Toddlers should be familiar with colours, numbers and letters. In other words, they should have built some foundational skills for their further learning.
Also, toddlers (around 2 years old) should be able to do the following:
- Say sentences with at least 2 words
- Repeat words they heard and follow basic instructions
- Starts to show their independence
- Starts to show whether they’re left- or right-handed
- Run and kick a ball
- Climb up and down from small furniture
- Use utensils (but still expect some spills)
Is your toddler being left behind?
If your child can’t do many of those things yet, keep in mind that children learn at different paces. For the next few weeks, your child will pick up more skills and perhaps even catch up to other children. Your child can still achieve developmental milestones with proper guidance and timely feedback. Knowing what challenges your child faces can trigger a timely intervention or specialised program.
In addition, your child will still learn and develop naturally even without much guidance and instruction. This learning happens during playtime, whenever you talk to your child and tell a story and other activities that require movement and interaction. They will naturally pick up concepts and get familiar with letters, numbers, shapes and colours.
The role of parents and early learning centre is to ensure a safe environment with adequate resources. This way, children can freely explore while learning at a guided pace. It’s also a practical way to stimulate the different areas of their brain especially during their crucial early years.
How toddlers learn
Toddlers continuously learn in every event and interaction such as:
- Watching facial expressions and listening to sounds
- Shaking, turning and throwing things around
- Building things from cardboard boxes and toy blocks
- Asking questions (especially “why?”)
- Whenever parents tell children a story and ask about their day
Those activities help children gain the foundational skills they need for further learning. To further support their learning, here at Teddy Bear Early Learning Centre we do the following:
- Our educators read books to children 2 or 3 times a day
- We maintain safe natural spaces and playgrounds with appropriate equipment
- We encourage toddlers to learn self-help skills such as feeding themselves and using the toilet
The goal is to let toddlers learn at a healthy pace and focus on the basic everyday skills. This way, they will build a strong foundation for their further learning and development.