Don't waste the Pre-School years!

I went to a MOPS group this morning, and it was very inspiring and encouraging for me.  The speaker was a teacher that has been around the block :) and she was giving us ideas for how to prepare our kids for school....and life!  I'd like to share a few of the notes I took:

• Be intentional about what we expose our kids to; find a delicate balance because they are SPONGES!
• Immerse them in LANGUAGE.  Having a language-rich home helps them develop their vocabulary.  Don't talk to them like babies.  Talk to them as you do chores together, as you play, as you do everything.  Go on a nature walk and describe the things you see, using detail.  Example, "That's a daisy.  It's yellow."  Even if they don't understand the words right away, they will learn very quickly!  I've watched this with my son.  Even though he can't communicate with words yet, he communicates with body language and sounds.  And he can respond to our requests very well.  I like to practice having him go get a certain toy from the toy basket, just to see if he knows what I'm saying.  It's pretty amazing to watch!! 
• READ to them, collect books, visit the library.  My son has baskets and stacks of books all over our house available for picking up and exploring them.  He loves books already!  Simply making them available and within reach can do wonders for them at an early age.
• Make up songs to teach them how to spell their name.
• MATH:
• Teach them to count; use songs like The Ants Go Marching and 1, 2, Buckle my Shoe
• Teach them to draw numbers and shapes
• Skip count by 2 (2, 4, 6, 8...) and by 10 (10, 20, 30...)
• WRITING:
• Color, draw, and find fun ways to practice writing their letters
• Teach them to write their letters with counter-clockwise circles (think about lower case a, d, g, etc.)
• And, last but not least, turn OFF the TV.  Our TV has been broken this week, and it has actually been a blessing for our family.  Limit their intake to 30 min - 1 hour of TV each day.  There are some really good educational shows out there these days; however, nothing takes the place of mom and dad sitting down to teach their own children.