Stimulating Young Minds

How much should I teach my child? Should my child be able to read or write, or both, before school? If my child can’t read before going to school, will the teachers think that I haven’t shown enough interest?

These are just a few of the concerns many parents have when their children reach the age of 3 or 4 years-old. The answer of course is ... DON’T PANIC! Naturally, we all want to do the best for our children, but putting the child under pressure to learn is entirely unnecessary.

Being involved in your child’s early education is important, but the most important thing to remember is that any form of learning should be fun.

Uniquely individual

Children develop at different rates. If Jane next door can read at four and your Sam has shown little inclination to start, no amount of additional pressure is going to help. When he is ready, and with the correct sort of guidance the chances are he will develop normally. Whatever you do, you should not feel obliged to compete. Remember that Sam will be more adept than Jane at something else.

Creating the ‘right’ environment

The ideal is to provide your child with the sort of environment where he or she can learn.

Reading

All children love stories, so reading to them is always a good starting point. Set aside a few minutes every day to read aloud – and it doesn’t always have to be at bedtime. Reading should be stimulating the child’s imagination, not putting the child to sleep as fast as possible! Unfortunately, far too often it is used as a soporific tool – hardly a good advertisement for reading.

When you have finished a story, ask a few open-ended questions. For example, an open-ended question from Goldilocks might be ‘Why did she eat porridge from all the bowls?’ The answer requires an explanation rather than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Stimulating young minds

There are a number of simple games that one can play which help develop various skills. There is nothing new or ‘revolutionary’ about them – many have been played for decades. Remember, keep it fun.

Teaching an awareness of the 5 senses

Collect a variety of articles and put them in a pillow case. Then ask the child to feel them and try to guess what each item is. Always praise and encourage.

I Spy

This can be kept simple to begin with by using colours (‘I spy something that is red’). Progress gradually onto using letter sounds. In other words, you ‘sound’ the letter rather than say it. For example: ‘I spy something beginning with ‘sh’ ...’ (for shoe). Use this system for other digraphs such as ‘th’ and ‘ch’.

Hearing, smelling and tasting games should also be kept simple. When you’re in the kitchen let your child taste a variety of things and this will inevitably lead to questions about why some things taste better than others. Improve auditory discrimination by asking your child to close his/her eyes and identify all the sounds he/she can hear. After identifying all the ‘natural’ sounds like birds twittering, a door creaking, a clock ticking etc., try manufacturing your own by rustling paper or cutting paper with scissors.

Creative thinking

A game which helps the child to think creatively is the ‘what else?’ game. In this, you ask what else can be done with a stick, for example. Answers might include ... make a flag, a fishing rod, a kite, a bow and arrow, a sword ... and so on.

But above all, make learning fun!