I've been in such a slump when it comes to doing activities with Faith these past couple of months. With so much to do I honestly became overwhelmed.
I soon realized that besides it just being fun it could be fun and educational.
I remembered Faith's Grandma got her some books for her birthday when she turned 2, but as a First Time Mom I was clueless and thought, "Oh no these are too advanced for her right now."
(Laughing while rolling my eyes) - It's the Alphabet, Basic Words and Animal Sounds.
Aai Ally! :)
Sometimes, without knowing, we underestimate our kids. Yes we don't mean to, but what I've learnt is that we should try things with them and see if they adapt, learn, have fun with it.
I was pleasantly surprised when I started teaching Faith out of these books and she learnt so well and quickly. I used the tower in the background to help her learn that the biggest tubes go on first in order to complete the tower. While doing so I'd emphasize (in my naturally loud voice) which colour goes first, second, and so on.
This in turn helped her learn which colours those are. After the 3rd try she knew which colours I was calling out, but it does take a few days, patience and repetition... Oh and mostly making it fun like singing, shouting, dancing, clapping, high fives, fist bumps (pumps?), and continuous praising like "Good job!", "Well done!", etc.
So let me tell you a bit our these books and how I taught her from each book...
First Book: ABC (Alphabet Book) by DK @ https://www.readerswarehouse.co.za/
As you can see, this book also has pictures and words which they associate with each letter, which is awesome as it helps your kid(s) learn a word for each letter and also to see what an apple, ball, dog, etc looks like.
Fun Tips:
- Singing the Alphabet Song
- Learning one letter a day and having 3-5 objects that begin with the "Letter of the Day" (Repetition)
- Applying movement and going further with the letter. EG. B - Ball - What can we do with a ball? Kick, Throw, Roll, Balance, etc.
- Download a fun Alphabet Sing & Dance Video from YouTube.
Second Book: Animal Sounds by Fisher Price @ https://www.readerswarehouse.co.za/
I absolutely love this book! It's super adorable, durable and the images are so cute, it makes you as the parent excited to play along in this baby animal jungle you'll soon create for your toddler.
I had so much fun teaching Faith out of this book. I was pleasantly surprised when she knew 90% of the animal sounds in this book, and then she knew ALL the animals in this book. That didn't stop me from having some fun with her. :)
With this book it's all about Animal Association and the sounds they make, and which toddler wouldn't love trying out these sounds?
Fun Tips:
- Once your little one knows each animal and sound they make, you can change it up and read, "I'm a monkey. What sound do I make?" and you then allow your little one to make the sound.
- Make the proper animal sounds and have fun with it by doing various facial expressions and laughing about it.
- Act like some of the animals and have your toddler mimic you.
- Download a fun Animal Sing & Dance Video from YouTube.
Third Book: First Words by igloo books @ https://www.readerswarehouse.co.za/
This book is nice and basic for your toddlers first Word Associations.
You can see each word has a picture with it, so with this book I was also surprised when Faith knew nearly all of these words.
I'd go through the book and say "Star" while pointing to the picture. So she learns what a star looks like and how to say it (well in her cute baby babble "accent")
Fun Tips:
- Search for and print Colour-in pictures of each of these objects in the book and set out two a day. Tell your toddler to take the "Moon" and colour it in. He/She must then figure out which pic is the Moon and they get to colour it in.
- Change things up a bit once they know what is what and with each picture ask "What is this?" and have them answer you. Be patient with them and praise them each time, even those times you say "You can do it!"
- Associate songs you know with some of the pictures. EG. "Sun" - Mr. Sun Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...
So I hope this has given you some guidance and motivation to start teaching your toddler if they're still at home.
Remember to just have fun. No pressure on your child(ren), and just have them experiment, learn at their own pace and go crazy dancing, singing, shouting, and playing, all while learning.
Thank you for learning with us!
Faith & Mom
