2 years is the age when your child becomes more physically active and will grasp more things than before. It is also known as the age where learning starts to take place in a child’s mind as she / he grows conscious about her / his surroundings and starts noticing everything. If you want your child to learn specific things or behave in a specific manner, it is just the time to get down to it. Real learning happen way before a child is admitted into a preschool.
Home is every child’s first school and what she / he learns there gets nurtured and moulded at the preschool. Which automatically makes you, the parents, her / his first teachers. And as responsible parents it’s your duty to make sure that your child learns those basic things that make for the foundation of all the learning she / he is going to incorporate later. If you are wondering what that is, wonder no more! There are five basic learning categories that parents need to teach their children. So when their child steps into the preschool, she / he is prepared to take her / his best foot forward. Here are the simplest five methods to make learning easy and necessary for your child. PS – get ready to buy lots and lots of books!
- Counting: When a child turns two, she / he immediately develops the power to understand between one and many. Ever noticed your child extending her / his hand for another candy when there’s already one in her / his hand? That’s because she / he knows there’s more than one with you. So get a good counting book with pictures and let the learning process begin. Try doing it with what she likes the most, like candy or gems. The more you do it the faster she / he will start to count. Once she / he is through with one to ten, then go on to twenty and thirty thereafter.
Alphabets: Alphabets make up for the foundation of all the communication in the world. The sooner your child learns them, the faster she / he starts to communicate better. Open the alphabets book and start speaking. Make sure it is a colourful one so that your child can show some initial interest in it. Children tend to pick up books because they like its colours and the learning part comes much later. If possible, show them the real versions of things that are there in the book, like an apple or ball. The more practical, hands-on experience your child gets, the faster she / he will learn.
Colours: Colours help children differentiate between things from an early age. Get a book on different colours and also buy colourful things that children can play with, like balloons. Colours are children’s best ally when it comes to communicate. For example, if they want something they can’t name, like broccoli, they can still say ‘green’. So just by naming the colour they can communicate with you. Also, colours are a clear giveaway of your child’s personality. A preference for red is associated with aggression and power while blue and green are more associated with calm and quiet.- Rhymes: You don’t necessarily need a book for this, but a mobile phone for sure! One of the best ways to make children learn anything is by watching rhymes. YouTube is full of nursery rhyme videos that can keep your child busy for days while teaching her / him all the necessary things. These rhymes also come in various forms such that we discussed above like counting, alphabets, colours, animal and flower names, poems, etc. and there’s nothing that your child can’t learn from them. And since there’s an animated video going on, your child will never lose interest in it. Watching rhymes is the easiest way to learn and explores new things every single day.
- Birds and animals’ names: Children love birds and animals. Be it in a book or a live one, they just can’t resist the temptation of looking at them. It is one interest area that’s common in all children. Teach them about different birds and animals. When you get out of the house and see a dog, point it out to them. If possible, take them to a zoo. It is at the zoo where children actually become children. It is one place where they satiate their curiosity and learn by watching. Also, if you are not allergic, get a cat or a dog. It is believed that children who grow up with animals turn out to be more smart and grow kinder than others.
There are some things that you can’t wait for your child to learn at preschool. The five things explained above are just a handful of these. You can’t teach everything to your child from the comfort of your home, but this is the least you can do. This will lay a foundation of learning in her / his head and enable her / him to understand things better. While preschools might be important for children to learn the basics of education, it’s what they are taught by their parents that counts the most. And no teacher can do a better job than a responsible parent!
