What do you do with toddlers?

[big brown horse]

Oh and keljonma, I love to teach ASL!! My daughter is 12 now and I can still communicate with her over the heads of 25 loud preteens at an outdoor party. It is like our own secret language. She can even read lips. It is fun to practice when they are in the bathtub under water except for their tiny face, they can still hear your tone but not really understand your words, so they have to rely on your lips mostly. "Guess what I said?"

I think sign language is such a wonderful thing to teach any child.

I'll have to look into those videos!

 

[me&thegals]

Does the younger child take a nap, go to bed earlier? This used to be a great time for me to have one-on-one time with my older one

I also think everyday life offers many, many teachable moments, like the branches that form the letter A, the life cycles of monarch butterflies, the growth of a baby chick to a hen or rooster........ My kids and I did lots of counting and letter learning while on walks, also singing lots of songs at those times. They both have excellent language skills now and were both top of their class readers. I really think talking with kids and singing with them are excellent ways to teach language.

As for the workbook type of learning, my son used to do that at the kitchen counter while I would work on meals. Would the 2 year old submit to being carried in a backpack during those times, allowing you to concentrate on helping your older child? With just a bit of direction from me, the kids would them go on to practicing on their own. They also had alphabets, drawn by me in dots, that they would practice filling in. It didn't really require much hands on by me after the initial dot-to-dot drawing

Have fun!

 

[keljonma]

Oh and keljonma, I love to teach ASL!! My daughter is 12 now and I can still communicate with her over the heads of 25 loud preteens at an outdoor party. It is like our own secret language. She can even read lips. It is fun to practice when they are in the bathtub under water except for their tiny face, they can still hear your tone but not really understand your words, so they have to rely on your lips mostly. "Guess what I said?"

I think sign language is such a wonderful thing to teach any child.

I'll have to look into those videos!

BBH, I know what you mean! The grands (11 & 7) love the fact that they never get in trouble for talking too loudly when they should be quiet (like church)! The youngest will be 1 next week, and he is signing too.

I love signing times, and have mentioned them in a number of conversations on ss. You may want to check your local library - I see that there are a couple libraries here in NE Ohio that carry the dvds in the childrens' section.

 

[TanksHill]

I never thought of ASL. I took it in school. I have taught the kids the alphabet but it would be neat for them to learn the basics. It does come in handy. When I used to work in a restaurant I had these great customers who always came to me because I could sign with them.

 

[Beekissed]

I had the luxury of having my mom real close when I was homeschooling my oldest at age 4. We cloistered ourselves in a bedroom/school room from 9 am until noon and suffered no interruptions. My mother watched my toddler when this was going on. On days she couldn't, the younger one was included in the schoolroom activities and learned quickly that he had to be quiet during active instruction.

If I had not had the "mom" resource, I would have given my toddler his own "school work" until he tired of this and then would have given him a quiet corner for self-entertainment. I wouldn't tolerate vying for attention during these sessions, as its important to establish times for each child to learn quietly. Its never too soon to teach them something. When the eldest was learning to recite the books of the Bible, the younger one was right behind him and took delight in competing in this recitation, as well as the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord's Prayer, the ABCs, etc.

Give them enough to do and they soon get tired and want to go play by themselves!

 

[eggs4sale]

I have the same problem with my 2 and 5 year olds. I learned to give the 2 year old a workbook too. It didn't matter if it was a used one. He just wanted to have a workbook like big sis had. If I include him in whatever we're doing, he usually loses interest pretty quickly, and fortunately goes off to play. But when she wants to paint or play with play-doh, well, gotta wait till little one is in bed!

We just blew out an egg and I coated the inside with glue. She got to paint it and she thinks of it as her super fancy ornament! But a 2 year old can't do that!!! He was taking a nap...

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

Your idea is perfect too, play dough (and bubbles) are a toddler mom's best friend!

Hey! Just remember that both can be messy and they both taste bad!...older brothers are mean....

 

[big brown horse]

AND