Best way to teach toddlers

Tips for the New Toddler Teacher From Those With Experience

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July 18, 2022 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: You are a new toddler teacher who has questions! Here are the best tips from those who have years of experience teaching toddlers.

You are a new toddler teacher and don’t know where to start. I’ve been there. I remember well. I needed a resource that included tips for the new toddler teacher.

I was nervous. Do you feel that way?

Many of my readers message me looking for help. I decided to ask my Facebook readers what tips they’d give. Readers who have experience teaching those energetic toddlers. I got some really good suggestions so I decided to put them all in a blog post. And here it is!

• A schedule is a must, but don’t stress if you get off-track a bit.
• Always stay positive.
• If all else fails, jam out to great music.

CLICK HERE to see our toddler schedule!

• It’s okay if they get messy.
• Remember that the kids will get really attached to you.
• Enjoy them and laugh it off and everyone will be happier!
• Let them create art their own way.
• Be consistent and patient.

CLICK HERE to see our favorite process art activities!

• Build potty time into your schedule every hour as a transition between activities.
• When they get energetic, dance!
• Create as much of a positive environment as possible.
• Pick your battles.

CLICK HERE to see music that gets the wiggles out!

• Let them explore!
• Keep circle time short.
• Simply never underestimate their abilities and intelligence!

CLICK HERE for my favorite circle time tips!

• Have lots of visuals.
• Use felt pieces for stories and songs.
• Make a personal connection with each one of them.

CLICK HERE for our most popular circle time props packet!

• Read stories and use puppets during circle time.
• Sing silly songs with hand/arm/body movements.
• Take time to observe your students – you can learn so much about them by just watching.

• It’s okay to let them have their favorite toy or blankie for comfort.
• Give hugs!
• Laminate pictures of Mommy so they can see her as needed.
• Give them sand and water.

CLICK HERE for tips on handling separation anxiety.

• They will make messes. Count on it.
• Use redirection rather than time-outs.
• Keep modeling what you want them to do – it can take many, many repeated efforts before they grasp it.

CLICK HERE the best ways to handle transitions!

• Give them little jobs so they feel involved.
• Stick to a routine and always let them know what is coming next.
• Encourage them to make their own choices when possible.
• Be prepared to go off “topic” often – have alternative ideas on hand.
• Have fun!

• Be flexible, like you never imagined.
• Engage in conversation during snack and lunch time.
• Play with them during free play.

READ HERE about the benefits of play.

• Know every day will be different, exciting and new!
• Always have bubbles.
• Be at their level when talking to them.
• Never talk across the room but instead go to them and then talk.

• Give them time. Let them try to do it themselves before doing it for them.
• Help them understand their feelings of frustration.
• Give cuddles.

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Filed Under: Teachers, Toddlers Tagged With: back to school, teachers, toddlers

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

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21 Important Things to Teach Your 2 Year Old

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At this age, children are like little sponges, picking up every bit of information about the world around them. The majority of things that your two year old learns will be through play and normal social interaction.

Everyday occurrences can provide numerous learning activities for your two year old. However, there are plenty of everyday skills and tasks that you can start teaching your toddler.

Being at home with two toddlers for awhile and just trying to make it to nap time, I realized that maybe I wasn’t teaching them enough. Between meal times, clean up, and just trying to prevent any bodily injuries, actual learning can seem to fall on the back burner.

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Two Year Olds Can Learn Through Play Activities

As a pediatric occupational therapist, I know that children can learn a significant amount of knowledge through their everyday play.

Toys and gadgets may be teaching them things like cause-and-effect, problem solving, and new language. They’ll also be developing key skills like hand-eye coordination and independence.

Both structured and unstructured play are important to develop these necessary skills. Most of what they learn, you won’t even realize that you’re teaching them!

However, if you’re not in the education field, you may be unsure of simple ways to teach your two year old or ways to incorporate new learning into everyday activities.

What You Can Teach Your Two Year Old

Below are a bunch of skills and concepts that you can help your 2-year-old to understand. Practice and exposure is the best way to develop new skills with your child.

Below is a list of learning activities for two year olds for the whole range up to 3. Not exclusively once they turn two.

Always remember that every child develops at their own pace so don’t worry too much if your child doesn’t know all of these concepts yet. This isn’t a list of what they should know at this point, but rather a guide to help you understand what they may be capable of learning at this age.

1. NEW WORDS AND CONVERSATIONAL SPEECH

Your 2-year-old should have gained a slew of new vocabulary words in the past year. Now they’re learning how to put these words together to form 2-3 word phrases, short sentences, and questions. Here are some of the common words, phrases, and concepts that your two year old may be able to say and understand:

• Action words to help them communicate (more, go, come, want, up, down, etc.)
• Manners (please, thank you)
• Names of body parts
• Animal sounds and names of animals
• Names (their own first and last name, and names of family and friends)
• Vehicles (cars, trucks, firetruck, airplane)
• Household objects (names of certain food, utensils, furniture, clothing, etc that they use daily)
• Colors and Shapes
• Sizes (big, small, tall, short)
• Direction words (below, above, next to, on top, underneath, etc. although this may still develop more later)
• Weather (sunny, rainy, cloudy, windy, snowy, hot, cold, etc.)

Before they turn 3, they should have a pretty extensive vocabulary. If your child has several words, help them to group words together if they’re not doing so on their own. For example, if your child says “more,” repeat after them, “more Cheerios?” and have them repeat the two words together. If they say, “want water,” repeat after them, “I want water?” and have them repeat that as well.

Adding on words to their current vocabulary will help them speak in longer phrases and sentences.

If your child is not continuing to gain more words throughout the past few months, consult your pediatrician. Here are more tips to get your toddler to talk here.

2. READING BOOKS

At 2, your child should definitely get the concept of “reading” a book. Of course, they won’t actually be reading the words, but they will most likely grab a book and snuggle in the corner of the couch to flip through the pages.

Make sure they understand how to read the book from front cover to back cover and the right way to hold it. They will simply look at the pictures at this age, but as they get later in their 2’s, they’ll start to recognize that there are letters and words on the page that actually mean something.

When you are reading to them, be sure to use your finger to follow along with the words on the page so they start to associate the letters with what you’re saying. At this point, you can stop making up your own words or just describing the pictures on the page and actually read word-for-word. This way, your toddler will get the concept that a story is being told.

Have your toddler describe the pictures to you and you can even ask them questions about the pictures or the words that you just read. Questions like, “What color is the girl’s dress” or “Which one is bigger, the lion or the snail?” are appropriate at this age.

They’ll still benefit most from board books where they can easily turn the pages, but may start exploring books with thinner pages. Some favorite types of books around 2 years old are Lift-The-Flap Books, Touch-and-Feel Books, and Play-A-Sound Books.

They’ll love books with lots of pictures, their favorite characters and objects, or silly books. Check out my list of the Best Books for 2 Year Olds here.

Related Post: The Outstanding Benefits of Reading to Babies and Toddlers

3. PROMOTE INDEPENDENCE 

Your two-year-old is probably begging to do things on their own so give them these opportunities to learn, understand, and make mistakes (within limits, of course).

Of course they may not have perfected the skill yet, but the only way a child will learn these new skills is by doing it by themselves. You can help them to complete the task once they’ve already tried it on their own.

They should be increasing their independence in areas like:

• Dressing: choosing their own clothes, taking on/off shirt/pants with help, underpants/pull-up with help, shoes, and socks, and even learning the right way to put on items (backwards or forwards)
• Feeding: using utensils with some spills, choosing their meals and snacks, opening containers, drinking from a straw cup regularly, and practicing with an open cup with supervision. I love these OXO utensils for 2 year olds as they have a good gripper and can really pierce the food, but if your toddler wants to be even more like mom and dad, these ones are great toddler utensils also.
• Brushing teeth and hair:  Teach them how to brush back and forth on their own and using a cup to rinse. My toddlers LOVE using an electric toothbrush like this one, especially the ones with their favorite characters.
• Cleaning up: wiping up messes, putting toys away, bringing dishes, cups, & utensils to the sink when done, throwing away their garbage, and using a handheld vacuum to clean
• Hygeine: Blowing their nose, washing their hands, using a washcloth to wash themselves in the tub. Make washing hands and standing at the sink much easier by using stools and sink faucet extenders.
• Transitions: Getting in and out of the car on their own, going up and down the stairs, ending one activity and moving to the next without complaining, turning on/off lights when entering/leaving the room

Be sure to model and show your childhood to do these skills the right way so that they don’t keep practicing something the wrong way.

Using their imagination opens up a world of fun and play for your toddler. This skill typically comes naturally as they copy and imitate what they see in the real world, in books, or on tv. They will use a combination of imagination and reality to copy the things they see daily, like these:

• Cooking in a play kitchen with pots and pans
• Hosting a tea party for their dolls and stuffed animals
• Feeding, burping, and changing a baby doll with play spoons, bottles, and diapers
• Talking on the phone with a play cell phone
• Playing doctor with a doctor or nurses kit
• Going shopping with a shopping cart and fake food
• Driving a car
• Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming the floor

These are great fine motor learning activities for 2-year-olds. At this point, they should have moved past scribbling and be able to make some intentional marks on the paper, including a straight line down, straight line across, and maybe even attempt a circle. Of course, these may not be perfect, but they should get the concept of making intentional marks.

They’ll love coloring pictures, but getting them used to making marks will help improve their drawing and writing down the road. Print out pictures of their favorite characters or get a coloring book from their favorite tv show.

Also, you can draw or print out pages with letters so they can trace and get familiar with the alphabet.

I highly suggest these finger crayons for the young ones.  They are perfect for little hands and promote a good grasp when holding the crayons.

If you’ve already started using markers, you have probably discovered that toddlers and markers aren’t a good match (unless you want a mural on your wall), so these Crayola Mess-Free Coloring Sheets are my absolute favorites!

The markers come out clear if they are used on any other surface besides the paper. On these special sheets, they’ll turn a color so your toddler sees the masterpiece that they are creating. They have so many characters available so I’m sure you can find a pack that your child will love.

Your 2 year old may be able to count to 10 (with some errors at times) from memory and maybe even higher with more practice. They can also work on recognizing and identifying those numbers and counting objects.

You can practice counting with so many different, everyday objects:

• count each step while you’re walking up the stairs
• count the number of French fries on their dinner plate
• count the number of toys in their bin

Numbers are everywhere so be sure that they are counting whenever they can.

The concept of one-to-one correspondence (one object is one number) comes later, but many toddlers can get the idea early on. Just show them how to point to each object as they count it and correct them if they start saying 2 numbers as they count one object or skip over objects when counting.

Related Post: 19 Activities to Introduce Counting to Your Toddler

Your child may already know many of the letters of the alphabet. They may be able to recite the ABC’s from memory (with some errors and help as needed). Now you can work on recognizing letters, as well as the sounds they make.

When talking about a letter, for example M: say M says mmm for mom. Always have them repeat you to etch it into their memory.

Be sure to have your child look at both uppercase and lowercase letters when learning. Most children are taught all of the uppercase letters first, however, the lowers case letters are the ones that they will see more often when they read or see words.

These name puzzles from Bloom Owl are a great way to get your child learning the letters of their name. They’ll love playing with the puzzle as they start to recognize the letters they see all the time.

By far my favorite resource for having your child learning letters and letter sounds is the Leap Frog shows on Netflix. They include Letter Factory, Phonics Farm, and more. If you have Netflix you can access these shows! My 20 month year old was reciting all of the letter sounds because he loves this show so much!

Related Post: Sticker Activity for Learning Letters

8. BUILDING

Building helps to improve your child’s hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. They’ll be able to use their imagination and creativity to create masterpieces and then knock them all down when they’re done.

This Melissa & Doug Alphabet block set is great for small hands to stack. Two year olds also love Mega Blocks as they are perfect for stacking, putting together, and taking apart. My kids are obsessed with Magnetic Tiles and Bristle Blocks for building too.

These toys and learning activities for two year olds encourage imaginative play and let them problem solve and investigate the world around them. Tell them to build a robot, a tall building, or a table. They’ll love trying to come up with ways to make these items.

Puzzles are a great activity for fine and visual motor skills (hand-eye coordination). Having to fit a piece into it’s correct spot by turning and manipulating it is great for visual-spatial awareness.

Your 2 year old may still enjoy doing inset puzzles with knobs or pegs, which allow them to easily match shapes and items and fit the pieces in a spot. If they seem to have moved past simple inset puzzles, they may be ready to start with interlocking puzzles.

If you want to try out some more complicated interlocking puzzles try these to start. Also the name puzzles mentioned above are great to also enhance letter learning at the same time.

Two-year-olds are known to be pretty wild so you probably won’t need much coaxing to get them active. However, make sure they’re getting plenty of physical activity to learn new gross motor skills. These include:

• Jumping
• Running
• Climbing
• Pedaling a tricycle or ride-on toy
• Throwing/catching/kicking a ball

The best way to get them active is to give them lots of outdoor time. Take them to playgrounds to climb on the equipment as they offer so many opportunities for enriching gross motor skills. Take them for a walk and point out all the sights you see.

11. MUSIC, DANCE, AND RHYTHM

Children love rhythm and music so get them singing, dancing, and exploring their bodies with music. Put on music for them to dance to, sing along to their favorite songs with a microphone, or make their own music with toy instruments like maracas, xylophone, tamborine, etc.

You can also make musical ‘instruments’ with so many household objects, like shaking pill bottles, banging wooden spoons, or filling plastic Easter eggs or water bottles with uncooked beans or rice.

Songs are also the best way for little ones to learn and memorize new concepts. Therefore, you can sing songs like the ABCs, head, shoulders, knees, and toes, or Old McDonald to learn letters, body parts, and farm animals, respectively.

12. POTTY TRAINING

Around 2 is the typical age that most parents decide to start potty training. Between 2 and 3, many children will be fully capable of using the toilet.

You can start gradually by introducing the potty and have them sit on it during different periods of the day when you know that they usually go.

Be sure to wait until they’re ready and don’t force it on them. You can start slow and steady with gently potty training to get them familiar or dive all in on a 3-day potty training binge.

Here are some great tips on potty training your toddler here.

13. SENSE OF TIME

This is something that may not come until closer to 3 and of course your two year old will not be able to tell time. However you can still teach them a basic sense of how much time is remaining or when time is over.

For example, when you say “5 more minutes left to play until dinner time” or “go brush your teeth in 1 minute,” They still won’t have a true sense of how long these increments of time are, but you can try to make them aware that 1 minute is quick, compared to 10 minutes or 20 minutes.

Before they fully have a sense of time, try setting an audio or visual timer when you need to show them when time is up. For example, when you say clean up in 5 more minutes, set a timer for 5 minutes to ring when it’s time.

We love the Time to Wake clocks for my toddlers. They let them know when it’s time to call for mom or get out of bed by simply turning a different color when it’s almost time to get up or when they should leave their room.

This is a great visual way for them to “see” and understand time.

14. SAFETY

Of course, safety is a crucial lesson to teach your child. This is the age where they will probably have no fear or understanding of dangerous situations. The following practices need to be taught and don’t just come naturally to your little one:

• not running away in public
• not running out into a parking lot
• stranger danger
• staying close to mom or dad
• being cautious when crossing streets
• holding hands when in public or outside
• sun safety: applying sunscreen, wearing hats

Speaking of safety for your little ones, the Whystle App is a great resource for all parents to have that tracks all safety information that’s important to your family. This includes product recalls for toys, food, and more that could promote dangers into your home. Download this app free on your phone and then there’s a free trial for the subscription so you never miss an important safety warning.

15. MANNERS AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS

Understanding how to properly treat others is a valuable trait to instill in your child. This goes for respecting both adults and other children. It’s important to teach your children how to use polite words and actions to show manners.

At this age, they are starting to test their boundaries and explore new ways of getting what they want. Instill rules for respecting others even through times of frustration.

• Saying excuse me when needing someone to move or get their attention
• Patiently waiting for a parent to finish talking to another parent before chiming in
• Saying please and thank you shows consideration and appreciation
• Making eye contact when speaking to others
• Apologizing when you do something wrong
• Share their toys or items that belong to them
• No pushing, hitting, biting, or pulling hair to hurt others in any way

16. STAYING HEALTHY: GOOD HYGIENE AND EATING WELL

Teaching your child to practice good hygiene and healthy eating is great to start young.  Build-in their hygiene routine throughout the day and they will become accustomed to this regimen. Eating healthy foods early on to set them off for a healthy diet for the rest of their life. These include:

• eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and proteins. Avoid: processed foods, unhealthy snacks, and sweets
• washing hands after meals and potty
• brushing teeth morning and night
• bathing daily
• keeping their clothes and body clean while they eat or play
• covering their mouth when they sneeze or cough
• blowing their nose into a tissue
• wiping their own privates after going potty

Complying with:

• brushing and combing hair
• cutting fingernails and toenails
• cleaning inside ears with a child safety q-tip

Related Post: How to Get Your Picky Toddler to Try New Foods

17. ACTING APPROPRIATELY IN PUBLIC AND UNDERSTANDING “NO”

Toddlers are very ego-centric (only care about themselves). It’s totally normal for them to only think about how things will affect them. This almost always leads to inappropriate behaviors as they learn what behaviors get them what they want.

Don’t always give in to every cry and teach them that sometimes they can’t get everything that they want. Don’t always give them the cookie that they’re begging for or the new toy at the store. If they must get the object that they desire, make them earn it.

Teach your 2-year-old how to act appropriately to avoid tantrums in public. Try putting rules in place when you are out so they know what is expected of them. Always have a way to redirect or distract them when you see a tantrum starting (using something else they are interested in). Lastly, just avoid situations that could set them off.

This is a great article about Tips for Cry-Free Shopping with Your Toddler

18. HAVING A ROUTINE

Your child probably already has some routine in place throughout their day. However, you want to ensure that they are consistently doing what is asked of them so that they could even do it on their own if needed. The more structure that your child has in their day, the more they will start to understand time and a daily schedule.

I love using a routine or responsibility chart (like the blue/green one on the right) so my toddler can have a visual cue of everything that is expected of her. Use one with pictures instead of just words, (like this Mickey Mouse chart), so your toddler actually understands what it’s for.

Here are some examples of day-to-day routines that you can create a specific pattern for:

• Bedtime: Brush teeth, go potty, wash hands, put pajamas on, read a story, go to sleep
• Morning: Go potty, wash hands, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast
• Before naptime
• Pre-dinner wind-down time
• Cleaning time

Related Post: Why Your Child Needs a Daily Routine and How to Make One

19.

A toddler has a very limited attention span (unless of course, they’re watching their favorite television show). It’s only reasonable to ask them to focus on a task for around 4-6 minutes at this age. However, it is important for them to be aware that once they start a task they should finish it to completion.

My daughter loves to grab a puzzle and put in 3 pieces and walk away or sit down and read 2 pages and then walk away.

The goal of teaching your child to stay on task is to complete what they start. Here are some tips:

• While playing with your child, make sure that they complete the entire activity, ie. puzzle or read through the whole book, before they get up and run around.
• If they’re coloring or building a tower, keep them engaged in that one activity for as long as possible before you let them move on to the next.
• During mealtimes make sure they remain seated and finish their meal before getting up and playing.
• Make sure they clean up one activity before moving on to the next

20. BEING A HELPER

Little kids LOVE to help grown-ups. They want to do everything that you’re doing because they’re starting to gain this growing confidence and independence. Invite them to perform tasks that they may not be able to do independently, but that they can help you with.

• Get the mail
• Take the trash out
• Refill the toilet paper roll dispenser
• Help with cooking: mixing, adding ingredients
• Carrying in bags or groceries
• Fill the dog bowl
• Entertain a younger sibling

21. TECHNOLOGY

Technology or screen time should be limited for toddlers to 1 hour a day, but it is important for your child to learn how to use these devices. The fine motor skill of swiping, clicking, and sliding to nagivate through tablets and smart phones are something that your 2 year old can easily learn.

Ipad educational games like ABC Mouse are great to sharpen a lot of the educational skills listen above, as well as practice using a tablet or smart phone. My toddler loves ABC Mouse because of the wide variety of games and fun. She’s learning how to trace letters, numbers, make new sounds and words, etc. They’re giving a FREE 30-day trial now so sign up while you can!

Leapfrog Laptop is also a fun interactive computer that toddlers can easily use and learn on.

Most of these skills can be accomplished at some point while a child is two (24-35 months old), but every child develops at their own pace. This article is not intended to skew your mind into thinking that your child MUST know these concepts.

However, if you are looking for learning activities to do with your child, ways to engage their mind, or knowledge to teach them, these are some great tips. Your child is NOT behind if they can’t adequately do all of these things, but if you are concerned, please speak to your pediatrician.

Have fun teaching your two-year-old and enjoy watching them blossom this year. They’ll be growing and developing before your eyes so don’t blink! Here are some more great learning activity ideas to do with your 2 year old.

Related posts:

How to teach a child to read: important rules and effective techniques

October 26, 2022 Likbez Education

Teaching a preschooler to read without losing interest in books is real. Lifehacker has selected the best ways for responsible parents.

How to understand that it is time to teach a child to read

There are several signs of psychological readiness.

1. The child speaks fluently in sentences and understands the meaning of what is said. nine0012
2. The child understands directions: left-right, up-down. For learning to read, it is important that the baby can follow the text from left to right and from top to bottom.
3. The child distinguishes sounds (what speech therapists call developed phonemic hearing). Simply put, the baby will easily understand by ear where the house and the bow are, and where the tom and the hatch are.
4. Your child pronounces all the sounds and has no speech problems.

Natalia Zharikova

Speech therapist with 33 years of experience

A child with speech therapy problems does not hear and does not distinguish similar sounds. From here come errors with speech, and subsequently with reading, and even more often with writing. It is very difficult for a parent to identify violations on their own, so usually a teacher or a speech therapist can point this out to them.

How to teach your child to read

Be patient and follow these simple guidelines.

Set an example

In a family where there is a culture and tradition of reading, children themselves will reach for books. Read not because it is necessary and useful, but because it is a pleasure for you. nine0003

Read together and discuss

Read aloud to the child and then look at the pictures together, encouraging them to interact with the book: “Who is this picture? Can you show me the cat's ears? And who is that standing next to her?” Older children can be asked more difficult questions: “Why did he do this? What do you think will happen next?"

Don't learn the letters as they are called in the alphabet

Instead, help your child remember the sound the letter makes. For example, you show the letter "m" and say: "This is the letter m (not em )". If a child remembers the alphabetic names of letters ( em , es, ef and so on), it will be quite difficult for him to learn to read. Then, when he sees the word ra-ma in the book, he will try to pronounce er-a-um-a .

Go from simple to complex

Once the child has memorized a few letters (from 2 to 5) and the sounds they represent, move on to syllables. Let the words consisting of repeated syllables be the first: mum, dad, uncle, nanny . In this case, it is not necessary to break the syllable into separate sounds. Do not say: "These are the letters m and a , and together they read ma ". Immediately learn that the syllable is pronounced like ma , otherwise the baby may start to read letter by letter. After mastering simple combinations, move on to more complex ones: cat, zhu-k, house .

Help to understand the meaning of what they read

Do this when the child begins to slowly but surely reproduce words and whole sentences in syllables. For example, the kid read: "Mom washed the frame." Stop and ask: “What did you just read about?”. If he finds it difficult to answer, let him read the sentence again. And you ask more specific questions: “Who washed the frame? What did mom wash? nine0003

Show that letters are everywhere

Play a game. Let the child find the letters that surround him on the street and at home. These are the names of stores, and memos on information stands, and advertising on billboards, and even traffic light messages: it happens that the inscription “Go” lights up on green, and “Wait so many seconds” on red.

Play

And play again. Stack blocks with letters and syllables, make up words, ask your child to read you some kind of sign or inscription on the packaging in the store. nine0003

Natalia Zharikova

There are many exercises for memorizing letters. For example, circle the desired letter among a number of others, circle the correctly written among the incorrect ones, color or shade. You can also ask the child to tell what the letter looks like.

Use every opportunity to practice

Whether you are waiting in line at the clinic or driving somewhere, take out a book with pictures and short stories to accompany them and invite your child to read together. nine0003

Build on your success

Repeat familiar texts, look for familiar characters in new stories. Runaway Bunny is found both in "Teremka" and "Kolobok".

Do not force

This is perhaps the most important thing. Don't take away a child's childhood. Learning should not go through violence and tears.

What techniques to use to teach your child to read

Here are six popular, affordable and effective techniques. Choose one or try several and choose the one that interests your child the most. nine0003

1. ABCs and primers

Traditional, but the longest way. The difference between these books is that the alphabet fixes each letter with a mnemonic picture: a drum will be drawn on the page with B , and a spinning top next to Yu . The alphabet helps to remember letters and often interesting rhymes, but will not teach you how to read.

The primer consistently teaches the child to combine sounds into syllables, and syllables into words. This process is not easy and requires perseverance. nine0003

There are quite a lot of author's primers now. According to the books of Nadezhda Betenkova, Vseslav Goretsky, Dmitry Fonin, Natalya Pavlova, children can study both with their parents before school and in the first grade.

Parents agree that one of the most understandable methods for teaching preschoolers is Nadezhda Zhukova's primer. The author simply explains the most difficult thing for a child: how to turn letters into syllables, how to read ma-ma , and not start naming individual letters me-a-me-a .

2. Zaitsev's Cubes

If a child consistently masters letters and syllables while learning from an ABC book, then in 52 Zaitsev's Cubes he is given access to everything at once: a single letter or combinations of consonant and vowel, consonant and hard or soft sign.

The child effortlessly learns the differences between voiceless and voiced sounds, because the cubes with voiceless consonants are filled with wood, and the cubes with voiced consonants are filled with metal. nine0003

The cubes also differ in size. The large ones depict hard warehouses, the small ones - soft ones. The author of the technique explains this by the fact that when we pronounce to (hard warehouse), the mouth opens wide, nor (soft warehouse) - lips in a half smile.

The set includes tables with warehouses that the parent sings (yes, he doesn’t speak, but sings).

The child quickly masters warehouse reading with the help of cubes. But there are also disadvantages: he may begin to swallow endings and face difficulties already at school when parsing a word by composition. nine0003

3. "Skladushki" and "Teremki" by Vyacheslav Voskobovich

In "Skladushki" Vyacheslav Voskobovich reworked Zaitsev's idea: 21 cards show all the warehouses of the Russian language with nice thematic pictures. Included is a CD with songs, the texts of which go under each picture.

Folders are great for kids who like looking at pictures. Each of them is an occasion to discuss with the child where the kitten is, what the puppy is doing, where the beetle flew. nine0003

It is possible to teach a child with these cards from the age of three. At the same time, it should be noted that the author of the methodology himself does not consider it necessary to force early development.

"Teremki" by Voskobovich consist of 12 wooden cubes with consonants and 12 cardboard cubes with vowels. First, the child gets acquainted with the alphabet and tries with the help of parents to come up with words that begin with each of the letters.

Then it's time to study the syllables. In the tower with the letter M is embedded A - and the first syllable is ma . From several towers you can lay out words. Learning is based on play. So, when replacing the vowel , house will turn into smoke .

You can start playing tower blocks from the age of two. At the same time, parents will not be left alone with the cubes: the kit includes a manual with a detailed description of the methodology and game options.

4. Chaplygin's dynamic cubes

Evgeny Chaplygin's manual includes 10 cubes and 10 movable blocks. Each dynamic block consists of a pair - a consonant and a vowel. The task of the child is to twist the cubes and find a pair.

At the initial stage, as with any other method of learning to read in warehouses, the child makes the simplest words from repeating syllables: ma-ma, pa-pa, ba-ba . The involved motor skills help to quickly remember the shape of the letters, and the search for already familiar syllables turns into an exciting game. The cubes are accompanied by a manual describing the methodology and words that can be composed. nine0003

The optimal age for classes is 4-5 years. You can start earlier, but only in the game format.

5. Doman's cards

American doctor Glenn Doman suggests teaching children not individual letters or even syllables, but whole words. Parents name and show the child the words on the cards for 1-2 seconds. In this case, the baby is not required to repeat what he heard.

Classes start with 15 cards with the simplest concepts like females and males . Gradually, the number of words increases, those already learned leave the set, and the child begins to study phrases: for example, color + object, size + object.

How can one understand that a child has understood and memorized the visual image of a word, if the author of the methodology recommends starting classes from birth? Glenn Doman in "The Harmonious Development of the Child" strongly emphasizes that it is not necessary to arrange tests and checks for the child: kids do not like this and lose interest in classes. nine0003

It's better to remember 50 cards out of 100 than 10 out of 10.

Glenn Doman

But given that parents can't help but check, he advises the child to play the game if they want and are ready. For example, you can put a few cards and ask to bring one or point to it.

Today, psychologists, neurophysiologists and pediatricians agree that the Doman method is aimed not at teaching reading, but at mechanical memorization of visual images of words. The child turns out to be an object of learning and is almost deprived of the opportunity to learn something on his own. nine0003

It is also worth adding: in order to proceed to the stage of reading according to Doman, parents need to prepare cards with all (!) Words that are found in a particular book.

6. Montessori method

Montessori reading comes from the opposite: first we write and only then we read. Letters are the same pictures, so you first need to learn how to draw them and only then engage in pronunciation and reading. Children begin by tracing and shading the letters, and through this, they memorize their outline. When several vowels and consonants have been studied, they move on to the first simple words. nine0003

Much attention is paid to the tactile component, so children can literally touch the alphabet cut out of rough or velvety paper.

The value of the method lies in learning through play. So, you can put a rough letter and a plate of semolina in front of the child and offer to first circle the sign with your finger, and then repeat this on the semolina.

The difficulty for parents is to purchase or prepare a significant amount of handouts. But you can try to make cards with your own hands from cardboard and sandpaper. nine0003

What's the result

On the Internet and on posters advertising "educators", you will be offered ultra-modern methods of teaching your child to read at three, two years old or even from birth. But let's be realistic: a happy mother is needed a year, not developmental classes.

The authors of the methods as one insist that the most natural learning process for a child is through play, and not through classes in which the parent plays the role of a strict controller. Your main assistant in learning is the curiosity of the child himself. nine0003

Some children will study for six months and start reading at three, others have to wait a couple of years to learn in just a month. Focus on the interests of the child. If he likes books and pictures, then primers and Folders will come to the rescue. If he is a fidget, then cubes and the Montessori system are better suited.

In learning to read, everything is simple and complex at the same time. If your child often sees you with a book, you have a tradition of reading before bed, your chances of getting your baby interested in reading will increase significantly. nine0003

See also 🧐

• How to teach a child to keep promises
• How to teach a child to say the letter "r"
• How to teach a child to ride a bicycle
• How to teach a child to swim
• How to teach a child to write

6 ways to teach a child to learn

One of the most frequent parental requests is "The child does not want to study, what should I do?". But in order to want to learn, you must at least be able to learn. And this is a skill! Our blogger, child psychologist Olga Kondrashova talks about how to acquire and develop this skill.

You should not expect that a child will be able to do it on his own: while a small person is in grades 1-2 (in grade 3, responsibility for oneself more or less begins to turn on), he is not yet very collected, organized, simply “sane”. Therefore, he needs outside control, that is, he must simply be taught to learn, to show how it is done. nine0003

Of course, there are children who, due to increased anxiety, for example, fear of the teacher or parents, or, conversely, excessive fascination with the teacher (more common among girls), are themselves worried about doing homework. But this is rather an exception to the general rule. So, the responsibility for a child's ability to learn lies largely with adults!

Now there are many expert assessments that come down to the thesis - the child's interest is above all. I agree that it is criminal to crush the initiative of a child. But, unfortunately, excitement from novelty falls even in an adult, and the ability to return oneself to concentration, whether it be solving a problem or simply assimilating new information, I think, will remain relevant. At least until we are "chip" with already built-in programs, by analogy with gadgets. But for now, you and I have children, not robots. And after a certain time, your child will move from elementary school to high school, where it will be more difficult to study. nine0003

In addition, the motivational priority shifts in high school — the child “flies” from the importance of learning to the importance of establishing social connections (friends are above all!)

he will no longer fall into hopelessness or despair - "everything is useless, everything is already so neglected, such a wild volume, I can no longer cope with it, there is no point in even starting!". There will be no such problems if the child already has a conscious experience of "inclusion" in the lessons. How to keep the attention of the child during the lessons? nine0003

1. Give new meaning to boring tasks

For example, a child needs to learn how to write letters beautifully. Options: “OK, how are we going to write a message to Santa Claus? He won’t understand anything in your scribbles, it will be a shame if you don’t get what you ask for for the New Year ”... Or: “Let's write a letter to grandmother? You just need to write so that she can read, she doesn’t see very well!” Or: “What if you find yourself on a desert island? Then you will need to write a message to people and send it in a bottle. Let's learn to write legibly! nine0003

2. Stimulate intrinsic motivation

You can ask a child and encourage him to think about what this or that skill will give him - the ability to read, write, count, memorize. This can become the basis of his own intrinsic motivation - the strongest and brightest stimulus. Alas, it burns brightly, but not for very long. It will be necessary to periodically remind the child about the benefits of what he himself once thought of and what he himself came to.

3. Change roles - instead of a student "teacher"

All lecturers know that if you want to know a subject better, give a lecture on it. We turn the child into a teacher, put all his bunnies, cars, bears, dolls in front of him and play school. By the way, you can also play along in the role of the most naughty and most "talentless" student - "Oh, how difficult it is to write these numbers! I can't do it at all!" Or deliberately make a lot of mistakes. Usually children are very happy when they see themselves from the outside.

This technique relieves tension, allows you to speak in a safe mode and realize the difficulty of learning. And this, as you remember, improves self-control and increases "sanity", that is, the child sees an obstacle (laziness, inattention, inability to force himself to finish) with which he needs to cope. nine0003

Plus, this reduces the fear of making mistakes. This is a very important point, because children at school are constantly in the zone of anxiety and incompetence - every day they are faced with new material, new tasks and new requirements for their intellectual abilities. The ability to calmly endure failures and mistakes is an important quality that allows you to move forward, and not fall into the pit "I am a worthless clumsy."

After some time, when you see that the child has mastered the skill of "doing homework", we gradually begin to leave him alone. But it is necessary to make sure that the child understands that failure to do homework and poor study in general have negative emotional consequences for him. That is, you need to create a field of expectations around it, in which there are necessarily two topics.

First, let him know that you appreciate his efforts. You can say: “We are happy when you are doing well” or “We are upset when you are not doing well.” So the child will learn that you respect his work, his efforts on himself, his ability to show his will, his growing and strengthening independence. This also allows one to form such an important quality of character as the ability to achieve goals and respect oneself for the result achieved. nine0003

The child will learn to motivate himself with this experience and the feeling of joy and elation that will follow each self-conquest. An important nuance - try to make your comments for the child clear and specific. Not just "You're great!" or “Excellent!”, but “How glad I am that you managed to finish everything!”.

Second - say that if something does not work out, then this is not a disaster! This will allow the child to avoid excessive anxiety about punishments and disappointment in him and remove a negative emotional connotation from the learning process. For example, you can tell him: “If something doesn’t work out so well for you, know that we will always help you”, “We will not scold you for a bad grade. Let's just agree, if something doesn't work out for you or you don't understand something at school, speak right away and together we will sort out difficult places or explain to you what you didn't understand. We will always help, the main thing is not to launch the item, ok?".

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