When Do You Start Piano Lessons?

What is the right age to being piano lessons? Is there a right age? My brother is a musician and owns his own music store. He is an experienced music teacher for adults and children. He said that by far a child was much easier to teach than an adult. Children are open and have little expectations whereas adults walk in with a set idea on what they want to accomplish. More often than not, my brother has stated, adults have an unrealistic set of accomplishments and get discouraged early on and quite. Children are open to learning and will … Continue reading →

Converting an Oatmeal Box into Preschool Fun

Oatmeal boxes are a great size and shape for many purposes. Since you are buying oatmeal anyway you may as well put the box to good use. Here are some ideas. Letter Box: Place foam letters, magnetic letters and wooden letter beads in the oatmeal box. Have your child pull out letters for letter recognition. You can have your child write the letter or find an object which starts with that letter around the house. You can also fill the box with pictures of items and have your child match the image to the letter the word starts with. Number … Continue reading →

Birthday Math

Math lessons are fun for little ones when you use fun and different math manipulatives. I found inspiration when I was at a party store recently. I decided to do a unit study on birthdays and use candles as a math manipulative. Supplies: Purchase the number candles 0-9. You may want to get an extra zero to make 100. Purchase a package of regular birthday candles in different colors but the same amount for each adding up to 100. Cupcake liners Styrofoam to make a birthday “cake”. Decorate as you see fit. Lessons: Have your child put the number candles … Continue reading →

Kindergarten Readiness

Do not fear if your child is not quite ready for Kindergarten. Children advance at different paces and need time to grow in a patient environment. Even if your child has not mastered everything she may still be ready for the big transition to Kindergarten. Skills Checklist: You may want to discuss any issues, questions or concerns with your pediatrician or have your child be evaluated by teacher for an individual assessment. Listening skills Follow a two or three part command or directions in sequence without help Listen to a story without interrupting Ability to recognize authority Fine-motor skills Holds … Continue reading →

Counting Game

Teaching counting can be an enjoyable experience for you and your child. Just make a game of it! The following game is fast and easy to make. You can use a variety of materials that you already have around the house. You may want to consider using cereal or candies. Kids love using edible items as learning tools. Another item you can use is an egg carton. Use a marker to write the number on each opening to correlate with how many items your child places in the space. If you do not want to hunt down a bunch of … Continue reading →

Ways to Teach Letter Recognition

Whiteboard Writing. Using a dry erase board is not only fun but it covers a multitude of sins. Use several different colored dry erase markers to keep it interesting. As the child progresses you may want to challenge her to write the vowels in red or a blend in green, etc. Memory Game. Purchase or make flashcards with capital letters and lower case letters. Make two sets for each. You can play by matching capital letters to capital letters and lower case letters to lower case letters. As the child progresses, match capital letters to lower case letters. I caution against matching letters … Continue reading →

Simple Preschool Science Experiments

Ocean Fun Fill a clear plastic liter bottle 3/4 full with water. Add blue food coloring then add cooking oil. Leave about 1 inch at the top of the bottle. Show preschool children how the oil and water do not mix. Tilting the bottle back and forth causes a wave effect. The Pepper Likes to Move it, Move It. Sprinkle pepper over the top of a cup of water. Put a dab of soap on your finger and touch the center of the pepper. Show children that the soap breaks the surface tension of the water and the tension on … Continue reading →

Is Preschool Necessary?

In short no, preschool it is not necessary. Parents are rightly concerned about preparing their children for the future. However, instruction and teachers are not necessarily the answer. Young children are naturally curious and interested in exploration. It helps develop them as a person and how they see the world around them. A child needs the ability to stretch her legs and run free to absorb the world around her. Instruction while sitting in a classroom causes a child to focus only on vanilla surroundings and one way of solving a problem. In addition to classroom instruction muting creativity and … Continue reading →

Counting Activity for Preschoolers

Here is a simple game to help your preschooler learn how to count, learn number recognition and identify larger and smaller quantities. You can play this game with a partner or solo. In another variation, you can have your child count and place the number of Pom Poms in the ice cube tray compartment with the corresponding number. No need to go out and buy a thing, feel free to substitute an egg carton for the ice cube tray and circles cut out of construction paper for the Pom poms. Have fun counting! Pom Pom Counting Activity What You Need: … Continue reading →

The Berenstain Bears Celebrate 50 Years

I have loved the Berenstain Bears since I was a child. Introducing this bear family to my preschooler and watching her enjoy them as much as I did was so sweet. After 50 years, the Berenstain Bears is still entertaining children. To celebrate this achievement, the bears have a brand new story and a collection of classics. The Berenstain Bears: Get Involved A storm hits Bear Country, and Bear Country might flood! It’s up to the Bear family and the rest of the rescue team at the Chapel in the Woods to come together and save their community. The Berenstain … Continue reading →