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Original poster

How do you 'educate and enrich' your preschooler?

15 replies

loveroflife · 08/01/2014 15:14

Before, I get accused of being a pushy parent, I'm not, honestly!

DS (3) is a lovely little boy with a very poor attention span, I know he's only 3, but I do want to make reading appealing and learning fun.

All he wants to do is sports, but I would love him to sit down occasionally so I can read to him.

Atm, I try and read to him, play storybooks in the car and take him out for fresh air and activity every day - that's it.

My friend does flashcards with her dd - what are others thoughts on these?

My sil is teaching her ds to write his name (aged 2!) - is this really normal?

I suppose I'm just wondering whether I could do other things to keep his attention, he's not overly fussed by drawing and painting either.

Any ideas or experiences would be most welcome.

OP posts:
TeenAndTween · 08/01/2014 16:47

You don't need flashcards.
You don't need to teach to write (certainly not aged 2).

You are probably doing a lot more than you realise. Are you doing any of these?

Science/Maths understanding (playing with sand, water, cars etc, observing nature, basic counting, eg count stairs, socks, cars etc, cooking together - weighing out ingedients, do scales balance)
Gross motor skills (throwing, catching, kicking, balancing)
Fine Motor skills (crayoning, painting, painting with water outside, using a stick to draw patterns in flour, threading, large hamma beads, balancing blocks, ...)
Love of stories, sharing books (listening to you in bath maybe?)
Talk to your child, make conversation with him

if he shows an interest you can do basic sounds (phonics) but don't push it as it could turn him off if not ready.

mary21 · 08/01/2014 16:48

Boys often need to move a lot at this age. Go with the flow. They need to sort their gross motor skills before fine motor. Getting out and about going to the park, watch trains, buses, diggers etc. Noticing wildlife , bugs etc. Go with the flow. Get them to help with shopping . Get me 2 apples etc.Helping you with stuff matching socks etc. My boys loved helping with cooking. Stirring cake mix. When the weather gets better watering plants. Whist its horrible get the wet weather gear on and stomp in puddles.

OsmiumPhazer · 08/01/2014 17:06

Perhaps purchase ‘boyey’ books such as the superhero books from Little Golden books, my DS loves these especially when I mimic the voices

ReallyTired · 08/01/2014 22:20

Your little boy loves sports because that is exactly what he needs! He is building up his core muscles so that later on he can develop fine motor skills.

I think that swimming lessons, gymnastics or football or maybe an active music class is better than flashcards. My son loved books when he was little, but he had to be in the mood. We used to read him stories at bed time as part of his routine.

Is your little boy at nursery yet. A good nursery will help your little boy learn to concentrate and develop fine motor control.

It has to be remembered that on averagelittle boys tend to develop more slowly. Lots of boys catch up later. Development is a journey not a race.

Original poster
loveroflife · 08/01/2014 22:35

thanks for all the responses - I now feel normal that I am not sitting down with him teaching him how to write, rather chasing after him at the park..

i'll also try and get him to help me sort the socks etc at home for variety and carry on with the attempts at reading..

OP posts:
Kenlee · 09/01/2014 05:19

Well I was walking around the shopping center and this is no joke Babies of 1 year or less were queuing for pre school tutorial class....

Im not sure what is taught there but I was just wondering there really is money to be made tutoring kids of parents with more money than sence

richmal · 09/01/2014 08:29

Around this age I used to do little lessons with dd. I cannot remember how long she could concentrate for, but it was five to 10 minutes at the most, so I used to do a few minutes every one or two hours.

I used to vary a lot in what I did, but one lesson was "where is?" So I used to put pieces of card at one end of the room with whatever I wanted to teach her and go over what was on each sheet as I put it down. For instance if it were numbers she would have different numbers of dots on the card. I used to then sit at the other side of the room and say "Where is 3?" I would then count the dots on whatever card she brought and say either "Yes, that's right" or "No, try again"

If reading sound out words at the end of sentences. Eg. "Here is the d o g. Dog"

I did teach dd to read before school, but definitely couldn't have seen flash cards working.

ReallyTired · 09/01/2014 13:30

"Well I was walking around the shopping center and this is no joke Babies of 1 year or less were queuing for pre school tutorial class...."

Assume this is not in the UK. There are many ways to part an idiot from their money.

Blu · 09/01/2014 15:44

PLay doh, going to the park.

CecilyP · 09/01/2014 16:48

My sil is teaching her ds to write his name (aged 2!) - is this really normal?

No, your SIL does not sound remotely normal! OTOH, your DS sounds like an absolutely normal little boy. He is lucky that he has a mum that chases him round the park. If your DS won't sit still for ordinary story books, perhaps he will like books that involve some activity such rhyming games or pop up books.

Your DS will only be 3 for a year - enjoy it. Take your lead from your him. I am sure he will eventually find a game he likes or something he enjoys that will enable him to sit and concentrate for a while.

richmal · 09/01/2014 18:37

OTOH like your SIL I used to love teaching dd and dd enjoyed the learning games I invented for her. There is no normal when it comes to bringing up children, just a lot of mums who think their way is best. It is your choice what you do, as it is also your SIL's.

Original poster
loveroflife · 09/01/2014 21:54

play.doh is brilliant -.thank you

have started reading to him in the bath as well - got through an impressive 4 books today, although he seemed to get bored after 2 and played with shapes, but I kept going!

OP posts:
soundevenfruity · 09/01/2014 22:01

I would built gradually time he can concentrate on something, from whatever he can do now. If he is turning 4 before September then it's important to give him opportunities before school. Gymnastics and swimming are lots of fun, physical but help them learn to follow instructions, wait for their turn, listen to a trainer and still enjoy the process.

soundevenfruity · 09/01/2014 22:05

It's also important to do with him what you enjoy. So if your sil likes reading and thinks writing and reading are fun her child is likely to enjoy that as well. It's not a competition though it usually turns into one. Don't let it spoil your children's relationships.

Fullsteamahead · 09/01/2014 22:10

I have a 3 year old boy as well and know exactly how you feel. Lol. My little boy never stops during the day, he is constantly on the go until the moment his head hits the pillow! there is no way I could make him sit for any length of time and do jigsaw puzzle or drawing. I do find it really hard as I have an older DD who was an absolute angel in comparison to DS when she was little...

Here is a link to an excellent book I recently got for my DS, it's very boyish and isn't too long. I can't recommend it highly enough.

www.amazon.co.uk/My-adventure-Island-Timothy-Knapman/dp/1407115235/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389304937&sr=1-1&keywords=my+adventure+island

Good luck.

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