Playing Is Educational

Many parents are convinced that the road to academic success is paved with bedtime stories. That is to say, they believe that reading to their children every night will help increase their chance of success in school. While it’s a tricky thing to categorically prove whether books from an early age increase your GPA, it does seem to at least help create a lifelong love of books. After all, kids who read educational childrens books from an early age learn to appreciate what books can do.

They learn that books transport them to strange and adventurous places, and that’s a lesson that many take into adulthood. And while you might start by reading pop-up books to your children, you’ll be surprised how quickly they express a desire to move on to thicker, more complex books. You might even find yourself usurped at nighttime, as your kid starts enjoying the process of reading on their own. Whether it engenders an increased vocabulary or a general love of language, there’s no way to ensure that your child will be an intellectual success. But it does seem obvious that reading from an early age offers a serious leg up.

Conventional wisdom states that actions speak louder than words, and this is especially true when applied to children. Few kids have the patience or presence of mind to tolerate rote memorization and other forms of “traditional” phonics education. In order to be effective, the learning process needs to be interactive. Capturing a child’s interest isn’t easy, but once you’ve captivated him the process takes care of itself.

Phonics games keep the child from losing attention and interest. As a conscientious parent, you can complement these computer games with physical materials such as flash cards. Try implementing an element of humor into the phonics sessions, perhaps incorporating a child’s favorite nursery rhyme or bedtime story.

Kids are incredibly creative, and parents should encourage that creativity as much as possible. The lifelong benefits of creativity include heightened self-knowledge and discovery, confidence in impulses, connecting with other creative people, and an energetic quality to life. Creative kids also seek out more information, learning more over time and becoming more intelligent. One of the most creative things kids can do is make up stories, plots and shows.

You can foster this creativity in your kids by helping them put on puppet shows. Kids can either make their own hand puppets or you can buy them; either way, kids will be encouraged to make up stories for the puppets to act out, come up with voices for each character, and learn about plot elements, like conflicts and resolutions. Make your kids feel special by setting up a puppet theater and making their puppet production into a big event. Invite friends and family members to eat snacks and watch the kids’ puppet show - make sure to applaud at the end and tell them what a good job they did!

Math is an essential skill that often doesn’t receive as much attention as it should in our schools. There are millions of teenagers in the United States who can’t even do math on the most basic levels, and this is because of poor education in school. Though theoretical and high level math tends to have little practical application for the real world (except in science), it’s important that all people know basic math. It’s essential for all adults to have knowledge of basic math, algebra, and trigonometry, and these skills are not as well emphasized in school as they should be.

Introducing children to math at an early age is a great way to get them involved. Math becomes boring or tedious when you can’t find the solution to a given problem, and often when children develop a dislike of math it is because they don’t understand the problems. Arithmetic games, math flashcards, and more math in general can foster a better understanding of numbers, and an appreciation for the only universal language.

When children are in the early stages of development, their minds absorb and retain an astounding amount of information. This is why little children can learn a new language and understand tens of thousands of new words in a few years time, when it takes some adults months of training just to gain a rudimentary understanding. During these first years, it is important to help your child learn and make education fun.

One of the best ways to promote learning is through the utilization of fun and interactive toys. There are a variety of playthings on the market today for infants and young children. Many toddler educational toys are reasonably priced, and are a sound investment in your child’s future.

When most kids arrive in kindergarten class, their reading skills are virtually nonexistent. Teachers spend hours trying to instill the ABCs and the basics of pronunciation in their young charges. Imagine the academic advantage your toddler could eventually enjoy if you give him a reading head start. By the time he gets to school, he’ll be advanced beyond his years.

Phonics games appeal to a child’s developing senses in a way that’s virtually unmatched. Some phonics books even feature a multimedia CD, which allows kids to hear other children attempting pronunciations right along with them. It takes only a few minutes of a conscientious parent’s time each day to make a noticeable difference in the academic life of a child.

Given that our world is progressing at a rapid clip from a technological standpoint, it’s important to give young children every advantage possible. That means exposing them to multimedia from an early age. Educational DVDs and computer games are widely available, and there’s no question that they have a considerably beneficial impact.

Still, there’s something to be said for good, old-fashioned games that require kids to interact with the real world. Baby building blocks present kids with limitless creative possibilities the likes of which cannot be duplicated on a computer screen. Young architects can learn rudimentary lessons on physics and spatial relations simply through trial and error.

It’s become somewhat fashionable of late for people to shrug off their mathematical ineptitude during conversation. If they fail to add up a few numbers correctly or make some other minor mistake, they will chalk it up to “being an English major,” or some other typically weak excuse. These adults are struggling with addition and multiplication – skills that come naturally to many children – and they just don’t care.

With this in mind, it’s important for parents to encourage their children to embrace math as a concept that deserves to be studied but that can be fun as well. Arithmetic games help kids get a head start on their school studies, and they come as a welcome relief from rote memorization. With any luck, today’s kids will grow up to take pride in their math skills rather than reveling in their own ignorance.

When I was young, there was only one way you could keep me inside during the summer: a massive thunderstorm. I can still remember waking up early and preparing to grab my bike from the garage before noticing how little light was filtering in through the windows. Luckily I come from a large family, and we could always find something to do in doors. More often than not this meant sitting down and enjoying a board game.

At a very early age I stuck to Candy Land and other board games for kids. Eventually I graduated to checkers and my personal favorite, chess. Dad was the undisputed chess champion, and my siblings and I would take turns challenging him for the crown – with very little success. It’s a shame we didn’t get all that much practice, because the second the sun came out I was back to basking in the warm summer air.

It’s extremely common to hear people complain about the state of education in the United States. Unfortunately, in a lot of ways, that complaining is justified. Test numbers are down in many subjects, and the level of education our children receive is seriously in doubt. But rather than complaining about this issue, it is far more constructive to try to identify the root of the problem.

In many cases, the root of the problem is a lack of interest on the part of the child. Numerous children dismiss subjects such as reading or math as “boring” or “dumb.” As parents, we should stem this kind of talk from our kids. Let them know that these subjects can open up all kinds of opportunities, and that they truly can be interesting. One way to increase interest in the home is by purchasing any number of math board games. Play them with your child, and you will not only be bonding, but you’ll also help them see that math and other subjects like it can actually be fun!