How to Teach Children (Age 3 to 9)
Read to your children., Play pretend games with your children., Do arts and crafts., Sing songs and play music., Play sports together., Bring your children along on errands., Ask for their help.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Read to your children.
Reading aloud to children is widely recognized as the single most important activity in language development.
It builds word-sound awareness, which is a huge predictor of their own reading success.
It also builds motivation, curiosity, memory, and of course, vocabulary.
When children begin having good experiences with books at a very early age, they are more likely to continue this feeling of enjoyment and confidence with their own reading throughout their lives.
Find books with pictures for the younger ages (3-6) and allow children to stop and ask questions or talk about the book during your reading times.
Keep a variety of age- and interest- appropriate books around the house or the classroom to foster children’s independent reading.
Ask children what they like to read and make those types of books available.
Continue reading aloud to older children; they never really become too old for it! Before bed time each night, or at the end of the school day, are perfect times to set aside for this activity. -
Step 2: Play pretend games with your children.
Playing house or other types of fantasy play is very important for children’s imaginations as well as their social and language development.
They will love nothing more than to have you enter into their little fantasy world.
Mimic their activities occasionally.
If a child picks up a stone and zooms it around like a car, try picking up another one and doing the same.
Chances are they will be delighted.
Keep a “prop box” for pretend play in the house or classroom that is filled with empty boxes, old clothes and hats, purses, telephones, magazines, (non-breakable) cooking utensils and dishes, stuffed animals and dolls, fabric pieces or blankets and sheets (for fort-making), and other random items like post cards, old tickets, coins, etc., Coloring, drawing, and crafts are not only a great way to keep children entertained on a rainy day, but they also help develop children’s fine motor skills, develop their concepts of colors and numbers, and help them see scientific processes like how glue works.
Be sure to use age appropriate tools and materials, like child scissors.
For younger kids, try making finger puppets, pasta jewelry, or felt collages together.
Older kids often enjoy magazine collages, making pottery, and making masks.
Have an “art center” at home or in the classroom where you keep paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, and other art materials like felt, foam, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, etc., Music has long been linked with the development of mathematical thinking.
Hearing rhythm and counting beats fosters math skills, and hearing words put to song also fosters language skills.
Children also often use music to develop physical skills, because they like to run, dance, jump and skip while music is playing.
Sing nursery rhymes to young children.
They will love the silly nature and repetition of them, and will learn to sing them along with you.
Find popular children’s songs on CD or the web and play them around the house or as a transition time in the classroom.
Older children (7-9) may develop a particular interest in an instrument or in singing or dancing.
If they do, try fostering this interest with a beginner’s instrument of their own, or in lessons with a music (or vocal or dance) instructor., Even if you’re not the most athletic caregiver in the world, exposing children to sports and playing with them is important for their physical development and motor skills.
Sports also teach honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect for rules, and respect for themselves and others.
Choose a sport or two you’ll play sometimes with your children and get the necessary things together for playing.
For example, get a basketball and find some local courts you can go to, or get a baseball, gloves, and a bat and try organizing a neighborhood game.
If you’re a classroom teacher, support your students’ interests in sports by providing sport equipment for recess, asking about their games, and going to see them participate in school or local sport events., You’ll want to make this a time- and age-appropriate activity.
For example, you won’t want to bring your three-old out for errands during nap time (unless you don’t have a choice), but otherwise, exposing children to errands can help them develop “real-life” skills in a fun way.
Explain what you have to do for different errands in a way the children can understand.
You’ll also want to keep your list of things to do short to avoid getting the kids overly tired, bored, or frustrated.
Set expectations for behavior during errands.
Let your child know that while you like having him help pick out cereal at the grocery store, it’s unacceptable to pull things off the shelves himself or whine about not getting every type of candy that’s there.
Talk about costs of items and the purposes of different things and services that we buy.
Explain how things work in the post office or at the car mechanic.
Explain where different food comes from and how it gets transported to our local grocery stores.
Remember to slow down.
You won’t get errands done as quickly with children as you would without them and that’s okay.
Use the time as an educational experience for them., Young children naturally love to help.
It makes them feel important and valued by you.
Foster this feeling into their older years by asking them to help you with various chores.
Gradually, through watching and imitating you, they will learn to take over certain chores themselves and develop a sense of responsibility.
Ask your preschooler to help you pick up their toys and put them away in the appropriate places.
Give praise for being a good helper.
Begin giving your older child (7-9) some actual chores for him to complete on his own.
Give a small allowance in exchange for completing chores well and without complaining.
Advise him to save his allowance earnings toward things he’d like to buy.
If you’re in a classroom, develop a rotating system of class jobs for students to complete, such as cleaning the board, wiping desks, passing out papers, collecting homework, emptying the trash can, etc.
You can add rewards systems for completing the various jobs as extra incentive. -
Step 3: Do arts and crafts.
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Step 4: Sing songs and play music.
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Step 5: Play sports together.
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Step 6: Bring your children along on errands.
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Step 7: Ask for their help.
Detailed Guide
Reading aloud to children is widely recognized as the single most important activity in language development.
It builds word-sound awareness, which is a huge predictor of their own reading success.
It also builds motivation, curiosity, memory, and of course, vocabulary.
When children begin having good experiences with books at a very early age, they are more likely to continue this feeling of enjoyment and confidence with their own reading throughout their lives.
Find books with pictures for the younger ages (3-6) and allow children to stop and ask questions or talk about the book during your reading times.
Keep a variety of age- and interest- appropriate books around the house or the classroom to foster children’s independent reading.
Ask children what they like to read and make those types of books available.
Continue reading aloud to older children; they never really become too old for it! Before bed time each night, or at the end of the school day, are perfect times to set aside for this activity.
Playing house or other types of fantasy play is very important for children’s imaginations as well as their social and language development.
They will love nothing more than to have you enter into their little fantasy world.
Mimic their activities occasionally.
If a child picks up a stone and zooms it around like a car, try picking up another one and doing the same.
Chances are they will be delighted.
Keep a “prop box” for pretend play in the house or classroom that is filled with empty boxes, old clothes and hats, purses, telephones, magazines, (non-breakable) cooking utensils and dishes, stuffed animals and dolls, fabric pieces or blankets and sheets (for fort-making), and other random items like post cards, old tickets, coins, etc., Coloring, drawing, and crafts are not only a great way to keep children entertained on a rainy day, but they also help develop children’s fine motor skills, develop their concepts of colors and numbers, and help them see scientific processes like how glue works.
Be sure to use age appropriate tools and materials, like child scissors.
For younger kids, try making finger puppets, pasta jewelry, or felt collages together.
Older kids often enjoy magazine collages, making pottery, and making masks.
Have an “art center” at home or in the classroom where you keep paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, and other art materials like felt, foam, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, etc., Music has long been linked with the development of mathematical thinking.
Hearing rhythm and counting beats fosters math skills, and hearing words put to song also fosters language skills.
Children also often use music to develop physical skills, because they like to run, dance, jump and skip while music is playing.
Sing nursery rhymes to young children.
They will love the silly nature and repetition of them, and will learn to sing them along with you.
Find popular children’s songs on CD or the web and play them around the house or as a transition time in the classroom.
Older children (7-9) may develop a particular interest in an instrument or in singing or dancing.
If they do, try fostering this interest with a beginner’s instrument of their own, or in lessons with a music (or vocal or dance) instructor., Even if you’re not the most athletic caregiver in the world, exposing children to sports and playing with them is important for their physical development and motor skills.
Sports also teach honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect for rules, and respect for themselves and others.
Choose a sport or two you’ll play sometimes with your children and get the necessary things together for playing.
For example, get a basketball and find some local courts you can go to, or get a baseball, gloves, and a bat and try organizing a neighborhood game.
If you’re a classroom teacher, support your students’ interests in sports by providing sport equipment for recess, asking about their games, and going to see them participate in school or local sport events., You’ll want to make this a time- and age-appropriate activity.
For example, you won’t want to bring your three-old out for errands during nap time (unless you don’t have a choice), but otherwise, exposing children to errands can help them develop “real-life” skills in a fun way.
Explain what you have to do for different errands in a way the children can understand.
You’ll also want to keep your list of things to do short to avoid getting the kids overly tired, bored, or frustrated.
Set expectations for behavior during errands.
Let your child know that while you like having him help pick out cereal at the grocery store, it’s unacceptable to pull things off the shelves himself or whine about not getting every type of candy that’s there.
Talk about costs of items and the purposes of different things and services that we buy.
Explain how things work in the post office or at the car mechanic.
Explain where different food comes from and how it gets transported to our local grocery stores.
Remember to slow down.
You won’t get errands done as quickly with children as you would without them and that’s okay.
Use the time as an educational experience for them., Young children naturally love to help.
It makes them feel important and valued by you.
Foster this feeling into their older years by asking them to help you with various chores.
Gradually, through watching and imitating you, they will learn to take over certain chores themselves and develop a sense of responsibility.
Ask your preschooler to help you pick up their toys and put them away in the appropriate places.
Give praise for being a good helper.
Begin giving your older child (7-9) some actual chores for him to complete on his own.
Give a small allowance in exchange for completing chores well and without complaining.
Advise him to save his allowance earnings toward things he’d like to buy.
If you’re in a classroom, develop a rotating system of class jobs for students to complete, such as cleaning the board, wiping desks, passing out papers, collecting homework, emptying the trash can, etc.
You can add rewards systems for completing the various jobs as extra incentive.
About the Author
Aaron Freeman
Creates helpful guides on hobbies to inspire and educate readers.
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