Sharing is caring, please pass this along!

Teaching toddlers in our homeschool mostly happens incidentally. This means that we do not sit them down and do stuff like flash cards and formal school with the child.

Observe and learn

The toddlers in our home have the benefit of observing the many older siblings around them doing school and other stuff. They pick up a lot of stuff that way – just by observation. But I will bear in mind that most people do not have a houseful of older children to teach the younger ones. So I shall share what I did when I had 1 and 2 children only.

Keep Talking

One of the best way to “teach” your toddler is to keep talking to him! Yep! Keep talking and showing him things. Before long he will pick up many things without much effort on your part! Babies and toddlers are really like sponges, absorbing things very quickly and without any hang ups the way an older child may have.

Learn while playing

As your toddler plays with his toy, talk to him about colours or shapes. Point out to him the different colours on the toy. Shape sorters are a good buy.

Here is a short clip of play and learn with our 7th toddler.
BTW this wooden set has been with us since 1998! Well loved indeed!

Jigsaw puzzles are another type of “educational toy” that is helpful. Buy those that require very little effort – just 4 to 5 pieces to make 1 picture and then slowly progress to more difficult ones. You can even teach maths, colours and the alphabet with jigsaw puzzles!

Teach while playing with your toddler plays allows learning to happen effortlessly.

Learn while doing life

For example, counting with them is one very easy way to teach numbers. You can count anything and everything. Count their fingers and toes. Count when folding clothes, when going up and down stairs, packing up toys, etc…Soon they will learn the sequence of the numbers. Another fun way is to point out numbers when you go out with them and they will surprise you one day when they can call out the number they see on the lift or walls!

Our current toddler learnt her numbers watching her older siblings play the card game UNO! She also has a set of sandpaper numbers to play with when I do school with the pre-schoolers. Our HDB maisonette home has stairs so every day I will count with her when we go up and down the stairs so much so that she knows how to count 1 to 10 buy herself with no prompting.

Read to them

This is one of the best and wonderful way to bond with your toddler and get them interested in books. BUT do not expect them to behave like a pre-schooler! This means do not expect them to sit still and listen to you read the entire book to them. Their attention spans are short.

– Lower your expectations

Many moms worry and wonder why their child does not have the attention span sit listen to them read the whole book. This is perfectly normal. It is an unusual toddler who can sit for a long stretch and actually listen to the story. I have had one of those and also have had one that sits still just for me to read ONE page to him. And I also have had one who would sit still and seemingly listen but was actually spacing out on me!

What’s my point? Lower your expectations. Do not expect to be able to read every single line and finish the entire story with your toddler. Don’t force them to sit with you to listen to you read them. It will put them off reading.

– Choice of books matter

This is what we do which you may wish to try. Obviously get a book that has lovely, colourful and interesting pictures. The book should have more pictures than words. Then “read” by pointing out the pictures in the book. Talk about the pictures of the book. Do not bother about the words on the page in the beginning. If you make talking about the pictures (colours/shapes/action of character…) interesting enough, the child will keep on picking up the book for you to “read”. Soon, he would be able to “read” back to you, telling you the story in his own words.

He may now be ready for you to start reading to him a few pages at a time. It doesn’t matter if he can’t sit through the entire story. He will in time!

What books do we read? We have rhyming books, bible stories, counting books, alphabet books, animal books. Anything we can lay our hands on! We are a book-loving family! Surround your child/ren with books and they will naturally pick them up when they are wandering around the house.

Colouring

Colour either with crayons or colour pencils (no markers, shudders!!!)  is another activity toddlers like to do. You can either buy colouring books from places like Popular or google “free colouring pages” from Pinterest. Here are some that I have used and liked.

http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html
http://www.dltk-kids.com/coloring.htm
http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/clr-indx.html
http://www.coloringbookfun.com

If you are really, really brave, you can give them a white board and markers to draw and colour. Just make sure they are washable markers!

Sing and recite nursery rhymes

Nursery Rhymes and Sunday School songs are also fun things to do. If you can’t remember your nursery rhymes or Sunday School songs, there are lots of CDs and books out there (edited 2017 : there is Youtube!). You have no excuse to not know them! Use the free resources in the library if you are not willing to spend the money.

But personally, I find these should be basic staples in any home that has children! Sing the Alphabet Song to them and they will learn their letters before you know it, although some believe that a child should not learn the names of the alphabet. Instead they should learn the letters’ phonetic sounds first. Do your reading and research and decide how you want to proceed.

I have always taught the names first and then teach the sounds they make later on. It worked for us since that was how 4 out of 5 of them learnt to read But you make your own decision.

Learn life skills

Life skills should also be taught now. There are many things toddlers can and should do. Do not underestimate their capability!

Some examples – teach them to sort laundry : whites go into the whites pile or laundry basket, and coloured clothing go into the coloured clothing pile; fold face cloths/dish cloths or even their own clothing; pack up toys after they are done playing; set the table, and clear their own plates and cups after each meal.

Yes, these are not impossible tasks for your toddler! And don’t worry, you are not “ill treating” them by “making” them do chores. Look at their faces when they do it – see the sense of accomplishment written all over it!

Be warned though that after a while, it will become a discipline issue when the novelty wears off. This is when we would want to instill the discipline of obeying mama even when it is no longer fun! Another learning opportunity!

What about the TV?

Yes, we do use the TV! We choose mostly educational TV programmes or DVDs for them to watch. I would very much prefer not to use it but we are also mostly cooped up in a flat with just 2 playgrounds for outdoor play, both 2 blocks away.

Maybe if we had a garden or backyard that I could safely send the kids out to play, I wouldn’t have to resort to using the TV. But we don’t do Pokemon or Power Rangers or the Winx Club.

Different families have different ways of doing things. This is what we do. I hope I have given you some ideas to start you off.

What I would like to leave you with is this :

• Make learning part of their lives!
• Stop worrying about what your toddler doesn’t yet know.
• Enjoy them and let them enjoy their toddlerhood!

Click here for Teaching Our Pre-schoolers.

Sharing is caring, please pass this along!