Hands-on Learning Experiences
As I was driving back home from a weekend visit to see my family, I started thinking about my 16 month old niece. A smile was put on my face at the thought of all the fun we had this weekend. We sang a lot of nursery rhymes, ABC songs, and listened to Mr. Wee and Boo’s Wee-phabet Songs With A Fun Twist. She loves music, singing, dancing around, and putting different movements and actions to the children’s songs we sing and listen to.
During lunch today, we counted flower pots at the restaurant. She was so cute as she mimicked the pointing I did as I counted out loud, “1, 2, 3, 4 flowers”. She kept signing and saying “more”. So, of course, we counted the flower pots about ten more times. Then we counted all of the people at the table. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7 people at the table!” She was so pleased, and gave me a huge smile then grabbed my finger to have me point and count again. She was loving this simple and basic interaction.
All of this made me start thinking about how important it is for parents to remember that every day opportunities can be turned into hands-on learning experiences. Teaching the fundamentals of reading, writing, and math using simple interactions with your child are just as important as exposing your child to technology, whether it be through educational computer games or educational DVDs and toys. Children love simple things where there is “real life” parent involvement just as much as the colorful and fun videos that capture their attention. Keep a balance between the two and your child will reap the benefits.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 10:32 am and is filed under Author's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
