Your Child's Journey

wisdom for the big steps little children take

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Is My Child Normal?

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Are you afraid your child isn’t normal? Just about every parent has this fear at one time or another. The media reports huge increases in autism rates. There are more and more children being diagnosed with mental disorders like bipolar disorder. Then there’s the preschool and kindergarten teachers telling parents their boys are hyperactive. So what is a parent to do?

I’m going to give you some common sense considerations to help you decide if there is need for intervention.

1. When looking at the benchmarks for development, is your child young or past the average age for that skill? For example, a baby usually learns to sit unsupported between 4 and 9 months. If your baby is not sitting unsupported at 6 months, this is not a sign of possible developmental delay. If however, he is 10 months and still not sitting well, then you should let your pediatrician know and seek further evaluations. Also, if your baby was premature or has had serious medical conditions in the first months of life, he may lag behind developmentally for as long a year and not be considered delayed.

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Teaching Math Concepts to Your Preschooler

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Great Schools.com has a great article on what your child should be learning about math in preschool.

For this post I will just extract the things you, as a parent, can do at home to reinforce math learning in preschool. Have fun and teach at the same time!

  1. Show how math relates to daily life. Involve them in measuring ingredients when you cook or in figuring out if a container is big enough to hold their toy cars and trucks.
  2. Play board games using dice or play money. Help your child count out the spaces to move his piece on the board. Play simple card games like Go Fish.
  3. Count things at home and on the street: cars, books, toys, silverware. Count objects in book illustrations.
  4. Call attention to different patterns and shapes: plaids, polka dots, paisleys, and triangular and rectangular shapes in the sidewalk.
  5. Use terms such as above, beneath, level, larger, smaller, and equal, and words such as horizontal, vertical, perpendicular, and parallel, to describe things you see. You might ask your child to bring you the smallest cookie or to find the book beneath the large table in the living room.
  6. Take your child to the supermarket with you and involve her in comparing prices.
  7. When you balance your checkbook or pay bills, explain to your child what you are doing.
  8. Take your child to the bank with you and let him watch you count money from the ATM.
  9. Weigh and measure your child and make a chart to record her growth.
  10. Buy a set of hardwood blocks for your children to build with (look for a secondhand one if new ones are too pricey). The educational benefits of blocks are unlimited; they will be one of the best investments you make.
 Read the entire article at: GreatSchools.com

 

2 Years 6 Months Girl

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Opposites

Two-and-a-half is the most unpredictable preschool age. She will shift from one extreme to the other without warning. This is not because she purposely wants to confuse you or irritate you or defy you. The reason for this changeability lies in a giant step she is taking in decision making.

She is discovering opposites and alternate choices. She understands yes and no, run and stop, take and give, come and go, etc. But now she cannot sort out the relative merits of these opposites for any particular situation. She is not yet capable of thinking of only one to the exclusion of the other.

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2 Years 6 Months Boy

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Opposites

Two-and-a-half is the most unpredictable preschool age. He will shift from one extreme to the other without warning. This is not because he purposely wants to confuse you or irritate you or defy you. The reason for this changeability lies in a giant step he is taking in decision making.

He is discovering opposites and alternate choices. He understands yes and no, run and stop, take and give, come and go, etc. But now he cannot sort out the relative merits of these opposites for any particular situation. He is not yet capable of thinking of only one to the exclusion of the other.

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2 Years 4 Months Girl

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“Again!”

The key word for this age is “Again!” She may want to follow exactly the same routine day in and day out or wear the same clothes every day or eat the same foods. As irritating as this can be to live with, the repetition is providing your little one with a sense of stability and control. She is trying to make sense of her world. Once she figures out how something is supposed to work, she wants to do it over and over to make sure it happens that way every time. When she sees the same result, she is reassured and gains confidence. Rituals provide comfort.

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