Destiny Baby

No parent needs a child care book as much as the parent of a toddler! The toddler years are an exciting and rewarding time, as your child learns to stand, walk, say words, and use the potty for the first time. Yet, along with all of these incredible milestones come all sorts of daunting parental challenges – from continuous cries in the middle of the night to the first boo-boos to erratic eating habits to public temper tantrums. What is a parent to do? (Read more…)

Here at DestinyBaby we usually focus on educating toddlers and preschoolers, but sometimes a little parental education is in order! If you are looking for a nice gift for a new parent in your life, consider this book of real-life parenting stories. There are 31 funny, shocking, and heartwarming stories to be found, each of which could make you laugh or cringe (depending) but mostly smile with recognition as you read what other parents have gone through (good and bad) with their newly willful two and three year old toddlers. The authors keep it real, with stories that include incidents where parents have (regrettably) found themselves yelling or swearing to or in front of their kids, and one where a parent is fantasizing after being bored in a park on a playdate. Those chapters might ruffle some feathers, but I appreciate other parents sharing honest moments. I’ve had some days where I wished I could have handled my son’s temper tantrums or bouts of extreme silliness a little better, and it is interesting to see how others deal with those trying moments. Bottom line, the book is a good read and mostly about the funny times and amazing ways our youngest children can open our eyes to appreciate the world in whole new ways. (Read more…)

Here at DestinyBaby.com we have talked about the fact that teaching science to your pre-schooler doesn’t require an advanced degree. Rather, a willingness to learn with your child and nurture their natural curiosity through guided activities will help your child to develop an interest in the sciences and discover the world that surrounds them.

Modern science is a way of knowing the world, based on observing, classifying and organizing, predicting, testing, and making conclusions. Conclusions can be modified when new observations are made. The cycle repeats again and again, and is rooted in what we can observe with our senses.

Since science is based on observation, children also form scientific “theories” to explain why it rains, why things drop when you let them go, why a ball rolls, and much more. You can help your child to understand basic scientific concepts by looking at things in new ways. Ask them questions about their playthings. For example, you could ask your child, “Do you think a ball could roll by itself?” or “What do you think makes a ball roll faster?” The thing is to stimulate thinking about what she or he knows and how she or he knows it.

So, what other simple science activities can you initiate to get your child to go down the scientific learning path? Don’t overwhelm them with a lot of bells and whistles; simple works best. Introduce a few ideas and focus your attention on those. Find hobbies or activities based on your child’s personality and interests, as well as ones appropriate for where you live. Get her or him to help pick out an activity. Hands-on science activities, such as puzzles and objects they can shape or control are great. Remember that science is cumulative. To learn new concepts requires building upon what has been learned before.

The building blocks of learning science are in every day experience, from watching animals like birds or squirrels, natural patterns like morning dew, ocean tides, or the cycle of the sun and moon or in daily activities like cooking and baking or using a washing machine and dryer. Your child can become a budding scientist through simple activities at home or around the neighborhood.

If you are looking for more sophisticated (computerized) tools and resources for encouraging your child to learn basic reading skills, math and science concepts, and more, check out our review of educational tools for toddlers.

My parents were big on phonics. I can still remember the drills on breaking down syllables and connecting sounds to letters that helped me learn to read by the time I was two years old.

At BrillKids, you will find early education tools for children as young as 4 months old, allowing you to take a few minutes a day and teach your child to read for life. They have great tools to help parents teach children to read, pick up math concepts and more. Give your child the gift of learning with the Little Reader digital flash card program.

Are you confused about how to Homeschool your preschool child?
ABC Home Preschool now offers online courses for parents on how to homeschool their children. You can also pick up their age-appropriate curriculum workbooks–each 9-month curriculum workbook contains ABC Home Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Science and Social Studies.

For slightly older kids (from 4 years old) you can try out ClickN’ READ Phonics. This phonics program has been developed by ClickN’ KIDS, Inc, an Agoura Hills, CA based firm that develops online educational software. ClickN’ READ Phonics contains 100 precisely sequenced, research based lessons designed by nationally recognized research professor Dr. J. Ron Nelson. The result is a beginning reading program that is beyond compare and has redefined computer based instruction. It is the first of it’s kind to simulate live instruction. Play the video for more information.

Discover ClickN’ READ Phonics
Learning to read has never been this fun and easy!
Click here to learn MORE!

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Happy Spring!

We came across a new article from LiveScience.com at Yahoo! News, titled “Why Toddlers Don’t Do What They’re Told.” As Destiny Baby is now in his twos, you know we had to investigate. The article reports on a study of behavior among 3-and-a-half-year-olds and 8-year-olds. Findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The neat things is that the study dispels the idea of kids as “little adults” who cannot do things as well. Rather, their minds work very differently.

Using pupil diameter to measure mental effort after asking the two groups of children to follow a sequence of activities, the punchline is that you cannot require your toddler to prepare for the future. No matter how much you tell them it is cold outside, that won’t make them get their coats. You have to try to mentally put them in the conflict or choice that will elicit the behavior you want. As the article notes, “3-year-olds neither plan for the future nor live completely in the present. Instead, they call up the past as they need it.” Useful to think about when doing educational learning activities with your little one!