Hand-eye coordination

By the time your child reaches two or three years of age, she’ll be ready to start throwing things and wanting to catch them. This is a great way to improve hand-eye coordination.

From: essortment.com

Improving hand-eye coordination

Toys that involve fitting things together (like stackable bowls) help hand-eye coordination. From: essortment.com

Limiting play sessions

Most toddlers, particularly those under two, can’t manage lengthy play sessions. While your toddler’s still getting the hang of it, set a time limit of an hour or an hour and a half.

Talk with your baby

Talk with your baby – all day long. Describe the weather or which apples you are choosing at the grocery. Talk about the pictures in a book or things you see on a walk. Ask questions. By listening, your child learns words, ideas, and how language works.

From: readingrockets.org Opens in new window

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Reading is all around us

The written word is all around us. We don’t only read books – we read shop names, road signs, shopping lists, advertisements, birthday cards…. All are a chance to show your child how reading works.

From: childliteracy.com Opens in new window

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repetitive reading tip

Read favorite stories and sing favorite songs over and over again.

Repeated fun with books will strengthen language development and positive feelings about reading.

From: readingrockets.org.

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Enjoying the reading experience

When you hold your baby close and look at a book together, your baby will enjoy the snuggling and hearing your voice as well as the story.

Feeling safe and secure with you while looking at a book builds your baby’s confidence and love of reading.

From: readingrockets.org.

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music

Researchers have observed that babies & toddlers exposed to classical music (Mozart in particular) seem to exhibit permanent gains in IQ. source

Vocabulary

The average two year old manages to add around 5 new words to their vocabulary every day. source

Eye contact

Teach your toddler how to improve his eye contact by modeling good eye contact yourself source

Languages

Purchase foreign language tapes & videos. It’s much easier for toddlers to pick up other languages than it will be later on. source

Object permenence

Object permanence, an important cognitive developmental milestone, which means knowing objects exists when out of sight source

Narration

Narrate’ child’s activities so they will know that they have your focused attention to support language & thinking development. source

Less screen time

Excessive screen time leaves less time for active, creative play. source

time tested homework

Establish a generous deadline for completing homework by age. When the timer goes off, homework time is over. source

Empowering tots

Empower child to make healthy choices about what to eat & how much. Offer option of healthy choice 1 or healthy choice 2 source

Spark creativity

Don’t just label objects, describe them. Talking about how something looks/ tastes introduces new terms and sparks creativity source

Language & development concerns

See your pediatrician as soon as possible if you have concerns about his or her language development, hearing, or sight Source

Free Play

Encourage free play as much as possible. It helps your toddler stay active and strong and helps him develop motor skills. more info

Writing his name

Introduce your toddler to her written first name. As toddlers realize they are individuals, their names take on special meaning more info