Preschool Education

Some children are biting at the bit to learn how to read and other children could seem to care less.  But the sooner you can instill a "love of reading" into your child the more successful he will be at an earlier age.  But just like any habit that one develops, it is often nourished by the example someone has set.  Considering that parents are their child's primary teachers until they start school, a parent can help their child develop an interest in reading.

How can you go about planting those reading seeds?

• Look at books with your child and encourage him to look at his books while you look at yours.
• Reread favorite stories with your child.
• Point out and name objects in stories and pictures.
• Read nursery rhymes together and point out how some words rhyme. 
• Let your child watch you write, letting him know you are writing words.
• Look for "letters" everywhere you go.
• Take your child to library storytime.
• Check out books at your local library, making it a fun event.
• Play games letting your child put 3 events in order.

Of course, there are many other activities you can create if you just consider that letters and words are everywhere.  Children feel such a sense of accomplishment once they start reading even a few words and once they get a taste of reading, they usually strive to read more and more.  Remember, however, that reading should be fun and enjoyable.  Let kids proceed at their own speed and they will soon find out the joy of reading by themselves.

Children's communication skills develop at varying rates.  We all know children that have started talking as early as 9 months and developed quite a vocabulary by age 3.  But just as likely, you know some children that didn't start to speak until around age 2.

No matter what age your child starts talking, there are things you can do to help him develop his vocabulary, comprehension and communication skills. One of the earliest things you might incorporate into play is singing songs that are repetitive.  Playing with Puppets is another way to talk back and forth with your child, having little conversations.  Even if you are just saying "Hello, how are you?"  this gets the idea of having a conversation going.

Allowing children to share their feelings and tell stories can help them develop their language skills.  Any verbal interaction will be helpful.  Other activities you can encourage that will help are:

One of the most important things you can do to help your child develop into a well-rounded individual is to nurture their awareness of self and how they interact with their peers and siblings.  Children should learn, at an early age, how to make simple choices and solve simple problems.  They need to learn that everything isn't about only them and that they need to be respectful of others.

How can you help your child's Social Development?

• Arrange for play with other children
• Let kids participate in conversations
• Teach your child good Manners, especially Please and Thank You
• Play Games with your child
• Encourage completion of activities such as Puzzles and Worksheets
• Teach your child to Share and Take Turns
• Talk about Fears and Feelings - Puppet play is good for this
• Let your child make Simple choices
• Explain how Talking rather than Fighting can solve conflicts
• Follow routines at home
• Give your child simple Responsibilities (setting table etc.)
• Make your child take responsibility for Cleaning up his own Toys
• Teach your child to Solve easy Problems by asking questions

The most important part of social development is learning to interact with other people and knowing how to be respectful of those people, even your peers.  Unfortunately, some children are never taught to take responsibility and are never allowed to make their own choices.  These children grow up with a sense of entitlement and they struggle throughout life trying to make decisions.  Make the effort while your child is young to help them develop well socially as well as physically.

One of the most important skills you can help your child develop before attending school is how to be a good listener.  If a child is able to listen and pay attention to their teacher's directions they will then be able to process the instructions and act on them.

Music is extremely important during the preschool years, as a child can process music even before they can process language.  Try to introduce all types of music to your child, including classical, country and pop music, not just kids music.

Other ways to help your child with his learning skills:

• Listen to Stories
• Play Rhyming games
• Act out a Story
• Imitate a Clapping pattern
• Answer questions
• Give them 2 step Directions to follow
• Repeat easy Tongue Twisters
• Play Simon Says
• Play different Beats on a Drum or Pan

There are certainly lots of other fun things you can devise to help your child with listening.  Just be creative and make it fun.  Your child will have a much easier time once they start school and are in a classroom environment.

As a parent, or caregiver, it is important to remember that you are providing the first learning experience for your child.  In order to stimulate and encourage a sense of excitement to this experience it is essential that you provide basic materials for this process of exploration.  At ZiggityZoom we keep creative art supplies on hand at all times.

If possible, try to keep all creative supplies in one place so it will be easier for both the child and you to keep things organized.  Supplies need not be expensive and many things that are possible discards can be saved and used for projects, such as newspapers, magazines, old socks for puppets etc.  Remember that visits to a dollar store can provide some great and inexpensive fun, such as coloring and activity books and basic art supplies.

These are some of the things that will help any child with learning and exploration.

Crayons,  Pencils,  Markers,  Paint & paintbrush

Construction paper,  Plain white paper,  Newspaper

Scissors,  Glue

Play Dough,  Homemade Clay

Beads to String,  Feathers,  Pipe Cleaners

Puzzles,  Blocks,  Building Materials

Games,  Books,  Puppets

Many parents believe that their child gets a good start for kindergarten if they attend Preschool.  While this is true, it is important to make sure that your child learns positive type behavior when trying to deal with his peers.  Many preschools have started to take notice to this very important aspect since finding out about the recent study results from Penn State University.

The study, run by Penn State and funded by the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies,  was interested in finding out how preschool children fare at Preschools that concentrate solely on academic learning, with basic discipline in the classroom setting or Preschools that encourage the children to try positive problem-solving skills alongside their academic learning.

Karen Bierman, a psychology professor from Penn State, divided 44 Head Start classrooms with 350 kids, 4-year-olds, and had half teach a traditional Head Start curriculum and the other half added a program that included special social skills.  This included puppets or stories that taught specific problem-solving skills. 

Children have an innate ability to learn an unimaginable amount of information at young ages.  We, as parents, should take advantage of this opportunity by feeding our children bits of information on a daily basis.  It can be as simple as noting the name of a plant or the sound of a particular bird.  How about starting to teach your child some basic Spanish vocabulary?  Introducing a second language to your child will not only broaden his horizons, knowing that other people speak in other languages, but it will help your child develop a skill to build on in later years. 

Some young children are naturals at languages and can learn a second and, sometimes, even a third language. 

Many preschools now teach Spanish to toddlers.  Some parents start teaching their six month olds words in two languages.  Amazingly, the children learn to differentiate the two languages, even though they sometimes mix up words between the languages in the early stages of learning the language.  This is called "code-switching" and it is a very normal occurence in bilingual communities everywhere.

To start your child to recognize simple Spanish -English concepts, we initially are offering two Spanish concept books,  Colors www.ziggityzoom.com/onlinebooks.php   and Numbers www.ziggityzoom.com/onlinebooks.php