when should i start teaching my toddler at nursery?

[mumof2princesses]

hi my little one is 2.8 she goes nursery 3 afternoons a week when should i start teaching her and what and where should i start

[HappyAsASandboy]

I don't understand what you mean?

She will be learning all the time while at home and at nursery. I don't think she needs formal teaching.

You'll 'teach' her lots if things by having fun playing with her toys, cooking, painting, reading a book to her, going for a walk .... just normal activities.

Is that the kind of thing you mean?

[mumof2princesses]

i mean things like colour... counting alphabet shapes things like this i want her to have z headstart as shes nearli three and is quite a bright child

[Bagofmashings]

Start now. Do you read lots of books to her? Find one about colours, then start pointing out the colours of other things to her. The same with shapes, if you've got different shaped bricks of anything tell her the shapes as she plays with them.
With counting, maybe count steps as you go up and down and sing songs such as '12345 once I bought a fish alive'. Try to make it as fun as possible. Hope this helps

[nailak]

when she is playing just say red bus, yellow car, and start of by pointing out shapes, like look there is a star, that teddy has a heart on it, and if she comes with two toys say look one, two blocks etc

you have probably already been doing this stuff.

Learning to read is about shapes, first she has to recognise shapes, and also about sounds, she needs to learn to differentiate sounds, so for example get 2 instruments put behind your back and ask which one are you playing, when you are walking pay attention to different sounds.

Learning to write is about motor skills, so sand and water play, early mark making is just like finger in sand making patterns etc

learning to count, pairing shoes together, capacity and volume learnt from sand and water, pairing animals of the same sort, sorting blocks in to colour/ size shape.

[Thingiebob]

She may know more than you realise. No reason why you can't start now!

[BrittaPerry]

The main thing a this age imo is to make it fun. I don't mean disguising the learning, but teaching them that learning IS fun. Most children of this age have good memories - both of mine could sing the alphabet song and recognise all their letters and numbers. That in itself doesn't mean they will read earlier - it is jut the same as learning all the trains of Sodor - but it means they are comfortable when they 'meet' letters later on.

Count everything - stairs, forks, socks etc. Chat about numbers - 'we need to get the bus with a 2 and a 1, can you see it? Oh look, there it is, 2 and 1!''how many plates do we need? Me, you and daddy, that's 1,2,3, ok, lets count the plates, 1,2,3'

Alphablocks, numtums, numberjacks, letterland, jolly phoncs :-)

Lots of 'exploring' - so let her get muddy, draw, bake and so on. 'Oh, what a lovely green painting, can you show me the red paint, brilliant! What colour is that? Yellow, lovely, I'm going to paint a lovly yellow triangle!'

Chat to her ALL the time, and not just in baby words. Listen to what she says and reply with respect.

Read read read. Join the library if you haven't already.

Nursery rhymes, poetry, songs, rhymes, picture books, chapter books, magazines, comics, signs and all sorts :-)

Don't let people hold you back (I got sick of that very quickly) but try to develop a chilled attitude - quite often you think they will never grasp something, but let them wander off and come back, do short bursts, nd eventually they can learn anything :-). The most important thing is to keep 'school' as a fun game, and remember that even when you aren't doing formal stuff she is always learning.

[mumof2princesses]

thank u i use to read to her every nite for the past few weeks iv bin getin buzi so v haven had any time together but im looking to change this jus trying to figure a routine xxx

[nailak]

it doesnt have to be a big thing, just talking whenever you walking or driving or getting ready or whatever is just as effective, counting buttons, saying red jumper, 2 shoes or whatever xx

[Goldmandra]

Toddlers learn from all of their everyday experiences. The best way to teach your child is to talk about what you are doing together, get her involved in all of your everyday tasks and ask her questions which get her to think.

If she's interested in things she will learn about them so give her opportunities to explore and play with lots of different objects. If they are not toys you need to play with her to make sure she is safe.

Playing with your child but letting her take the lead is the best way to help her.

Don't ever be too busy to share books with her. If she brings you a book she's interested at that moment so make the most of it. Follow the text with your finger so she realises you are reading it and that it goes from left to right. Talk to her about everything on the page and guess together what might happen next or why the characters feel and act in the ways they do.

You don't need any special equipment or to set aside a special time. You are full of information about the world so your mind is a treasure chest for her. If you talk to her and play with her you are sharing that treasure all the time.

I know it sounds simple but the very best nurseries are the ones where the staff get down on the floor with the children and join in their play.

[Bakingtins]

I have really got a lot from this book which covers all the things you mention and has been a favourite of my 2 yr old for a long time.
My older child learnt all his letters by playing with alphabet floor puzzle.
Mostly it is just learning as you chat though - they are like little sponges at this age, I'm constantly surprised by the things my toddler has picked up.
Both my kids have liked spotting "special letters" (the first letter of someone's name) so have learned that 'g' is a 'guh' for "Granny". It would be helpful to listen to the phonics sounds and teach these rather than letter names as this is what they learn in school and what is needed for early reading.

[mumof2princesses]

thank u everyone im going to put all this in practice xxxx