Children learn more in the first few years of life than
in all the years that follow. One of the most important
things they learn or should learn is to love learning.
Every child is born curious and this natural curiosity
is what propels learning; it must be cultivated. Some
tips to fertilize your toddler's curiosity include:
• Accept, encourage and answer questions. Once
they can speak they ask many questions. It may be tempting
to ignore these incessant questions but all of a young
child's questions deserve answers. When they don't receive
answers or unsatisfying answers they may stop asking
them. Your answers should be age-appropriate, short
and simple.
• Expose your toddler to a variety of environments.
Museums, playgrounds, malls, zoos, a busy road - almost
any safe and appropriate location can provide your child
with learning experiences. Many toddlers pick up through
the power of observation; you can enhance his learning
by adding your own observations or asking questions.
• Expose your toddler to a variety of experiences.
Swinging on a swing, down the slide, splashing in a
pool, playing ball, scribbling with a crayon, setting
the table, ringing the doorbell, pushing the lift button
and other countless possibilities. The experience along
with your comments, make it valuable.
• Discourage excessive TV viewing. The fastest
way to click off a mind is to click on the television
set. A child can pick up valuable information by watching
meaningful children programs but the learning is passive.
Children who watch TV become complacent learners, their
natural impulse to make their own discoveries is suppressed.
TV viewing should be limited; when your toddler watches
stay involved yourself.
• Build learning into everyday activities. You
can introduce colors, numbers and letters through everyday
activities. The point of these exercises is to spark
your baby's interest in these subjects and to create
an environment that fosters learning.
• Forster learning by nurturing self-esteem. A
child needs to feel good about him or herself to be
able to learn.
• Make learning fun. If children feel pressured
into learning, are punished or belittled for failures
or are confronted with formal learning prematurely will
learn to dread learning instead of loving it.
