QUOTE OF THE DAY :)

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” 
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Introducing your child to love math at an early age with fun activities....

Any activities that help children get a sense of numbers and what they look like is a good way to introduce math to your child starting from the age of 3.

Activities that help your child develop a foundation for mathematical understanding:

• Building blocks 
• Jigsaw puzzles or anything else that involves moving, rotating, or fitting objects together.
• Look for anything that relates to numbers, like house numbers, and patterns in nature.
• Reading books that relates to numbers.
• Play games that help children think logically and spatially.
•  Playing games with dice can help children when they are learning to add and subtract.

These simple things can lay the foundation for your child to start loving math at an early age, and also give children a better chance of being excited about the subject throughout their school years. Above are just a couple of games I use with my girls. There's many creative ways to make it fun. I'll be posting links of other fun math activities, as well as websites that have free printables. Remember Be Interested, and Interesting!

Are you on a budget ? Here are some free or low cost places to take kids.....

1.  Chuckie Cheese, Mcdonalds, Burger King, etc. Many of these places have free toy structures to play in. You don't have to buy the meal or pay for the tokens, just walk in grab a seat and let them go. I highly recommend hand washing and sanitizer though. Haha or do what my mom does take a sandwich and snack to give them over there lol....

2. The park: Playgrounds are always fun especially if you join the fun.


3.  Library's and city community centers in some areas set up a room full of toys and games for young children during the morning hours. Most libraries offer story time.


4. Go to the museum. Sometimes there are programs just for the youngest kids that are free or cheap. Art museums sometimes have arts and crafts for younger kids on certain days before noon.


5.  Pet stores are almost as good as the zoo to younger kids. Let them watch the birds, fish, reptiles, and other animals to their hearts content. My daughters love going to the pet store.


6. Head to the mall, I know you might have to resist from shopping though, but Malls often have kids   activities going on for free.


7. Go on a play date to your friends house or invite them to yours.


8. Head to the beach for treasure finding. Watch carefully what they pick up. If seashells are available great, but sometimes finding the soft, smooth, shiny rocks that can be just as entertaining.
  
Here is some free and low cost events going on in Los Angeles for those who live in the area:


 Click the link or copy and paste: http://losangeles.parenthood.com/directory/event/

How to get you toddler to clean up after themselves?

With my youngest this was a hard task, she's the queen of messes and my oldest was tired of picking up after her sister. I tried the clean up song with her, but that didn't work like it did with my six year old. What I did is join in and made it a game, who can pick up the most toys. Then I would change it the next day by giving her a little warning, that play will be ending when the timer rings and that something else is coming, and in 2 minutes we will be cleaning up so we can have a snack. Another day I would say, " I need a good helper to help me pick up this mess, hmm where can I find such a terrific helper" she would quickly jump up and say, " me mommy me!" This worked for me and there's many ways to get your child to clean up after themselves. You just need to make it fun and keep it interesting... :)

Gianna My little Artist :)

Love it!! All by herself except her name, I kind of helped her with that one lol

GREAT BOOK TO READ :)

Crayon Egg Finished Product :)

How to make a Crayon Egg

From a book I'm reading for my class....So I tried it with my daughters and they loved it :)

Here are some books I use to teach my girls...

You can buy these at Target, Book Stores and also Ebay....You can also download free worksheets from websites...

Help your child be ready to read and learn.

Talk to your child a lot, this will help them learn to speak and understand meanings of words. As you play with your child, point and describe some objects. If your child has a large vocabulary it will give them a great start once he/she starts school. As I mention before read to your child daily, hearing words over and over again helps them become familiar with them. Make it fun when reading to them, for example my husband changes his voice for the different characters of the book or he can just to be silly but my girls love it. Remember, BE INTERESTED AND INTERESTING. :)

Help your child with homework: Show you care about their education :)

In my experience so far as a mother of two, to help your child with homework you need to show you are interested. You need to show that you value their education and let them know that homework is a high priority. When doing homework make sure to choose a place where there is no distractions, it's a  fairly quiet place for them to concentrate and TV should be off. Setting a good example is also the key, make sure you explain that whatever he/she is learning are important things that he will do or use as an adult. Let them see when you are reading books, or when you're reading your magazine and emails. Also, it is good to find out what he/she is interested in and together look for information about it. I know for some of us parents it's difficult to find some time but even a few minutes of showing them that you are interested in their education and what they like can be enough. BE INTERESTED AND INTERESTING! :)

Aquarium

Aquarium, a photo by angeeg77 on Flickr.

A little Mommy and me time with my girls at The Aquarium

Provide the opportunity to be creative :)

Creative Learning

How to teach the Alphabet

To teach the alphabet doesn't mean to pull out the flashcards just yet. First, what I did is read to my child everyday since she was born, (actually since she was in my womb) and continued to do so. This got her used to listening to stories, and  little by little she got the idea that books contain letters of the alphabet. What I did relied on were visual aids at first, such as colorful abc picture books, and posters. Then, I tried different fun activities for example; try forming your child's name using paint and point out each letter one by one. Eventually they will learn that those letters put together stand for his/her name. I always tried to make it fun, this way you will keep them interested and they wont get bored.

Educational Websites

I have added a couple educational websties that I have used and still continue to use with my daughters to get them ready for school. Some were introduced to me by teachers themselves. I'll be adding more soon.

How do we help our children learn?

We need to accept the responsibility of being a parent and this means putting them to bed at a reasonable hour. Also, getting involve in your child's education, and attending parent-teacher conferences is very important. Limit the time they watch TV and play on the computer. Reading to your children instead of letting them play for hours on the Playstation is a better choice.

Support your kids in school

Parents can build the bridge for their child to succeed in school. We as parents need to accept the responsibility of what being a parent is all about, this includes helping them learn.