Recently we looked at the scattered sea of toys and books around my son’s room and declared enough! We were in desperate need of a well-designed easily accessible place to store all the books, educational games and toys we had bought for our preschooler. I love this “Low Rider” toddler/preschooler bookcase for being appropriately sized for young children (or sized just right to fit beneat a window!) with a wide surface for placing your child’s favorite toys on top or even a place to lay open a book she or he wishes to flip through. The shelves are adjustable, sturdy and roomy and come in a wide variety of colors (honey, chocolate, antique or regular white, tomato, and navy) to match any decor. The Land of Nod even provides complimentary samples so you can check out the materials their products are made from before you even buy it.
As parents and caregivers, most often we are looking for what are the best products to help our little ones learn, be they books (especially picture books), alphabet or counting toys, toys that allow our children to pretend and use their imagination (important to forming the building blocks of science and math learning) and more.
But what about everyday activities like letting children help with cleanup? Helping children develop their independence is not an easy task, but it is an important learning experience for both adults and children. Our children must be free to come to us and feel safe enough to go from us.
From the time our children take their first steps, the whole world becomes a place to explore. We fear for our chiildren even as we feel pride at their consuming curiosity and desire to learn that underlies their independence. Of course, we childproof the house as best we can and do our homework as parents (made easier by signing up for toy and product recalls via free email alerts from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in choosing safe toys to encourage the confidence they develop from being allowed to explore freely. Noise and touching are good! (Tell yourself that.)
So, where and when do chores come in? As early as age two, learning to participate is another educational experience that leads to new aspects of independence. It may be easier to do things yourself, but your child will become more confident when she or he is allowed to help. For example, when I do the laundry, my two year old helps to carry the lighter things (the fabric softener, an almost empty detergent bottle, a small bag of his clothes) and he loves it. (The added bonus is that it keeps him near me and diverts him from running away when we step outside.)
Our children learn to be part of the family, and later, part of the community, by helping. It is important to show children how much fun these activities are. Just as committed as we are to bringing science activities and teaching math concepts to toddlers and preschoolers, showing and expressing appreciation for a task they have completed and forgiving the occasional mistake are just as critical to education, learning and independence in our children.
According to Sally Head at Expert Village, picture books, repetitive books, sing-a-long books, classics are all great types of educational books for nurturing your preschool child’s curiosity.
I also wrote an article on ezine articles about how picture books are the ultimate learning toy for toddlers. Child development research shows that parental involvement with infant and toddler play improves learning and development. This is mostly due to the interaction and feedback a child gets when playing with their parent as opposed to playing alone. Despite this, a recent study commissioned by Hearthsong has shown that more than 60% of American parents play with their child less than an hour a day. Most parents cite the interpersonal skills their child will get as the benefit of play, but tend to downplay other important skills such as improvement to their motor skills, problem solving, creative thinking, imagination, and a sense of accomplishment that come from play. One form of play and interaction between parents and young children is the basic activity of reading picture books to toddlers.
So why aren’t more American children doing it? The National Center for Educational Statistics released an annual report in 2007 that found a third of all fourth-graders cannot read at a basic level. You can imagine the implications of this for their futures and for society as a whole. My husband and I read something to our son every day. He is still young, so a lot of the reading is about familiarizing him with the alphabet. I get a kick out of finding new educational books for him and now he regularly picks up books and brings them to one of us and makes us read them to him. The trick is deciding which ones to buy. I can spend hours looking for books. You can find some of our favorite and bestselling educational books for babies and toddlers on this site. Other tips to encourage reading include identifying reading material that fits with their interests, giving them lots of things to read, praising their efforts and being a role model.
If you want to reach out and help other families who may not have the means to build a home library, then give books to the Toys for Tots Literacy Program. You can also donate books for the program at participating Mail Boxes Etc. and UPS store locations. If you are interested in getting books in the hands of children overseas, one good program is the Girls Program of the Amegezi Gemaanyi Youth Association, which focuses on mentoring, education and skills training young girls in Uganda. They are collecting books, dolls and lots of supplies so if you have things you would like to give away, that would also be a good place to start!
Lately I have been finding excellent early learning books for my 2-year-old at local grocery stores. Often there is a display near the front of the store, marked “Children’s Books” that will inevitably draw me over to peruse for a good (though unplanned!) 20 minutes or so. Many of the books are beautifully illustrated, with thick cardboard and coated pages (perfect for a toddler who gets a kick out of tearing paper). Some of the books feature electronics and are interactive. The best one of these so far has been a book called Play Me Another Song Piano Book, which has a built in electronic keyboard and piano playing guide for 12 songs including Row Your Boat, Happy Birthday and more. This book has traveled around the world with us, and kids all over have loved it. Young family members (around age 7) got a kick out of playing tunes they knew, while the younger ones just like slapping the keys and getting sounds. Their excitement is contagious. We found it in our local Von’s Grocery story two years ago around Christmas on sale for $7.95. The joy it has brought? Priceless.
Our latest grocery store treasures are two books we found this week at a local Ralph’s here in Los Angeles. One is called Happy Baby Colors and the other is Happy Baby Words. The books focus on baby’s first words and color recognition. The words book was particularly awesome as my son is in the phase of recognizing his body parts. We go through his anatomy from head to toe every day, saying “hair” “eyes” “nose” “mouth” and so on together, while we point to each part. The words book starts off with photos of ears, eyes, etc. from different babies. My son got into it right away. The other thing I should mention is that books like these are often broken down by specific age groups and the publisher does the same (e.g. 0-24 months, 2-3 years). However, you should buy the book that is right for your child. For example, my son is now 2 years, but the books above are perfect for him now, as they engage him where he is at and he gets joy from them. And that’s what matters to me.
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, which has a built in electronic keyboard and piano playing guide for 12 songs including Row Your Boat, Happy Birthday and more. This book has traveled around the world with us, and kids all over have loved it. Young family members (around age 7) got a kick out of playing tunes they knew, while the younger ones just like slapping the keys and getting sounds. Their excitement is contagious. We found it in our local Von’s Grocery story two years ago around Christmas on sale for $7.95. The joy it has brought? Priceless.
