ABC S for Parents

thechildcareconsultinggroup.com Hooray for Math! Good mental stimulation in the first few years of life can increase a child's IQ by up to 20 points (Beck, 1996). One of the easiest ways to accomplish this in preschool classrooms of children age 18 months thru five years is to stop telling them everything and start asking them more questions. Cause your children to think. Instead of telling a child to "pass out spoons," ask her, "We have 18 kids in our class. How many spoons do we need?" Also ask questions that do not limit responses to only one correct answer. Foster a "let's try it and see" attitude! This is one of the best ways for young children - toddlers thru adulthood- to learn.

Many college math professors feel that all students would benefit from a solid understanding of patterns right from childhood. Patterns teach children how things work together and allow them to predict what comes next. These skills, in turn, can help children become problem solvers. Patterns are not just visual. There are also sound, time, movement and texture patterns.

We are surrounded by patterns - the squares in a tile floor, the stripes on a shirt, birds flying in formation, the beautiful wings on butterfly. Encouraging children to observe patterns is an important, pre-math skill that helps them make sense of what they see, hear and learn.

Since infants as young as 7 months can repeat the sounds that they hear, you can use various activities to teach them pre-math skills. Studies show that recognizing patterns – both visual and auditory - play an important role in the child's ability to understand categories and build knowledge

You can begin by teaching children to recognize patterns in sounds. Even babies will respond to the patterns in music, clapping and babbling; but these are also important for 2, 3 and 4 year olds!

Start babbling to the child in a pattern, such as, "ba ba ba." Let the child imitate you. Have fun repeating the babbles over and over. Try out new patterns in babbling like baba-ba-baba-ba. Then allow a child to lead and you can follow.

Clap out syllables in a child's name. Clap out 'Jen-ni-fer' (Clap-clap-clap). Then clap out other name patterns. Let the child imitate you. Play these name patterns with back-to-back spoons or sticks on a board.

Clap out rhythmic patterns for children to imitate. It's also a great attention getter to quiet children and get them focused to move to the next activity. Even if the children are not old enough to repeat this rhythmic clapping, they need to hear it.

Sing nursery rhymes that have repeated lyrics and movements. Clap to the rhymes in a rhythm.

Have children follow a particular pattern as they string colored cereal, such as Froot Loops, onto a string.

The Child Care Consulting Group P. O. Box 2300  Allen, TX 75013 (972) )979-0282 thechildcareconsultinggroup.com Make a set of cards at least 4"x6" with a different numeral zero thru ten on each card and a corresponding number of shapes to be covered with plastic markers (poker chips) or edible ones (Cheerios). Use this as a game with a few children at a time. Make newer versions that correspond to the holidays and/or seasons.

The human brain is good at decoding patterns. It can only operate when it finds meaning. Child development research shows that unless we help children find meaning in what they see and experience, learning will not take place.

The Child Care Consulting Group P. O. Box 2300  Allen, TX 75013 (972) )979-0282