I have had many people ask about what to do for homeschooling with the toddlers. I understand their heart in this question, they are so excited about building a fire for learning in their kiddos and or their toddler is showing signs of readiness. I get it! I was there when my oldest was a toddler. As a toddler she was so excited to learn and thrived off doing "school" like activities.
Many will tell you, don't start too early, and while I agree with that in the formal sense of education, I also KNOW that learning is happening all the time whether in the formal setting or through play. So, if you find yourself in a place with your toddler where you feel ready to feed that fire: remember these two key points, first, try your best not to force it, allow your student to lead the progress (avoid forcing so you don't squelch the learning flame.) Second, have fun with your kiddo! Make learning a game, pretend play, use bright colors, build the joy of learning.
When my oldest was a toddler we had these flash cards with different things on it from vocabulary words, letters, numbers, weather, fruit etc. Instead of simply sitting there going through the cards we made games out of it. Some of the activities we did was I would show a card and she would answer it, then run around our kitchen island then come back and answer another one. Or I would scatter the flash cards around the room and tell her to find one and bring it back to me. We also would have her "test" me on the flash cards and I would answer some right and some wrong on which she would laugh and correct me haha!
(This was especially great since I had a newborn at the time, and I could be stationary while giving her an activity.)
With the simplest tools, and strategies you can make learning fun and manageable with toddlers. Enjoy the journey!
Here are some FREE printable toddler flashcards!
ABCS
Vegetables
Weather
