and a Penguins on Ice matching and coloring printable for all of your little artists-in-training.
Check out this crafty way to make learning fun with little ones over at the Simple Moms blog. Some of the ideas include using shaving cream to trace numbers and making letters from pipe cleaners. Why didn’t we think of that?
Worrying about a robot taking your job? It might sound like science fiction, but in fact we’re rapidly approaching a time when, according to some estimates, robots and computers might be able to do up to 47% of the current jobs. Properly preparing our children with the skills they’ll need to be competitive is crucial, and this article from the Atlantic does a great job showing how some school systems are already starting to adapt.
How was your Valentine’s Day? Sweet, we hope. And if you’re interested in the history of this special celebration, check out this post: Why Do We Celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Wanna win some free toys? Spoiler alert… we’ll be hosting our very first giveaway in the next few days, so stay tuned!
Plenty of exciting changes will occur to your child in their first few years, but one of the changes you should pay attention to is their communication skills. Adena Dacy of the National Association for the Education of Young Children explains that children are expected to achieve average communication milestones by a certain age. Dacy states that these milestones help parents and teachers assess if a child's development is on track because each stage contributes to the further growth of their communication skills.
So if you want to monitor their progress, you should pay attention to these milestones of language acquisition:
Are you hearing a wide variety of sounds from your newborn? Though they may sound odd, this indicates that they're on track with learning languages.
A study by the University of Würzburg researchers shows that healthy infants up to six months of age vocalize to interact with people or communicate any discomfort. These sounds may sound random to most parents, but the researchers pointed out that this allows infants to expand their sounds by their fourth or fifth month. By this time, they'd add consonant- and vowel-like elements into their babbling in preparation for the next milestone.
Introduction of words
Your baby will continue to make non-verbal replies, or fun animal sounds around their first two years. These sounds are important because they set the stage for the next milestone: words!
The language acquisition milestones listed by Maryville University indicate that babies between six and eleven months will attempt to say their first words. This is also usually when they first say "mama" or "dada," making it an exciting milestone for parents to look forward to. They should be able to name objects or people using two to three words once they turn one and speak brief phrases before they turn two.
Start of expressive language
Kids need to learn phrases before they turn two because typical kids speak in two- to four-word sentences by age two to three. Their progress will get even more exciting by the time they reach five, when they should be able to use different types of sentences.
Our article entitled 'What Should My Six and Seven-Year-Old Be Learning?' shares that their ability to express themselves will expand by the time they reach six and seven. Typical kids at this age could speak in complete sentences and even crack a joke during conversations due to their advanced language skills.
Construction of complex sentences
You still need to pay attention to several language milestones, even when your child can speak in complete sentences. After all, their vocabularies are still expanding as they grow older.
The Verywell Family's article on how kids learn languages shares that kids do not resemble adult language until they reach the age of eleven. So, during the pre-teen years, parents should assess if their kids can create although-type sentences and form more complex sentence constructions. For instance, they may say, "Although I had no money, I looked for ways to help my friend." instead of "I had no money, but still helped my friend."
These language acquisition milestones aren't only fun to look forward to and important for parents and teachers to take note of. You can assess your child's language abilities through these milestones and help them get the proper support they may need.
Spending time in preschool prepares your little one for kindergarten success in so many ways. It acclimates them to the classroom environment, helps them learn to get along with other kids (and make friends they may meet up with again in kindergarten), and teaches basic skills like shapes, colors, letters, numbers, counting, and vocabulary. But there are other inherent benefits to sending your child to preschool – things we take for granted but make a big difference in your child’s home life and future school life. Things like:
1. Following Directions
Your child’s preschool teachers, while nurturing and supportive, are also the authority figures your child needs to practice and master following directions. They’ll help your little one learn to stop and listen, line up, sit in a circle, wash their hands, take their things out, pack their things up at the end of the day, and more. And, lucky you, these skills will translate to home, so you’ll find yourself repeating less and your child complying faster.
2. Self-Regulation
During the preschool day, your child will feel and see a range of emotions. They’ll practice expressing and wrangling their own emotions with help from their teachers and classmates. They’ll also begin to experience empathy for other kids experiencing the same feelings, which is mission-critical to making friends later on and a catalyst for sharing and taking turns.
3. Physical Growth
Spending a good part of the day outside, walking, running, jumping, climbing, swinging, and exploring is good for your child’s muscular growth, balance, and coordination. Coloring, painting, practicing holding a pencil, making crafts, and fitting puzzle pieces will build your child’s fine motor skills.
4. Having FUN!
Playing with kids your age is a blast! And incorporating outdoor activity, pretend play, crafting, storytime, and other fun activities into the preschool day sets the stage for a positive mindset about school and learning, which, in turn, gets your child excited about kindergarten.
There are many great reasons to enroll your child in a preschool program, from age-appropriate academics and social-emotional learning to physical development and just plain fun!
Although stress toys seem to have taken off during quarantine, their roots predate the pandemic, running back to 2017 and the launch of the unforgettable (and oft-banned by schools) fidget spinner. Since then, we’ve seen all kinds of toys promising to reduce stress, anxiety, and nervous energy in kids, ranging from fidget spinners and stress balls to cubes with pressable buttons, chewable necklaces, and pop button boards. But what are fidget toys? Do they fulfill their promises? And are they healthy for kids? Here’s what we know.
Let’s start with the basics. What is a fidget toy? Fidget toys are handheld manipulatives designed to engage the fingers in… fidgeting. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, including balls, cubes, spinners, flat boards, twisty tubes, etc. An outlet for excess energy, fidget toys promise everything from increasing focus and active listening abilities to reducing stress and anxiety and calming the nerves.
So, do they work? Research indicates that giving your hands something to do (aka providing an outlet for extra energy – whether nervous or otherwise) frees the mind from finding an outlet for that energy (like toe-tapping, knee jiggling, hair twirling, finger chewing, etc.). This freed-up mind can then focus more clearly on the task at hand. This is particularly true for ADHD, sensory difficulties, or autism-related disorders, but anyone feeling anxious, restless, impatient, or nervous may benefit from an energy outlet like a fidget toy. Focusing on a fidget toy can also relieve overstimulating or overwhelming environments by distracting your brain and refocusing stressful feelings into fidgety actions.
The fidget toy trend has hit hard, and some kids who may not be experiencing any signs of stress, anxiety, or over-stimulation have jumped on board. For these kids, fidget toys may BE a distraction. The toys may be diverting their healthy focus to a repetitive action and distracting them from the task at hand versus serving to distract the mind from stressful thoughts and feelings. This doesn’t mean they’re bad – they may soothe stress or allow these kids’ minds to refocus – or maybe they’re just fun! But it does mean that parents should pay close attention to when and where these kids are using fidget toys and how long they engage with them. As with anything else, moderation is key for these kids, so make sure a variety of engaging toys are available. Wondering how many toys to keep out at once? Visit our blog to find out.
Did you know that March 2 was Dr. Seuss’ birthday? The National Education Association (NEA) celebrates every year with Read Across America… an entire day to dedicated to reading. Almost 1,000 events, just like this one, take place across the country every year… and next year, you can get involved!
Easter is almost here, and we loved this idea for a Spring Ten Frame Printable from the Fun With Mama blog. It’s such a perfect way to help your little ones celebrate Easter while building their early math skills.
Speaking of Printables, in the last few weeks we’ve put up an Animals Activity Sheet that helps kids build their motor and vocalization skills, a 3-in-1 Printable sheet for our new TotBot toy, and a Penguins on Ice matching and coloring printable for all of your little artists-in-training.
Check out this crafty way to make learning fun with little ones over at the Simple Moms blog. Some of the ideas include using shaving cream to trace numbers and making letters from pipe cleaners. Why didn’t we think of that?
Worrying about a robot taking your job? It might sound like science fiction, but in fact we’re rapidly approaching a time when, according to some estimates, robots and computers might be able to do up to 47% of the current jobs. Properly preparing our children with the skills they’ll need to be competitive is crucial, and this article from the Atlantic does a great job showing how some school systems are already starting to adapt.
How was your Valentine’s Day? Sweet, we hope. And if you’re interested in the history of this special celebration, check out this post: Why Do We Celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Wanna win some free toys? Spoiler alert… we’ll be hosting our very first giveaway in the next few days, so stay tuned!