Teaching a Toddler

I have been e-mailed a few times and asked about some ideas on how I started teaching Drew. Here are some ideas that I can give you.

When I first started teaching Drew it was around the age of one. I started out with the Leap Frog Letters video just to get him used to seeing the letters and hearing there sounds. I would have him watch it just about every day. From this video he pretty much grasped the sounds of the letters more than recognition. When I thought he was ready I then proceeded with the A Beka Book ABC flashcards. If you want to keep it cheap you can always make your own. Repetition and keeping it fun are big keys when teaching the little ones. Here are some things you could do:

• To start I began with a letter of the day. We had "A" day, "B" day etc... Start with the flashcards and tell him the sound that the letter makes. For example, "A says a a a as in apple." Keep repeating it over and over making him say it with you and then on his own. You can say different words that begin with that letter. Keep the card out all through the day so you can keep going over it with him. It might seem slow at first but once the child learns more letters then you just keep adding more cards. If Drew seemed to have trouble with a letter then I would keep that letter for several days until he conquered it, as well as, continuing to review the previous letters he learned. Drew caught on quick since he knew most of the sounds from the video. Also, teach him the ABC song and sing it with him everyday. Drew can sing it by heart now.



• As he masters more letters you can start doing fun things with him. Lay out two cards and say the letter that you want him to give you. As he gives you the card make him say what the letter is and the sound it makes. As he gets better lay out five or six different letters and repeat the process.



• Lay out several cards and have him jump to the letter you call out. Again making him look at the card re-say what it is and the sound. You can also switch it and say the sound you want him to jump to.



• Make a fishing pole with a string and magnet on the end and have him fish out a letter. I had little fish from teaching already made and used those, but you could just use your cards and put a paper clip on them and have him fish those out. Sometimes at the dollar store they have packs of cut-out fish already and you could use those. Just write the letters on them. Again, make sure you use the repetition with him with the sound and the recognition of the letter.



• On the A Beka Flashcards they have both the capital and the lower case letters on them. Once Drew grasped all the cards I realized he had a hard time recognizing the lower case letters. I made my own cards of just the lower case and went through the same procedure with them. It didn't take long because he was used to seeing them along side the capital letters. I gave just a few little games I used. There are many more ideas I am sure.



• I tried to also get him to grasp that these were the consonants. He doesn't quite get it yet but I just keep telling him that every time we have school. Now we are learning the 5 vowels and then on to the special sounds.



• To teach numbers you can do the same thing. Just remember REPETITION and patience, as well.

Hope this will help some of you. It takes time and committment but it will prepare them for Kindergarten. Also, I do have another little one crawling around so I try to do school with him during her morning from around 11:00 a.m. to noon. That gives me plenty of time to teach Drew.