Important Skills That Should Be Taught To Toddlers
There is a certain number of skills that are said to be age – appropriate for toddlers and the age groups defining them. Our parents had the vital guidance of our grandparents and many well wishers aliketo keep a track of all milestones, as well as what needed to be taught, nonetheless, as families start turning nuclear and more urban there is a pressing need to recognize these situations and what milestones fit in.
Accordingly, as homeschooling gains momentum and online schools are the new normal, parents need to know what their toddlers can be taught from age group 2 to 4 years.
Hope this list will help you achieve it.
Vocabulary – 2 -3 new words daily, short sentences, ask questions, action words, names of self and family, colours, shapes, weather, size, objects around them, manners, parts of body, vehicles, fruits, vegetables, directions, animals and birds.
Mathematics – Numbers, counting, shapes, tally marks, money, size, volume, 2 object patterns, addition and subtraction with single digit numbers.
Books – how to go from front to back, how to hold a book, how to care for them, using their index finger while reading, describing pictures in a book, imitate reading, flipping pages, board book to paper back transition, picking the book you ask or which they want.
Pretend Play – doctor, shopping, cooking, teaching, tea party, explorer, policeman, fireman, doll houses, chefs, caretakers, nurses, readers, mythological characters, soldiers.
Letters and Sounds – A to Z capital and small, Devanagiri script letters, mother tongue letters, associating sounds to letters, forming small words, understanding more than one language.
Puzzles – give them all kinds of puzzles from floor, wooden, 3D, 2D, boxed ones, shape puzzles, number puzzles, animal puzzles, themed puzzles, daily life puzzles, vertical and horizontal puzzles etc.
Independence – dressing up, combing hair, guided bathing, feeding, cleaning up, washing hands, closing/opening door, going up and down the stairs, putting activity back on the shelf/ drawer.
Art – exploring different paints and surfaces, scribbling, lines and circles, intentional mark making.
Physical Activity – hoping, running, crawling, kicking, cycling.
Music – dancing to tunes, using mic, imitate songs, toy instruments like xylophone, singing rhymes.
Personal Safety – good touch, bad touch, dangerous places and objects, unsafe practices, dealing with strangers, details of parents, safe practices in crowded places.
Kitchen Skills – stirring, mixing, cutting with blunt knife, peeling.
All this is hard and fast and may differ from child to child. As we know each child is different and unique as well as learns at their own pace. The age group of 2 to 4 is specified for the above skills or milestones as per normal development standards according to WHO.
There may be variations for slow learners, genius kids, specially abled kids or according to the upbringing of each household.
This will help you to keep a track.
Until next time.
Rucha S Khot.
