There are so many colorful ways to help your child recognize the colors all around them. Talk about colors over and over and over again! Never miss a chance to point out the colors around your child. Ask everyone about their favorite colors. Create new Alaska variations of colors that you see around you. Introduce Read More
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Exploring Colors
Summer in Alaska is the perfect time to explore the unique colors all around us! After months of winter colors, it’s exciting to see vibrant flowers, bright kuspuks, new greens of growing plants, and all the blues of moving water. Generally, children begin to learn colors by about 18 months to 2 years. It may Read More
Songs to Add to Daily Routines
At last, it’s time to share some songs! But remember, you can always tap into your inner songwriter and make up your own too. 10 Songs that Add Rhyme to your Routine (Source: Reading Mama) Need the words to songs that are specifically about routines? This collection of 10 (not 20) starts with “Waking Up” Read More
Books about Daily Routines
This list features books about what a day in the life of a child looks like – can you find the spots where adding some songs fit? What Happens on Wednesdays by Emily Jenkins (Preschool) Young children don’t experience time or schedules quite the same way that adults do. For one little girl, her Wednesday Read More
Tips to Add Songs to Daily Routines
Songs are a great help for regulating behavior and establishing expectations for any routine. Here are some steps for bringing more music into your day: Think about when your child is the fussiest: diaper changing? In the car? Getting dressed? Teeth brushing? Experiment using when your child is having a hard time with a transition Read More
Add Songs to Daily Routines
We all have moments when we feel overwhelmed as we move through the day with our kids. Instead of being too hard on ourselves, why not turn to a simple trick to help us keep our cool? It may sound funny, but why not bring some music into your life? Sure, life isn’t a musical, Read More
Activity to Teach Shape Recognition
Play is a great way to help your child learn to recognize shapes when they see them all around them. Learning to Sort Shapes (Source: Best Beginnings… that’s us ;)) | 30-36 months Use different colored and sized shapes cut from sturdy paper to practice sorting with your child. Matching Shapes (Source: Best Beginnings… that’s Read More
Books to Teach Shape Recognition
Shapes are fun. Shape books for kids are fun too. Shapes by Shelly Rotner and Anne Woodhull (Toddler, Preschool) Using photographs of many of the objects children encounter in their daily life, Rotner shows us all kinds of ways to imagine shapes. Each photo spread invites conversation: you can talk about size, color, and distance, Read More
Tips to Teach Shape Recognition
Shapes are all around us, so helping your child to learn them doesn’t have to be an add on to your day. Here are some tips to bring attention to shape recognition through play: Play with puzzles featuring shapes Trace and color in shapes (DIY: you can make cut shapes into cardboard to make stencils) Read More
Shape Recognition
Square, circle, triangle. Learning the basic shapes may just seem like a normal part of a child’s development, but shape recognition is connected to other learning in ways that might surprise you. Shape recognition means children have memorized the names and the different appearances of various shapes. That alone means that they are using their Read More
