Refrain from doing for a child what he can do for himself.
Organise your child’s things in appropriate containers and on low shelves.
Whatever your child is doing, encourage him to work with one thing at a time.
Help him become aware of sounds. Eg what begins with ‘a’ (say phonetic sound e.g. a for apple, c for cat, e for egg) this will also assist him at our school when we play the I spy game or introduce the sandpaper letters.
Teach your child precise names. eg hibiscus not flower.
Talk about the colours, textures, and shapes you see around you.
Provide paint, paper, play dough, pens, crayons, pastels for your child. Let your child explore with the different mediums.
Apologise to your child when you have made a mistake.
Understand what Montessori meant by sensitive periods. Know when your child is in one and utilise it.
Tell your child what you value in them.
Share interesting news from the newspaper. Eg a baby elephant born in the Zoo etc . Alert your child to upcoming events. E.g. in ten minutes, it will be time for bed.
Help your child to maintain a calendar, or counting down to special events.
Share your profession or occupation with your child. Have him visit our place of work.
Teach your child the language of courtesy. Don’t let him interrupt. Teach your child how to wait after saying ‘ excuse me, please’
Spend quality time with people of different ages.
Give your child the responsibility of picking up after himself eg return toys.
Hug regularly but don’t impose affection.
When talking to your child, physically get on his level. Make eye contact.
Talk to your child clearly without talking down. Communicate with respect and give your child the gift of language, new words and expressions.
Sing with your child. Build a repertoire of your child’s favourites.
Teach your child safety precautions. Eg plugs, how to dial 10111 etc
Teach your child his address, phone number and your names.
Count Utilise natural opportunities that arise.
Tell and retell family based stories eg ‘ On the day you were born……..etc’
Look at family pictures together. Help your child be aware of his extended family, names and relationships.
Construct your child’s biography, the story of his life.
Assist your child to be aware of his emotions and feelings, to have vocabulary for emotions and be able to express them.
Play games together. Through much repetition children learn to take turns, to win and lose.
Together do things to help others. For example: Take blankets to the homeless, give toys to underprivileged.
Speak the language of virtues. Talk about helpfulness, kindness and point out those virtues when you see them demonstrated.
Refrain from giving your child too much ‘stuff’.
Talk about right, left, turn, straight, north, west, south etc so your child develops a sense of direction and the means to talk about it.
Put up a bird feeder. Let your child have the responsibility of filling it. Together learn to be good watchers and learn about the birds you see.
Express appreciation to your child and others and help our child to do the same. Send thank your notes for gifts. Young children can draw pictures.
Help your child learn to eat healthy foods. Involve your child in food preparation.
When food shopping, talk to your child about what you see – Talk about where food items come from.
Provide your child with appropriate sized furniture: his own table and chair.
While driving, point thing out and discuss – construction, bridges, trees etc.
Read daily to your child and ask questions about the story being read. E.g. why did …..
Get your child pet and guide your child to take responsibility for its care.
Whenever you go somewhere with your child, prepare him for what is going to happen and what is expected of him at the doctors, restaurant, friends houses etc
Eliminate or strictly limit TV watching and replace with activity orientated things.
Refrain from offering material rewards or excessive praise. Let the experience of accomplishment be its own reward
