To teach or not to teach a toddler at home

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I am really interested in views on whether or not to teach toddlers at home prior to reception. The reaction from family and friends is so mixedand extreme. I even wrote a post on my blog about it (link below). So interested in views from other parents.

mymummytaughtmethat.wordpress.com

I will be teaching my DD before she goes to school.

My parents taught me to read and write before I started school and I grew up thinking that was totally normal and that all parents did it. As I got older I realised that isn't the case.

As long as it's fun then I can only see it as a positive really.

Teach them what? Is it possible to be in the company of a toddler for several hours a day without teaching them? Surely you talk to them, you show them things, you explain the world to them? You tell them about how tadpoles turn into frogs and birds come out of eggs (teaching biology), you tell them about when grandma was little (teaching history), you sing nursery rhymes and tell them stories about dragons (teaching English literature). If you make a cake and they help you measure out the ingredients, you are teaching maths. Mix the ingredients together, watch them dissolve and froth, and you are teaching chemistry. How can you possibly avoid teaching unless you turn your back on the little things and refuse to communicate at all?

One thing I really don't get is this division between "proper learning" (which as often as not seems to mean worksheets) and all the other learning that children do naturally in a nurturing environment.

Took me 6 months to teach DS3 not to eat from the dogs bowl

Agree with cory, they'll be learning things from you all the time through play. I wouldnt try and do mini lessons?!

I would argue all good parenting is teaching. Learning isn't necessarily only done with books in formal settings. Walks in the woods or by the beach finding signs of autumn or spring to make into a picture for daddy is learning. Digging in the garden and learning names of bugs/plants/birds is learning. Cooking fairy cakes with weighing and measuring is learning. Counting stairs, measuring volumes with jugs and cups in the bath is learning. Doing jigsaw puzzles and singing nursery rhymes is learning. I can't see how you can parent without teaching.

What they ^^ all said.

If a child is interested, then feel free to do bits of reading too, but make sure you are using phonics properly. Similarly with any writing letters. It is much more work for teachers to undo skills than to teach from scratch.

More important than reading & writing is all the basic skills such as putting on shoes & coat, being independent in the toilet, waiting turns etc.