One of the biggest blessings in the world is children. Their very existence brings life to light in a whole new way. It is the opinion of many that you just don’t know what love truly is until you have a child. They teach us patience, true patience. We learn how to think for, dream for, and protect someone other than ourselves.
They give us the closest thing to unconditional love. It is the smallest token of gratitude that we can offer, not to mention our responsibility, to make sure they are ready to enter the world of school when the time comes.
Here are just a few ways you can do that.
Put them in Toddler Day Care
Enrolling your toddler in a daycare program specifically designed for their age group can be a beneficial step towards preparing them for school readiness. These programs, usually available at a facility that offers toddler child care in Bear, DE, or elsewhere, can offer structured activities and social interaction opportunities tailored to toddlers’ developmental needs, helping them acquire essential skills and behaviors necessary for a smooth transition to formal education.
Through age-appropriate activities such as storytelling, creative play, and sensory exploration, toddlers are encouraged to develop their cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional skills in a supportive environment. Additionally, interacting with peers in a daycare setting fosters crucial socialization skills, such as sharing, taking turns, and resolving conflicts, which are integral to success in a classroom setting.
By enrolling your toddler in a daycare program, you provide them with valuable early learning experiences that lay the foundation for future academic achievement and overall development.
Read To Them
Children are already a walking vault of imagination. In their uncorrupted hearts lives a utopia where Mom is Wonder Woman, Dad is Superman, and they can turn into whatever they want at just the thought of it. This is the time in your child’s life that it is healthy to add to the illusion.
As you read, talk about the pictures you see and what’s happening in the story. Allow them to try and guess what happens next. Reading is a great way to learn simple things, like numbers and colors. If you have more than one child, have the older read to the younger.
This not only fosters a love for reading, which is essential for a great experience in school, but is an awesome way to spend time together as a family.
Play With Them
It’s absolutely no secret: toddlers love to play. As adults, most grow to a point in life where play is viewed as something childish and embarrassing. We forget how freeing it was to allow our imagination to run wild. Having children is a wonderful excuse to take a trip back through time to our childhood.
Play with your kids! Open pizza shops together, build the biggest Lego skyscraper you can imagine, take your daughter to the ball, or become your son’s bucking bronco. This helps kids to use that brain power for learning.
They will not only learn about how the outside world works, but they will discover how to appropriately interact with others. This is a largely forgotten skill that children must have to succeed in school and the world, in general.
Present New Situations
This last tip is difficult for many adults, much less the children they love. Life is full of lessons. You really do learn something new every day and when you are a toddler those lessons come by the fistful.
Make sure to allow your kiddo to discover new things on their own. Guide them in their reactions and always keep them safe, but help them to become lifelong learners by letting life teach them from time to time.
Set up playdates with new friends. Introduce new foods on a regular basis. Allow them to sit it out through an adult conversation. These things teach tolerance, patience, and instill a sense of adventure that will keep learning fun.
Your toddler counts on you for his/her view of the world. Make sure it’s one that will take care of them when you’re no longer there.
