The Mom I Want to Be

Felt

Popsicle sticks

Tacky glue

Small paintbrush

Buttons in assorted colors (you can buy them by the bag in many craft stores)

 

 

For each napkin ring, cut a 4- by 5 1/2-inch piece of felt. Starting at one short end of the rectangle, glue on 12 Popsicle sticks (it’s less messy if you use a small paintbrush to spread the glue), lining them up side by side. You should end up with a margin of uncovered felt at the end.  Once the glue dries, form a ring by gluing the overlapped felt together. Now comes the fun part: glue on rows of buttons, alternating the colors to resemble an ear of Indian corn. Let the glue dry completely. When it’s time to use the rings, roll up corn-husk-colored napkins. Insert one in each ring so that a portion extends above the cob.

 

Simple toys and games offer a wealth of learning to your growing toddler.

 

Enrich your child’s predisposition to explore her feelings about her world through play and curiosity with a variety of activities.

 

Physical Play
Assuming your 18-month-old is a steady walker, give her access to climbing toys and swings. Stairs are perfect and irresistible, but only with supervision. Also try:

• Wading pools (supervised 100 percent of the time).
• Push-pull toys and doll carriages — great for strength and balance.
• Large trucks or vehicles for scooting on or in — build body confidence.

 

I concur in the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics against walkers. These toys cause 25,000 injuries annually — way too dangerous. No electrical conveyances, either. These are also dangerous, teach nothing, and are absurdly expensive. Buy books instead.

 

Small Muscle Development
A sturdy chair at the sink or a pan of water evokes extended exploration with sinking, floating, melting, and dissolving, especially when you add ice cubes, watercolors, and soap for bubbles. Also offer your child:

• Finger-painting mats combine the interest in the texture and feel of paints with the visual delight of their colors.
• Play dough satisfies the drive to manipulate, tear, pound, feel, and dominate.
• Sturdy paper and big, chunky crayons (washable and nontoxic) let kids express their drive to make images.

 

Motor and Problem-solving Activities
Getting dirty is a treat for toddlers. Take them outside so they can:

• Experience mud, clay, and sand.
• Gather sticks, stones, shells into piles.
• Investigate their surroundings.

 

Inside, satisfy the desire to manipulate by providing blocks of varying sizes and shapes for building and knocking down over and over and over. Nesting toys and dolls, too, are often particularly interesting to toddlers. Given how hard they are working on separation and autonomy issues, being the boss of making things appear and disappear can be great fun! Blocks, toys, and pieces that fit, thread, or hook together are especially rewarding.

 

Language and Communication
Large, cardboard picture books with colorful, detailed illustrations that you can look at with your toddler are ideal. Turn the pages slowly and draw your child’s attention to each figure by pointing and sounding interested yourself in what is being depicted. Simple descriptions of the figure or the action will keep her interested. Leave books in accessible places — even in her crib — so she can get them herself.

 

In addition, dolls and stuffed animals let your toddler explore how her world fits together. She can put toy mommies and daddies into trucks and drive them to “go work.” She can adore or revile stuffed animals, depending on the need to work out a feeling, all without consequences.

 

Unscheduled Time
The capacity to be alone is an essential skill for all of us to develop. The ability to be alone without being lonely gives us time to rest, reflect, and relax without necessarily needing to sleep. Toddlers can begin to develop this skill. Exhaustion, both physical and emotional, creates overwhelming tension, and quiet time is one of the best antidotes

Two dinner-sized paper plates, paint, scissors, colored paper, and googly eyes.

 

To make the turkey’s body roll one paper plate into a cone shape and staple it closed. Cut the bottom off the wide end of the cone so that it is even all the way around. Fold the pointed end of the cone down 2 inches to make the head of the turkey.  Cut wing shapes from the left over part of the paper plate you cut off the cone and glue them to the body as shown in the picture above. Paint the turkey’s body.  Cut the turkey’s caruncle from red construction paper and the feet from yellow or black construction paper. Glue the feet to the inside of the cone as shown in the picture. Glue the caruncle to the underside of the turkey’s head.  To make the turkey’s tail feathers fold another paper plate so that one side is about 1 1/2″ from the opposite edge of the paper plate. Cut the paper plate at the fold. Paint the paper plates and then glue them together. Then glue them to the back of the turkey.

 

 

Sharing information at the start of school helps you build a strong partnership that will benefit your child all year long.

 

A few weeks after the start of school, Naomi received a call from her daughter’s preschool teacher. Her normally upbeat 3 year old, Jane, was upset and screaming, “I want my mommy!” Naomi suggested that the teacher try singing “This Little Light of Mine” — Jane’s favorite song — to help calm her down. When Naomi came to pick up Jane, she was cuddling peacefully on the teacher’s lap, listening to the end-of-day story.

This scenario illustrates just one of many opportunities that may arise for building a strong partnership with your child’s teacher. By sharing your thoughts, feelings, concerns, and information about your family with the teacher right from the start, you will not only ease the initial transition in September; you will also be creating a support network that lasts all year long. When parents and teachers work together, it sends a strong message: Your child will know that the adults in her life care about her experience and want her to succeed.

Share Your Insight

Many teachers will ask for information about your child and family at the start of the school year, but if yours doesn’t, you can take the first step. Avoid trying to have an in-depth conversation about your child at drop-off or pickup time, when the teacher is involved in lots of activity. It will be too distracting for both of you. It’s better to write her a letter, or request a brief conference. Follow the teacher’s guidelines for the best ways and times to reach her.

Start by thinking about your answers to the questions below; then share them with the teacher so that she can come to understand your child’s emotional needs.

 

Describe your child’s preferences and routines. What do you like to do together? What kinds of activities does he enjoy? What foods does he like to eat? Is he used to taking naps? Where is he in the toilet-training process?

 

Offer personality insights. How does she enter new situations? What is most characteristic of her under those circumstances? What are some of the things you find most appealing about your child? Is there any behavior you find difficult to manage?

 

Describe previous peer relationships. How does your child relate to other children? What experiences did he have last year? Does he have any particular expectations for school and friendships?

 

Explain how your child tends to express her feelings. Does she express anger or frustration verbally? Does she tend to hang back from the group? What are the verbal and nonverbal cues she gives about his feelings? For example, you might say, “Jordan doesn’t usually tell us when she’s scared, but I see this look on her face and one finger goes into her mouth …” Let the teacher know what helps to comfort your child when she’s upset.

 

Share details about your home life. Is there a new baby in the house? Did you move recently? Is there a new family pet, or is Grandpa in the hospital? Changes at home — even small ones — can affect your child, so it helps the teacher to know about them.

 

Let the teacher know about your own feelings. Describe what the start of school has been like for you, what you expect from the school, and how you hope it will help your child. When you have this conversation, try not to focus on problems. Your aim is to inspire an open, comfortable dialogue and to begin building a trusting relationship with the teacher. Think of the two of you as a team who, together, can ensure that your child has a fun, exciting, and productive year.

 

 

 

 

1 paper towel roll cardboard tube
2 small feathers
2 pink miniature pom poms
1 brown miniature pom poms
13-15 yellow miniature pom poms
3 red small pom poms
acrylic paint: brown, flesh, light brown, white, black and pink
black fine tip marker
felt: tan, brown, gray, white, black, orange, peach, and green
scissors
hot glue gun
white craft glue
paintbrush
patterns

 

First, cut the paper towel roll into three sections, one for each character.

Pilgrim Man 
Paint the top 1/3 of the cardboard tube with flesh colored paint. Use brown paint to add on hair around the back and sides of face. Leave enough room to add facial features later. Let dry before continuing.

Roll up tube in a piece of brown felt. Trim felt to the height of the roll and be sure you have enough to wrap all the way around it as well, overlapping slightly.

Cut the felt strip about 2/3 of the way up for the pilgrim’s clothes, leaving the remainder for his hat. Glue the larger brown piece of felt around the tube for his clothes and the smaller section around the top for his hat. Glue seams in the back.

Cut out hat brim from brown felt and hat band from black felt using the patterns. Cut out the buckles from black and white felt according to the pattern. Glue the hand brim around the bottom of the hat and the black band above the brim. Glue the buckle (white first, then black) onto the front of the hat on the band.

Cut out the pilgrim’s collar from the white felt using the pattern. Glue around the neckline on top of the brown felt.

Cut out pumpkin and stem from orange and green felt, glue to the front of the pilgrim’s body. Cut out 2 hands from peach felt and glue to the front, overlapping the sides of the pumpkin.

Use the handle end of a paint brush dipped in white paint to dot on eyes. Do not add black until white is dry. Use a scruffy paint brush or a roughed up cotton swab to add cheeks using pink paint. Be sure to dab off excess pink paint before applying cheeks (dry application). Glue a miniature pink pom pom on for the nose and use fine tip black marker to add the mouth and eyebrows. Dot on blacks of the eyes.

 

Pilgrim Woman
Paint the top 1/3 of the cardboard tube with flesh colored paint. Use light brown paint to add on hair around the back and sides of face. Leave enough room to add facial features later. Let dry before continuing.

Roll up tube in a piece of gray felt. Trim felt to 2/3 the height of the roll and be sure you have enough to wrap all the way around it as well, overlapping slightly.

Glue the gray felt around the tube for her clothes, seam should be in the back.

Cut out the pilgrim woman’s collar from the white felt using the pattern. Glue around the neckline on top of the gray felt.

Cut a piece of white felt wide enough to cover the top of the tube and hang down about 1″ in the back. The shape will resemble a semi-circle, adjust and trim as needed to make her bonnet.

Cut out basket from tan felt and 2 hands from peach felt using pattern. Glue basket to the front of the pilgrim woman and glue hands on, overlapping the sides of the basket. Glue 3 small red pom poms to the top of basket for apples.

Use the handle end of a paint brush dipped in white paint to dot on eyes. Do not add black until white is dry. Use a scruffy paint brush or a roughed up cotton swab to add cheeks using pink paint. Be sure to dab off excess pink paint before applying cheeks (dry application). Glue a miniature pink pom pom on for the nose and use fine tip black marker to add the mouth, eyebrows and eyelashes. Dot on blacks of the eyes.

 

Paint the top 1/3 of the cardboard tube with brown paint.

Roll up tube in a piece of tan felt. Trim felt to 2/3 the height of the roll and be sure you have enough to wrap all the way around it as well, overlapping slightly. From the remainder of the felt, cut out a thin strip of tan to use as the headband, set aside for a later step.

Glue the tan felt around the tube for his clothes, seam should be in the back.

Cut a piece of black felt wide enough to cover the top of the tube and long enough to reach the bottom of both sides of the tube. Use hot glue to attach the hair to the top of the tube. Dot a bit of glue at the tops of the sides as well, but not all the way down, just to hold it in place. Cut the hair on both sides into three pieces and braid together. Hot glue the braided ends and glue to the side of the tube.

Glue two feathers to the side of the head, then wrap headband around the head, seam in the back and glue in place.

Cut out the corn husk and leaf from green felt and 2 hands from brown felt using the pattern. Glue the large green husk to the front of the Indian. Glue on two rows of miniature yellow pom poms for the corn kernels, then glue the green leaf at the bottom of the kernels, overlapping them slightly. Glue the hands on, overlapping the corn.

Use the handle end of a paint brush dipped in white paint to dot on eyes. Do not add black until white is dry. Use a scruffy paint brush or a roughed up cotton swab to add cheeks using pink paint. Be sure to dab off excess pink paint before applying cheeks (dry application). Glue a miniature brown pom pom on for the nose and use fine tip black marker to add the mouth and eyebrows. Dot on blacks of the eyes.

 

Made with construction paper instead of felt and other listed supplies

Many new milestones mark your child’s transition from infancy

 

Negatives, Tantrums, and “No!”: More than at any other phase of development until early adolescence, toddlerhood is marked by an ongoing conflict between the urge for autonomy and an equal desire to be safe. That may be why toddlers (and 12 to 15 year olds too) have the reputation of being negative, contrary, grouchy, or any other term used to convey their parents’ bewilderment and consternation about their children’s puzzling behavior. One moment your little one is demanding independence; the next, she is clinging. This core conflict may largely explain the tantrums and power struggles — often associated with toilet training in toddlers and personal grooming in young teens. “Whose body is it, anyway?” both groups of children seem to be asking.

A limited command over language, especially in early toddlerhood, often causes frustration. When your little one can’t make her compelling needs and desires known, she may resort to temper tantrums. Psychologist Alicia Lieberman points out in her wonderful book, The Emotional Life of the Toddler, that there are four other factors contributing to the “upheavals between parents and toddlers”: disagreements about “what is safe and what is not; about the toddler’s desire to have it all; the opposition and negativism that accompany this new sense of personal will; and the temper tantrums that may follow when the parent says no.”

 

 

 

What to do: While your toddler seems determined to impose her will, she is also very eager to please you. So pile on the praise when she endures frustration or does a good job at anything at all. In Lieberman’s words, “This wish for approval is the parent’s most reliable ally in the process of socializing the child. Appealing to it is far more effective and much healthier than threats of punishment.”

 

Pride and Power: This is, as I suggested, an exuberant age — a time of wonder, exploration, and discovery; and most of all, a time when your child delights in his growing personal mastery. He finds he can make things happen: not only cause the jack-in-the box to jump, but make Mommy smile or frown. He can point for what he wants with grunts and real words mixed with gibberish, early attempts at language. When you respond, two-way communication happens and becomes a window into the real world and a step toward further mastery.

 

What to do: Join your toddler in play. Tune in to what he is feeling and tell him you are doing it. Become a play partner, allowing him to remain in command of pretending. Show your respect and admiration for his accomplishments, for his creativity and originality. Respond to the ideas he is trying to express with both gestures and words: “Oh, you want more juice! Here’s some.” Try to put his intentions into words: “Ah yes, you want a hug. Me, too!” As he grows, he’ll use these skills to communicate with peers and teachers.

 

The New World of Pretend: At this age, your child begins to express ideas and feelings through true imaginative play. The dolly falls down and cries; the kangaroo “Mommy” comforts her. Your toddler will begin to share her feelings and start to solve problems through such play. She will also start to use words to express her feelings too. “Mommy up!” means please pick me up.

 

What to do: Be there; be attentive and responsive. Show that you understand and enjoy your child’s budding signs of reasoning. When you comply with her request for a kiss or a cuddle, you encourage further communication and a sense of feeling understood.

 

Lots to Say: From about 18 months on, language growth is dramatic. In the last year and a half of toddlerhood (from 18 months to age 3), your child delights in naming everything and in forming short phrases, then more complex sentences. Some toddlers are more inclined toward action than words, but virtually all love to talk, as well as tell and hear stories. They are getting ready for the calmer life of a socially engaged preschooler.

 

What to do: Support your child’s efforts by listening and responding to his words. Have patience with his endless requests to know “what dat” or his retellings of a recent incident. Satisfy his thirst for new words with books, songs, and everyday conversation.

 

During this busy time, your toddler begins to express and assert his own opinions and feelings.

 

The hallmark of this period is the birth of the self — the awareness of “me” versus “not me.” At the same time, your child’s growth and the integration of her abilities will soar during this six months. Parents are astounded at the changes and amazed at how each augments the others.

All this growth is manifested in two powerful ways. First, children move to a new level of exploration, one that uses their new skills and powers. Second, their newfound independence gives rise to negativism — a child’s first way to assert that his opinions, feelings, wants, and needs are different from yours.

 

Appearance
The most visible change will be the transformation from “baby” to “child.” The rounded, chubby, baby-fat laden body of infancy gives way as limbs lengthen and gain muscle tone, and facial features come into focus. Your toddler will have more control over his facial expressions and will be better able to convey his moods — so your job of reading his cues will get easier.

 

Physical Coordination and Skills
Your walking, but probably still wobbly, 18-month-old will become much more physically coordinated as her second birthday approaches. Her energy seems limitless, and she’ll use it for more daring exploits, often at warp speed. Her fine motor skills, along with hand-eye coordination, improve greatly. As a result, she becomes more competent and independent in play, discovery, and self-help activities, such as dressing, eating, and bathing. Competence in these areas, in turn, fuels growing independence.

 

Cognitive Development

Imagination and make-believe are the big newcomers. But all other aspects of cognitive growth move ahead full throttle as well, especially short-term memory. Your toddler learns that she can find hidden objects, including people. This ability opens up a whole new world of play in the many forms of hide-and-seek.

 

Thinking and reasoning improve dramatically, as your toddler learns to think through a plan of action or a way to tackle a challenge. Exploration moves up a level as he is no longer content merely to find out what things are like. Now he wants to learn what things do, what he can make them do, and what skills he can practice on them. He will learn to use objects more efficiently in pursuit of his goals. With better memory and powers of concentration he will be able to work on projects or activities longer, even come back to them later to “finish.”

 

He also learns to sort, categorize, and classify things by their attributes — shape and color, big and little, loud and quiet, soft and hard. He will make increasingly interesting links among the objects, people, and events in his life as he finds out how things are like and unlike each other. He will learn that, once a thing has a physical property, it tends not to change. For example, blocks stay the same shape.

 

This discovery has emotional implications, as he begins to rely on constancy in his world. He will increasingly count on people to stay the same, too. This is the basis for profound growth in his relationships as he expects people to act a certain way. It is also the basis for his growing ability to foresee the results of his actions.

 

At the most sophisticated level, he is beginning to understand concepts, to deal with abstractions, and to understand that other people have different perspectives about how things are and ought to be.

 

Language
This period is typically marked by phenomenal growth in language, as your toddler graduates from simple phrases to short sentences and experiences an explosive growth in vocabulary. Her speech literally can’t keep up with her growth. Most children at this age understand five times the number of words they actually speak.

However, language growth varies widely. Many children talk much later. Some will develop new words only to lose some others, while others plateau for months, showing no visible change. If your child is in any of these categories, rest assured that, within the wide range of normal, there is little correlation between language development and intelligence. Later talkers are generally just absorbed with building other skills.

 

Social Skills
Your child will show big gains in inner awareness and socialization skills. Imitation, especially of adults and older children, is a hallmark of this period. Besides teaching him new behaviors and skills, imitation also fosters a growing awareness that other people have different perspectives.

Your child is now fully aware of himself as a separate being, laying the groundwork for new levels of socialization and play with others. Just as he distinguishes himself from others, he will distinguish “his” from “not his.” This is when “me” and “mine” become key words.

As he uses objects more efficiently, he will learn to use people as effective resources. He will increasingly look to others for help when something is beyond his ability — a key step in sharing and developing cooperative behavior.

 

Emotional Growth
Emotions during the 18- to 24-month period are shaped largely by your child’s growing independence. She will want to do things by herself and will not appreciate those who get in herway.

She will struggle emotionally as she learns to cope with the pull toward the safety of her parents and the magnetic fascinations of the outside world. You will see this as she begins to practice being out of your eyesight for longer periods of time and at increasing distances. This is a sign of growth and a necessary testing of limits. As she tries to run away from you, she is reassuring herself that, no matter how fast or far she goes, she cannot get beyond the reach of the safety net you provide.

With your guidance, your toddler will increasingly be able to express a full range of emotions appropriately during this period. She will show pride in her achievements, embarrassment at her mistakes, and shame when her behavior is inappropriate. It is important for you to support appropriate expression of all emotions.

At this age, her wish to please and fear of damaging your love are paramount. These attributes can be a big help to parenting if you use them wisely.

 

In order to understand abstract concepts, your child has to abstract the ideas from their physical surroundings and from the objects that are significant to them. After listening to her mom read The Giving Tree, for example, 4-year-old Rose said, “This book is about selfish.” She was able to extend the theme from the story to her world.
 
All significant learning involves abstract thinking. Young children can and should abstract concepts from their world. By having meaningful play and learning interactions, finding new ways to represent objects and experiences, and generalizing those experiences, your child learns to think abstractly. This skill allows him to build theories about his world.
 
Abstract Thinking and Numbers
The development of abstract thinking goes hand in hand with your child’s developing math skills. Over time, children develop increasingly abstract ideas about numbers and counting. Almost from the day they are born, babies are sensitive to quantities. By 8 to 12 months of age, they can tell which of two very small collections is greater than the other. They are beginning the long process of learning complex ideas about numbers and counting.
 
A significant development occurs at about age 2, when children can engage in symbolic, or pretend, play: They begin to incorporate ideas and relationships in their play and to mentally represent quantities. For example, Sammy might say, “I’ll be the daddy, you be the sister, and this rock will be the dog.” While playing this way, he might set out two plates: one for himself (the daddy) and one for his friend (the sister). He might then grab two spoons — automatically, without counting — and place one on each plate. Sammy is abstracting ideas about numbers by playing with concrete objects.
 
Developing an understanding of number words is important, too. These words help children to be consciously aware of the concept of numbers and to recognize that it is possible to classify collections. For example, 3-year-old Hannah was sitting with her dog when another dog came toward them to visit. She said to her mom, “Two doggy!” and asked her mother to give her two treats. She then gave one treat to each dog. This is an important abstraction, because the very idea of two is an abstract concept. Hannah was able to use the word two to represent the number of dogs she saw.
 
Your child builds on these early math ideas by learning to count. Together, the development of number words and counting skills allow children to build abstract number comparisons, as well. For example, after age 3½, most children can accurately compare the amounts in two collections of dissimilar objects, such as a pile of blocks and one of chips. They can also accurately compare collections that they can’t see, such as a group of marbles and a sequence of drumbeats. Between 4 and 4½ years of age, children can compare collections that are each made up of a mixture of different objects. This shows that they see numeration as an increasingly abstract idea that doesn’t depend on the size or nature of the objects counted.
 
Your child develops abstract ideas about counting through writing, too. Preschoolers understand that written marks on paper can convey information about quantity. For example, 3 and 4 year olds can make tally marks on paper to show how many items they count.
 
Understanding Shapes

 

For children, understanding the concept of “shape” is another way to make sense of the world, and it is another step in gaining abstract-thinking skills. This understanding involves making generalizations about everyday surroundings. Young children can learn about shapes more deeply than we realize. At first, they learn about shapes as “wholes”; for example, recognizing that something is a rectangle because “it looks like a door.” When your child can separate the shape from the background, consider it, and distinguish it from other things, she has abstracted that shape.
 
Later, after many experiences with shapes, your child can recognize, say, a triangle, in different sizes and orientations. Indeed, he may find that the particular shape can vary. For example, a shape can be “long and skinny” and still be a triangle. Color, thickness, and other attributes are now seen as irrelevant to the idea. They have abstracted the idea of the shape. Simultaneously, your child begins another important abstraction: He mentally “pulls out” the individual parts of shapes. For example, he begins to see a triangle not just as a shape that looks a certain way, but as one that has three sides and three corners. In our work with young children, we have found that this ability gives young children a feeling of power. One girl proclaimed, “It’s very pointy and very long, but I know it’s a triangle. Look: one, two, three straight sides!”
 
 
How to Encourage Abstract Thinking
You can help your child build abstract thinking skills throughout the day by talking about, and helping her reflect on, her experiences. Try these activities:

 

Count everything. Count stairs as you go up; count plates for meals; count raisins for snacks, and so on.
 

Help your child learn the counting rules. Using a puppet (Mr. Mixup), count incorrectly and invite your child to correct him. Ask her to describe what Mr. Mixup did wrong. Your child will count more consistently with smaller numbers.
 

Play with routes and maps. With very young children, talk about landmarks you see when you take walks, indoors or out. Your child can begin to create models of these landmarks using toys. An older child can try to build a model of his bedroom, for example, and eventually start to draw simple maps. He can also play games, such as trying to find objects you’ve hidden using a simple map you’ve drawn of your home. Emphasize that models and maps are shrunken versions of the original space.
 

Provide lots of opportunities for hands-on experiences. Manipulatives (pattern blocks, shape sets, connecting cubes, and unit blocks) and other objects (buttons, rocks, or beads) help your child build representations of mathematical ideas. Young children often possess knowledge about numbers, but they cannot express that knowledge; manipulatives can help them do that.
 

Build with shapes. Have blocks of different shapes readily available for making designs and building. Point out shapes in everyday objects and try to re-create them with blocks.
 

Encourage problem-solving. Manipulatives, such as blocks, can be used for counting, arithmetic, patterning, and building geometric forms. Encourage children to use these materials to solve a variety of problems and then to reflect on and justify their solutions. This is an essential step in abstracting the ideas that the manipulatives help develop.
 

Classify for a reason. Sort and classify all kinds of items. Emphasize that people create the categories for sorting. When cleaning up, put blocks of the same shape together, or classify blocks that roll and those that do not.
 

Talk to your child. Discussion helps your child turn language and thought on themselves, and helps them learn abstract concepts. Discuss events that happened long ago and far away. This helps your child learn to represent ideas and manipulate symbols abstractly, but meaningfully. Ask her to reflect on her day and plan what she will do tomorrow. If she is trying to solve a problem, ask her to consider other ways of approaching it. Have your child represent her ideas in many different ways, such as by talking, singing, dramatizing, or drawing — all the “languages” of children.
 

Ask questions: Why? Why not? What if? These questions prompt your child to think about and describe features of mathematical objects, such as shapes. They also encourage looking at things from another’s point of view.
 

Help your child learn to ask good questions. Young children rarely ask for more information when they do not understand, but given explicit encouragement, they learn to do so.
 

Share math books. Read and discuss books that teach mathematical ideas, such as counting, size relationships, shapes, and so forth.

 
We can observe our children thinking abstractly every day. They are wonderful thinkers, and they’re pondering their world all the time. Victor, for example, loved to point out birds. One day, he spotted a butterfly and excitedly said, “Bird!” Victor had used abstract thinking to develop a theory that things with wings, or maybe things that fly and are bigger than bugs, are birds. Although his abstraction needs some refinement, his ability to think in this way will serve him well in the future. He is working hard to make sense of his world. When we work with our children to talk about, and help them refine, their abstractions, we are helping them learn.