how kids learn Archives | Sleeping Should Be Easy

Why Too Many Toys Can Be Bad for Kids

Published May 20, 2020 Updated Jun 14, 2020

Is your house overflowing with toys? More isn't always better, and can even have adverse results. Here are the downsides of having too many toys. Birthday parties and play dates have given me a glimpse into just how many toys other kids have compared to my own. Tall shelves filled with action figures, floors strewn with stuffed animals. I began to wonder what these kids might think coming into our home. The holidays have also made me wonder whether I give them enough gifts. For his first Christmas, my eldest didn't even receive a toy from us—I figured he was too young to even … [Read more...]

How to Respond when Your Child Makes a Mistake

Communication

Published May 05, 2020 Updated Jun 14, 2020

How you respond to the mistakes your child makes is just as important as correcting it in the first place. Learn how to respond when kids make mistakes. I kept telling my boys to knock it off. We were eating dinner and the three of them were acting goofy with one another. On this particular night, they were moving their arms left and right in a marching swing. And as I had predicted, one of them knocked over a cup of water. To make matters worse, all three just sat looking at the water as it continued to drip onto the floor. As much of an accident as it was, the silliness and the … [Read more...]

What Should a Kindergartener Know Before the Year Ends?

Little Kids

Published Apr 10, 2020 Updated Jun 23, 2020

What should a kindergartener know before entering the first grade? Your child should be able to meet these 12 milestones by the end of the year. Before you know it, your kindergartener is about to end the year in a few weeks or months. It seemed not too long ago when you walked him to his desk as he held onto his school supplies, anxious about his new school. Now the little guy is headed off to first grade, leaving you wondering where the time went. But if you're like many parents, you're wondering how he has fared this whole year in kindergarten. Did he meet the end-of-year milestones? … [Read more...]

7 Useful Ways to Teach the Alphabet, Montessori-Style

How Kids Learn

Published Feb 20, 2020 Updated Apr 05, 2020

Wondering how to teach your child the Montessori alphabet? Discover 7 little-known but effective ways to teach letters the Montessori way. When choosing a preschool, I had heard that Montessori schools were different from traditional schools. They encourage self-sufficiency and life skills in the curriculum (my kids called this "practical work"). Classes aren't divided by age so strictly. And teachers work with the individual child's level instead of teaching the same material to all the students at the same time. Another aspect where Montessori schools tend to differ? The way … [Read more...]

3 Techniques to Help Your Child Focus

How Kids Learn

Published Jan 28, 2020 Updated Jan 28, 2020

Looking for tips on helping kids focus? These three techniques will help! Perfect for the child who can't pay attention for a long time. They told you kids can't sit still, but it feels like your child has taken that to a whole new level. He struggles with staying put at the dinner table, fidgets at school, and hops from one activity to the next. The only time he seems to be able to focus is when he's doing something he enjoys, like building with blocks or drawing. If you've struggled with helping kids focus on one activity for a long time, you're not alone. Many parents … [Read more...]

Children’s Books about Perseverance

Children's Books

Published Feb 22, 2018 Updated Apr 08, 2020

Want to teach your child the value of not giving up? Read these children's books about perseverance to instill the importance of grit. Kids are naturally equipped with perseverance, from the baby learning to walk to the toddler who insists on putting on her own jacket. They don't worry about a "failure" stigma, even if it takes hundreds of falls to walk two steps, or five minutes to use a zipper. But along the way, their perseverance is challenged. It's harder to keep going when the focus shifts to who can do it the fastest, or who gets it perfect the first time. They lose sight of the … [Read more...]

How to Raise Kids Who Love to Learn

How Kids Learn

Published Jul 03, 2017 Updated Jun 15, 2020

Want to raise kids with a genuine passion for curiosity? Discover effective ways to raise children who love to learn — and not because they have to. My son was in the kitchen trying to turn an empty box of strawberries into an airplane. He had attached a propeller from another toy to the front and strapped a rubber band he'd hoped would sling it forward. It even came equipped with landing wheels. The airplane never moved, much less flew, but this is the kind of learning I want to encourage in my kids. Not doing homework begrudgingly or even perfect grades, but the willingness to try … [Read more...]

Fun Literacy Activities to Help Your Child Learn

Activities

Published Feb 10, 2017 Updated Jan 26, 2020

Encouraging early learning is easy with fun literacy activities! Learn why simple activities like talking, reading and singing will help your child learn. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of First 5 California. The opinions and text are all mine. From Day One, I wanted to engage my kids toward healthy brain development. I knew I couldn't control everything, but I was determined to do what I can to raise lifelong learners. So I read child development books and scoured the internet for baby activities. I even read aloud to my pregnant belly. Turns out that helping … [Read more...]

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