Pls share your best tips for teaching 3-4yo

[MOTY]

Hi,


My child just turned three.

Can you share your most successful tips for teaching 3-4yo children for any of the items below? In particular, share any fun games or sneaky technique you used to achieve your ends.

- bath themselves
- put on clothes themselves
- write
- eat and drink independently
- enjoy reading out loud
- do simple arithmetics
- tidy up
- anything else you feel is important


:thankyou:

[Imami]

MOTY:

Hi,

My child just turned three.
Can you share your most successful tips for teaching 3-4yo children for any of the items below? In particular, share any fun games or sneaky technique you used to achieve your ends.
- bath themselves
- put on clothes themselves
- write
- eat and drink independently
- enjoy reading out loud
- do simple arithmetics
- tidy up
- anything else you feel is important
:thankyou:

I instilled the idea of keeping his own toys and books since he was an infant. Initially it's like a game - pick up all the blocks and put them into a bucket, push all the soft toys to one corner. By fifteen months old, he was tidying up him own stuff.

As for reading out loud, can I expand it to enjoy reading? My child started to read (pictures) when he was 18 months. Prior to that, he was not keen in books. The series of books that got him hooked on reading was \" farmyard tales\". The story was simple, the pictures were cute and colourful. The best part was the little yellow duck hiding somewhere on the page which he loved to find.

[ammonite]

Hi,


I think the bathing part depends on individual child and shouldn’t be rushed. Some kids have a very good mental body map and fast reaction and can master showering easily. Others do not and may need a much longer time, especially if they need to adjust water temperature. My elder could only shower by himself with a lot of practice, guidance, and a mirror when he was turning seven. My younger one could do it competently without any guidance before he turned five. Before they showered independently, I would tell them the steps as I shower them.

- independent eating - I gave my children utensils and toothpicks, from the time solids were introduced at eighth month and they just dived right in. they would feed themselves as I helped them. It was never a delberate decision to start them on self feeding, just something they did by themselves. The food was always cut to easy to handle sizes, and the utensils were always available from very young. Number Two being more coordinated, started with chopsticks earlier. He would get very offended when we gave him fork and spoon, and insisted on chopsticks.

Same with drinking. They never used bottles or sippy cups so they just transited to drinking with straws and cups naturally by themselves. We just helped them adjust the water level and angle at first, but it was not something that I spent time thinking.

I didn’t do any seatwork with my children before four years old. (but if your child requests it, don’t hold back.) I agree with simkhoo that things rooted in real life are generally more suitable at this stage.

Three to four is the age I really introduce more outdoor activities. Learning to cycle, use the scooter, throw and catch, using a swing independently, balancing on bars and uneven surfaces etc. indoors will be crafts work, learning to mix colors, fold paper aero planes , threading, and puzzles.

[Imami]

I agree with what ammonite said - cannot rush.


We as parents, we introcduce the learning opportunities. But we have no control over when it happens. When the child is ready, it happens. Just like learning to talk or walk. We can try everything, but if the child is not ready, nothing will happen.

[PhoBIA]

Imami:

I agree with what ammonite said - cannot rush.


We as parents, we introcduce the learning opportunities. But we have no control over when it happens. When the child is ready, it happens. Just like learning to talk or walk. We can try everything, but if the child is not ready, nothing will happen.

I can't agree more. When my elder child was nearly 2yo, I read kids has to be toilet trained. So I kind of force it on him. It turned out stressful for me and him. Every few mins he would run to pass urine. However, much to our dismay, he would still pass urine anywhere except the toilet....
Shortly, I gave up and reverted him to diapers.
6 mths into pre-nursery, he wean off diapers during daytime by himself.
When he turned 4yo, he decided he's big enough and stopped wearing during afternoon nap. At 5yo, he decided he's big enough to hold his bladder at night.

Lesson I learnt, when children are ready, they will do it. If they are not ready, no matter what you do, they will not be ready. And the journey will be tough. This applies to their learning journey too. As parents, we can only prepare the groundwork so when they are ready, they will take flight.

[MOTY]

After a full day of work and then spending all my spare time bathing, cleaning, cooking, feeding and quality timing the kids I am exhausted and just want to chill out in bed. Our house is in such a mess. That’s part of the reason I am looking for tips to help my 3yo be more independent. However, there is a time for everything. (Anyone listened to the song "somewhere" by Barbara Streisand?)


My new goals:
Schedule weekly tidy time with the kiddies.
Take them out for a walk or outdoor activity in the weekends.
Spend more them reading to them rather than forcing them to read to me.

Thank you for all the suggestions so far. Please keep them coming.

PS for those who are interested in toilet training I used a book call "Toilet training in less than a day" on my 2yo and he was literally trained in 1 day!!!.

[MOTY]

Yay! :rahrah:


DS did a decent job of sorting his toys into big boxes tonight. I wonder how much is due novelty of a new activity?

:xedfingers: we can keep the momentum.

Now if i can train him to pack away his clothes, wash the dishes, vacuum the floor, look after the baby..... :rotflmao:

Simkhoo: DS reads quite well. He started Peter and Jane 4a when he turned 3. But since then he has refused to read anymore Peter and Jane. I think he is intimdated by the busy appearance of the page as there are a lot of words. I have backed off the teaching and got him a library card last week thinking it might stimulate his interest in books but unfortunately he fell in the library and had a huge nose bleed. Will try again.

[Imami]

Yes, I find p&j boring too and never let my child read them. He has the same prob - want me to read to him. So we had a deal - he would read the simple books on his own while I read the "harder books". gosh… It’s tiring to read so many pages for him! Just finished charlottes web (again! Second time!)… He has already set his mind on one of the magic tree house books for tomorrow…

[Imami]

slmkhoo:

Imami:

Yes, I find p&j boring too and never let my child read them. He has the same prob - want me to read to him. So we had a deal - he would read the simple books on his own while I read the \"harder books\". gosh.... It's tiring to read so many pages for him! Just finished charlottes web (again! Second time!)..... He has already set his mind on one of the magic tree house books for tomorrow....

Thankfully I found that I quite enjoy reading out loud! It is tiring, but since I am a SAHM, I guess I may not be as tired as someone who comes home after a day in the office. We usually set a time of 20 mins - I would stop at a convenient place and they would have to wait till the next day.

Indeed. In addition, I think I am reading too loudly.... The throat feels very uncomfortable after three chapters.... :sick: and no, child is not satisfied to stop at 20min. A 100+pages book is finished in two sessions... :faint:

Sometimes I am soooo tired that I literally dropped on the book. :rotflmao:

Sometimes I read the wrong thing... One classic example about a brown bear and his mum went climbing. I started off right. Some where in the middle, it became \"little brown mouse and his dad went fishing...\" my child had to shake me and said,\"ma, it is not brown mouse, it's brown bear!\" :slapshead: :rotflmao:

[MOTY]

Thank you for all the reading tips.


Simkhoo: i feel equally tired the days i am at home vs the day at work. Being a sahm is not easy - nuturing the kids can already be one fulltime job. At least at work I can get tea breaks and toilet breaks regularly without an audience. :oops:

Imami: at home we have a clock that is fast. Some nights when i have had enough I take the boy to the fast clock and tell him sorry it's bedtime. :evil: The poor kid kept on telling me he is not tired.

Lately the boy has been paying me lip service saying \"Mummy I really love you.\" and \"Mummy you are gorgeous and precious.\" when makes me feel better about the hard work.

At what age did your children start demonstrating empathy?
If i tell my boy mummy needs to lie down for 5 minutes he tells me he expects me to play with him.
If tell him mummy is not strong enough to carry both a 17kg boy and a baby he tells me to put the baby down on the floor.