Hellobee Boards Topic: How much do you teach?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How much do you teach? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 03:02:40 +0000 erinpye on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2184789 Wed, 20 May 2015 17:01:39 +0000 erinpye 2184789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Nope. We play, read, do art projects, spend time outside, watch cartoons, etc. But, my 3 year old is really different from the norm: she spontaneously knew the letters, colors, numbers, shapes, could count 11 objects, and knew her letter sounds by 18 months, just through her own curiosity and retaining the info after 1 exposure. She also can read, self-taught, though not yet fluent, write, and do basic math. While I'm not sure if I'd feel pressure to get her "Kindergarten ready" if this were not the case, I think absolutely *zero* of this is necessary at her age, so I focus on letting her be a kid and play. She does have intense curiosities, currently it's jellyfish, so I'll Google and answer her questions, or let her watch documentaries, but I would never ever force learning at this age. I think letting kids be kids and follow their curiosities is the way they learn best anyway-- everyone learns how to read, but a passion for learning should be fostered through fun and exploration. serenity207 on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2184769 Wed, 20 May 2015 16:32:20 +0000 serenity207 2184769@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Thanks for the responses! They were really interesting (and encouraging!) to read! lamariniere on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2184025 Wed, 20 May 2015 04:56:09 +0000 lamariniere 2184025@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I don't actively teach my 4 yo anything. He goes to daycare all day and they learn all sorts of things there: letters, numbers, certain academic concepts, etc. However, he is very curious about things in science and nature, so if he asks about, for example, volcanoes, I will explain to him what I know, try to find a youtube video or a book. We also do a lot of reading. He LOVES books, so we read a number of books together everyday. Sometimes I ask questions about what we read, but in a fun way, not a quiz-type way. With my 18 mo DD, I actively teaching her language in the sense that I make an effort to use our two family languages with her for vocabulary since she isn't exposed to our 2nd language as much as my DS was at the same age. JoyfulKiwi on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183893 Tue, 19 May 2015 21:09:50 +0000 JoyfulKiwi 2183893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I teach preschool and I don't specifically teach my 2.5 year old anything when we're together. Kids learn so well & so much when left to their own devices. I try to stay out of his way, watch him play & listen to his questions. I do take his interests and build opportunities for him to practice or explore new skills, like making paper & scissors available when he showed excitement about cutting (or pulling out the magnetic letters when he talks about letters). Anagram on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183614 Tue, 19 May 2015 16:15:00 +0000 Anagram 2183614@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think I spend about 15 minutes a day actively "teaching" my LO things--but it generally follows the structure of me introducing a new thing (a new animal or letter or number) initially, then LO getting interested in it, then her bringing the book/puzzle/whatever to me to do again and again. She's 22 months and knows the whole alphabet, numbers to 10, and how to recognize her name/"mama"/"dada"/"stop". When we walk outside, she likes to stop at each sign and yell out the letters.... It's like her favorite game in the world right now--so that's the type of teaching I'm taking about, just taking the time to stop and indulge LO in whatever new thing she's learning at the time. HLK208 on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183459 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:41:09 +0000 HLK208 2183459@https://boards.hellobee.com/ With my almost 3 year old, I probably take a half hour out of the morning and another half hour out of the afternoon to "teach". She is learning on her own while we're out running errands, reading books, painting and playing but I still want to introduce some things to her and see what she can retain. DS is 6, and outside of school, I spend an hour or more teaching per day. He wants to play games that involve science, math and reading so it's not always hard work. twodoghouse on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183455 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:38:36 +0000 twodoghouse 2183455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've been struggling with this question lately. My 12 month old twins play all day long with little structure. They just run from thing to thing. Because there are two of them, they pretty much entertain themselves all the time. I'm working on once a day cleaning up the living room toys (with their "help"), then we sit down, and read a story. We read books all the time, but their attention span is short and they may run away halfway through a book! So during story time I make them stay on a blanket and listen to a whole (short) story. I imagine if they were at daycare or a sitters they would be getting some structure, so I try to provide that. We do a lot of singing, dancing, signing, reading, and playing together the rest of the day and I know they are learning the most then. I just want them to follow some basic expectations when we go to story time outside of the house so I'm working on this sitting down and listening to a book thing! Foodnerd81 on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183445 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:32:21 +0000 Foodnerd81 2183445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My LO isn't even two yet, but I agree that formal teaching at home isn't necessary. I more try to engage her in things she is interested in. A few weeks ago she seemed obsessed with counting and numbers, so we got some number books out of the library and I made a point of counting things with her. Now she's obsessed with letters, so I help point out different letters to her. I think playing on her interests in way more important than sitting down with flash cards. But since she is my only, for now, all her time is with me. Once she has a little sibling and they can play (oh I can't wait!!) I guess there won't be as many opportunities like that. Mrs. Pen on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183437 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:29:32 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2183437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I kind of introduced ideas, but let him lead me. I want to give him the desire to learn, so I don't force anything. Turns out he LOVES numbers, and he loves a lot of science stuff - like nature, the moon, how things work, etc. So it turns out I'm always trying to keep up with him and find him things that really stimulate his mind. He's an only child though, so we have a lot more one on one time than if I had two - he doesn't have a playmate, so I'm his playmate. But he's young like your kids - he's 3 - so I agree with blackbird that it's pretty organic at this age because they're naturally more curious. So respond with their interests, but I don't have a set "learning time" each day. sarac on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183432 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:28:04 +0000 sarac 2183432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I make no effort to lead my three year old to academic topics. We are purely play based at my house. Now, she increasingly comes to me wanting to practice letters and such, so we do that for fun more and more. She is also intensely curious about everything, so we talk a lot about science stuff as it comes up. But nothing parent lead, it's all her interests. regberadaisy on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183430 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:26:53 +0000 regberadaisy 2183430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think my answer would change if I was a sahm and my lo wasn't in daycare. But they do teach her a lot of age appropriate things that then carry over to play time at home. Like last night we were reading and she wanted to pause and point out letters. She would ask me what the letters were but knew them 65% of the time. I actively worked with her a bit a few months ago but that was because her teacher told me she knew a couple! I guess she somehow knows more now! LOL looch on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183425 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:24:48 +0000 looch 2183425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I actively taught my son his numbers at a very young age, he has a natural inclination though. I think the answer depends, learning styles are so different and if a child wants to do something, I see no reason to say no actively. blackbird on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183401 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:14:30 +0000 blackbird 2183401@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I have a two year old and I may ask her questions when we read books-like what does a cow say? What color is this? But otherwise, I don't go out of my way to teach her stuff. I think it's pretty organic at this age and happens naturally based on their curiosity, which I'm happy to foster. I feel like she should just be having fun, though TemperanceBrennan on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183400 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:14:26 +0000 TemperanceBrennan 2183400@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I don't have kids yet but I don't see any reason why you need to teach them something specific. I plan to just let them follow their own interests and have fun. I do think if they have a question, it would be fun to try to investigate the answer with them. Like if they ask "where do butterflies come from" we could look it up on the internet and then go on a butterfly hunt or something, but I'm not so into structured learning at home. serenity207 on "How much do you teach?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-teach#post-2183388 Tue, 19 May 2015 14:06:21 +0000 serenity207 2183388@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Kind of on a tangent from another post I wrote earlier... My kids (4yo and 2yo) are getting to the age where they're able to play together for longer periods of time. If I'm lucky, it can be for hours. I'll have to step in once in a while to help sort out a problem, but, for the most part, they're having fun running around and playing pretend mostly with their dress up clothes, Little People toys, and train table. (Note: Not every day is like this! They definitely have their days where they are butting heads and whining and bored. They're just becoming less frequent.) At this point in time, they are having fun playing with their toys and each other. When they do get bored, I usually read to them, let them paint or color (as opposed to making a specific craft) or take them outside to play. I don't actually work too much towards teaching them new skills though - like cutting paper, writing their ABCs, etc. My daughter does go to preschool part time so she is learning those skills there, but I was wondering how much time you take, if any, to deliberately try to teach new "academic" skills at this age (as opposed to introducing new things to them while they're playing like pointing letters out in a book). Or do you mostly just let them play and learn naturally on their own? It's hard not to feel like I'm not doing enough with this Pinterest era...and, yet, I am so not a Pinterest mom...except when I'm scrambling for gift ideas or craft ideas for a school holiday party.