Going Back to Work - Rome,GA

Books, Books, books!!! It helps with attention span, letters, colors and is a good way to wind down before a nap, lunch, or when he's just kinda nuts! Also easy, large puzzles are great too. The 24 peice kind that are things he's familiar with. Elmo, Thomas, animals, ect. He has to match colors and shapes together. Both my five and two year old love puzzles (I have to do most of the work for the two year old, but you should see her big brother showing her how to do a puzzle!). Index cards posted around the house with the names of familiar objects. Door, table, shoe, ect. Have fun!

Would you consider enrolling your toddler in a mother's morning out program? It's inexpensive and just a few hours a week.

S.

Books! Books! Books! You would be amazed how much kids learn from having someone read to them. You can get some good bargains on books from yard sales, consignments sales, and places like ebay and craigslist. Also I know no one likes for our kids to watch tv but let's face it they love to. I buy educational videos for my son and it has worked wonders. I bought a Blue's Clue video about letters and he knew all his letters around 2 1/2. Also I got him Letter Factory which taught him all the sounds of the letters. We are now watching Word Factory and he is starting to read. He turned 3 in December. Puzzles are also good. One more thing we use all the time is a Doodle pad. I will draw a shape or word and 'quiz' him on it. It is fun for him because he gets to make the whole thing 'black' then erase it. Just remember to make it fun and they will love it. Good luck

Felicia had some great ideas... also, Candyland is a great game for learning colors. We never had Hi Ho Cheerio but I hear that is a good one for counting. Puzzles... we have an alphabet train puzzle and a wooden numbers puzzle. Books, books, books. Computer games are great. Mine both started at around 3 years old with a free game we got through publix (publix preschool pals). Great simple games and they'll send it to you free if you sign up in the store or at publix.com. You could also get some of those preschool workbooks (you can get them just about anywhere... I think I've gotten them at Target and/or Toys r Us and they have sheets you can rip out with coloring/cutting/pasting activities that teach all kinds of things.

Hi, I am a mom of a 4 yr old son. I am a stay at home mom and I love doing activities with my son. There is a website dltk.com and they have all sorts of printable sheets for your child to do, its great.

i have found that books and shows like Blue's clues help alot and they are fun things to do together. my daughter is 2 and knows several colors, numbers, and the whole alphabet by sight

There are so many resources out there!! Take advantage of Disney Online (you can print out all sorts of stuff), the workbooks that another mom mentioned are a great idea, play games like ISpy and give him the right color m&m (skittle, etc) when he guesses it.. Good luck and have tons of fun!

Hi M.,

I went on line and found some really cool websites for toddlers. You can print out games and work pages for her to work with him using crayons and make it a consistent part of her day. Say she should take an hour before lunch and then thirty to an hour later before you come home. You then ask him when you come home after she is gone what he did that day and go over it with him. They are so proud of the work they do and he will pick it up easily as long as it is a consistent daily thing. Children love routine. The websites I found are as follows
kids-fun-and-games.com/online-toddler-games
lilduckduck.com/toddler
playhousedisney.com

This is my favorite - www.storyplace.org/preschool/preschool.asp

Hope this helps! A.
busymomsworkathome.com

Well, I have several suggestions. One is to read ALOT! Let him choose the books! Two is the computer. My son is 2 years old and knows ALL of the alphabet (out of order) and by recognition. He knows the sounds as well. We have just begun to use a site called starfall.com. You might want to try thatas well as sesamestreet.com. Three would be to go to schoolbox or a school supply store and purchase letters, colors, numbers, and shapes. I have them posted on my son's wall for reinforcement! That way, he has them visible at all times! Hope that helps.