Few things are as important in early education and child development as hands-on activities. Puzzles are often used in early education classrooms as a tool to help children learn. You can bolster your child’s success in early education in Pembroke Pines by keeping hands-on puzzles available at home as well.

Hands-on puzzles provide three learning experiences for early education students. First, they get the opportunity to work on fine motor physical skills by holding the pieces and working them into different positions until they fit. Students get to practice cognitive skills as they attempt to solve the problem presented by the puzzle. Young learners also build emotional skills by working on puzzles, as they must practice patience and perseverance as they work to solve the puzzle and then are rewarded with the satisfaction of finishing the puzzle. When children solve puzzles together, they also get to practice social skills and learn to compromise and work collaboratively. Provide a variety of different puzzle types to boost your child’s learning experience.

Attention is a challenging issue for parents and teachers of pre-K students alike. In the pre-K classroom, working on attention spans is part of the learning process, as students become more adept at learning the differences between work time and playtime. Attention span issues can be even more challenging today, when young children are accustomed to entertainment with digital devices and constant distractions. Although the ability to be attentive naturally increases with age, there are things you can do to help your student in pre-K in Pembroke Pines . Try these tips to boost the attention span of your pre-K student.

Reduce Distractions

Nearly anything can be a distraction when a young student is tackling a task he or she may not really want to do. Before your child has to concentrate on something, make sure he or she is well rested, not hungry or thirsty, and has used the bathroom. Don’t have the TV or music on, and keep digital devices tucked away. Give your child space and time to concentrate on one thing, and he or she will become more adept at tuning his or her attention to the right things.

Get Ready for the Day

If your child’s attention problems occur most often in the pre-K classroom, make sure he or she is ready for the day when you arrive at school. Avoid showing DVDs in the car, and eat breakfast at home when possible, instead of on the go. Put shoes on at home, rather than in the car. The ride to school should be a calm time when you can help your child focus on getting ready for school. Watching a DVD while frantically eating breakfast and rushing to finish getting dressed in the car will result in your child arriving at school feeling anxious and exasperated instead of ready to sit down in the classroom.

Have Realistic Expectations

As a general rule of thumb, the number of minutes your child should be able to pay attention is his or her age in years multiplied by two to five . Anything outside of that is unrealistic. Try breaking tasks up into timed chunks that fit into these windows so your child doesn’t become frustrated, which negatively impacts attention spans.

Arts activities are a terrific way to help preschool-age kids work on fine motor skills. In this video, you’ll learn an activity that is great for early childhood development and can be done at home with your preschool-age child in Pembroke Pines.

In this video, you’ll learn how to make a cactus plant using painted rocks. Encourage your child to find rocks of different sizes and then paint them to look like cacti. Like many great preschool activities, this project enhances fine motor skills by having your child work with small instruments, like paintbrushes. It also lets him or her work with colors, sizes, and shapes. In the end, your preschooler will have a project to display in his or her room and will have practiced several important skills.

One issue that today’s parents have to face much more than in the past is the question of screen time. Experts believe that spending too much time in front of a screen can damage early childhood development and make learning more difficult. Here is what you need to know about screen time and your child’s education and how limiting screen time can protect your child’s development in Pembroke Pines.

Defining Screen Time

In a world where we are constantly surrounded by digital technology, defining “screen time” is more difficult than ever. Furthermore, children are often expected to use computers in school and for homework. The experts of the American Academy of Pediatrics defines screen time as time spent using a digital device for entertainment purposes, so using a computer or other device for an academic exercise doesn’t count. However, it is more important to be in tune to how your child responds to being in front of a screen than to rate what activities count as entertainment and which do not.

Age-Related Recommendations

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children should not have any screen time between birth and 18 months, as it can cause overstimulation, distress, and a disconnect between children and parents. Children aged two to five can have one hour of screen time per day. For children and teens six and older, screen time should be determined by parents based on the child’s overall behavior and the amount of time he or she has left in the day after all other needs and responsibilities are met.

Choosing the Right Screen Time

Some screen time can actually aid in child development. For instance, interactive tools such as Skype can be helpful for young children as they help them practice language and other skills. In other cases, apps can help children practice numbers, shapes, sounds, and letters. For healthy child development, limit the amount of screen time that is spent passively watching a show or movie—and that includes commercials that can over-stimulate a young child.

First graders learn by leaps and bounds. In first grade in Pembroke Pines, children develop a solid academic foundation in subjects like American history, geography, mathematics, and language arts. First graders are also encouraged to embrace their creativity through art. They develop an understanding of what it means to be part of a community outside of the home and they explore the importance of embracing social and ethnic differences.

Of course, every first grader learns at his or her own pace. However, most of them can read about 150 sight words, spell many words of up to three or four letters, and write full sentences. In math, first graders learn comparison skills and they can count up to 100. Most of them will also be able to add and subtract whole numbers and know how to tell time to the nearest half hour. Across all subject areas, first grade is generally the time in which children begin to grasp abstract concepts.

It can be difficult for parents to be parted from their young children for part of the day, but preschool is your child’s path toward kindergarten readiness. Most children are ready for preschool in Pembroke Pines by about the age of three. Although your child is still quite small, he or she has already been absorbing a wealth of knowledge from everyday experiences. Enrolling your child in a high-quality early childhood education program enables him or her to learn critical skills for future success.

To Adjust to the Classroom Setting

Although there are always exceptions, teachers generally find that children who attended preschool are better prepared for kindergarten. One of the reasons for this is the child’s adjustment to the structured setting of school. When your child attends preschool, he or she is already getting accustomed to the routines of getting ready for school, participating in the classroom, and going home at the end of the school day. Preschoolers learn to follow the directions of the teacher, to appropriately gain the attention of the teacher when they need help, and to work on group and individual projects. Time for free play is indeed important, but children do need structure to thrive.

To Learn Appropriate Social Interactions

The social interactions that take place in the preschool classroom are invaluable. Without being under the watchful eye of their parents, kids need to learn how to cooperate with their peers . Your preschool student will acquire important skills like sharing, taking turns, respecting others, and developing empathy. Preschool classrooms also provide countless opportunities for children to learn about initiating and maintaining conversations.

To Develop Pre-Academic Skills

The typical preschool classroom features engaging, hands-on activities that guide children in learning pre-academic skills. While it might look like simple play to an observer, preschool activities set the stage for a child’s acquisition of language, science, and math skills.

To Work Toward Greater Independence

Your child still has plenty of growing to do and he or she will still be reliant on you for a long time to come. But the preschool age is typically the time when children express an increasing need for independence. Preschoolers need to start doing certain things for themselves and the classroom is the perfect setting for this sort of experimentation.

A child’s reading skills are one of the most influential predictors of future success. It’s never too soon to begin instilling early literacy skills in your young learner. In fact, simply talking to an infant often throughout the day will help him or her absorb the sounds and rhythms of language. As your young student enters first grade in Pembroke Pines, he or she will begin the transition from picture books to “easy readers.” There are many ways you can support your first grader’s reading skills at home.

Create a Literate Home

First graders learn by example. To encourage your young learner to remain interested in books, it’s essential to be a good role model. Let your child see you reading a wide variety of materials every day, including fiction books, nonfiction books, magazines, and newspapers. Keep reading materials readily available in the home. Even if your child cannot read most titles yet, he or she will benefit from growing up in a literate home .

Build Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is an essential building block of literacy skills. This ability allows children to identify and use the individual sounds within the words. Better phonemic awareness supports a child’s reading comprehension and spelling abilities. You can support your child’s phonemic awareness by sounding out each individual component of the word when reading together. Even if a word has only one syllable, you can stretch out the sounds so that your child can hear them better. For example, the word “chair” can be broken down into the sounds “ch” and “air.”

Encourage Storytelling

If your child does not express much interest in books, you can engage him or her by encouraging your child’s natural storytelling abilities. Ask your child to tell you a story and write it down while he or she is speaking. Then, read the story aloud while pointing to each word. Do not expect a first grader to compose a long story complete with plot and themes. A simple story might consist of, “I like eggs. My cat is brown,” and so on. After writing down your child’s story, ask him or her to illustrate it to encourage a sense of ownership.

As your child reaches first grade , he or she will gradually read with greater fluency. During this sensitive age, it’s important that first graders in Pembroke Pines be encouraged to choose their own reading materials outside of class. Take your first grader to the library on a routine basis and let him or her choose books that appeal to him or her. The freedom of choice enables your child to develop a love of reading and it allows you to get to know your child’s interests better.

Watch this video to hear a child development expert discuss literacy in the early years. He explains that first graders are more likely to be receptive to their parents’ recommendations for first grade reading materials when the parents respect the children’s primary reading choices.