You’re running late for work and needed to leave five minutes ago. Your child still hasn’t found her jacket but she’s found her lost rainboots, sticker collection, and school photo from last year. You’ve repeated directions three times to get her jacket, and you feel on the verge of snapping.

Every parent has experienced this at one time or another. There are dozens of reasons children struggle to follow directions. It’s easy to blame these all on your child (after all, you did repeat yourself three times!). 

However, there is always room for improvement in the way parents direct their children. For instance, do you really have your child’s attention, or are you giving instructions while they’re playing a video game? Are you giving clear directions, or are your directions confusing?

Here are some ways to improve your communication so your child is more likely to follow directions the first time. 

Gain Your Child’s Attention

There’s no point in giving directions if your child isn’t listening. This will only frustrate you and lead to greater tension. 

We live in a world of almost constant distraction. We have so much to look at, listen to, and interact with, it’s no surprise that our children are distracted! So, before you give directions, ensure your child is attentive to you. This usually means eye contact, but can also be a verbal acknowledgment from your child (for instance, if they are in the other room).

Teaching your child to look at the person addressing them takes time and patience but is well worth the effort. Eye contact shows respect for the other person and is considered good manners. Adults look with favor upon a well-mannered child, which will only benefit your child! 

Watch Your Tone

You’re less likely to listen to your boss or other superiors if they are yelling at you, speaking condescendingly, or otherwise appearing annoyed with you. The same is true for your children!

Children will mirror your demeanor, tone, and attitude. Speaking to them with annoyance, frustration, condescension, or other negative emotions will likely come right back at you. 

Choosing to speak kindly, respectfully, and positively, not only increases your chances of first-time obedience but also benefits your relationship and models appropriate social interactions for your children.  

Give Instructions One at a Time

Toddlers and young children can’t follow more than one-step directions. For adults, it’s easy for us to remember “Get your shoes and jacket and get in the car,” but this is a lot of things for a little brain to remember! It’s not until kindergarten that most children can consistently follow through with two or more step directions.

It’s important to have appropriate expectations for your child’s age. If they are younger, give one-step directions (e.g., “Go get your shoes,” and once this has been done, “Go get your jacket”). This will reduce confusion for your child and frustration for you!

If your child is in elementary school but still unable to follow multiple instructions, it may be appropriate to give one-step directions for a season. If your child needs one-step directions, this approach will quickly grow their confidence to achieve two-step (and more) directions. If your child is just being lazy, having to go back and forth will get tiresome after a while and they will decide it’s better to do everything all at once. 

Be Clear and Specific

A parent’s brain is whirling with what’s for dinner, changing the laundry, meeting a work deadline, responding to emails, and much more. These jumbled thoughts can often result in unclear instructions to our children. 

Before giving directions, take a few seconds to gather your thoughts so your instructions can be as clear and specific as possible. Numbering directions on your fingers can also be helpful. For example, “You have soccer practice today, so put your cleats, socks, shin guards, and a snack (numbering on your fingers as you go) in your soccer bag”. Then ask your child to repeat back (with numbering on their fingers) what you asked of them. 

Give Simple Choices

There are times when a parent must decide on behalf of the child and other times when the child can choose. While these can be helpful for the child to express themselves and be independent, be careful not to give complicated choices. For example:

• Would you like to wear a green or purple dress?
• Would you like chocolate or vanilla ice cream?
• Do you want to ride your scooter or bike on our walk?

Giving your child more than two or three choices can feel overwhelming and result in an avoidable meltdown. Keep things simple!

Following Directions at Bright Start Louisville

At Bright Start Louisville, we aspire to train attentive children who follow through on given instructions. Our teachers are clear and kind when giving directions and have age-appropriate expectations and techniques for training children to be attentive listeners.  

The Terrible Two’s is infamous for being the most challenging years of child-rearing. As toddlers grow in their mobility and communication, they want to assert their independence, even if their choices aren’t what’s best for them. When a parent tells them “no,” a meltdown is likely to ensue.

But as any parent with older children can tell you, meltdowns don’t stop once the toddler turns three, four, five, or even older! The meltdowns evolve as the child gets older, even if they’re not rolling around on the floor. 

Meltdowns are something every parent has to deal with. Here are some tips that will help you handle meltdowns, no matter the age. 

Stay Calm

Your demeanor and presence towards your child must stay calm. If you match your child’s frantic energy or assert your dominance trying to get them to calm down, you can cause further damage.

Try to stay calm from your head to your toes. Your face should be relaxed and kind, your voice calming and understanding, and your body language should be calming. When your child sees that you’re not angry at their tantrum, they will calm down much faster. 

Stay Consistent in Discipline Methods

It’s the parent’s responsibility to explore which discipline method best fits the needs of your child. But once this method is chosen, it’s essential to stick with it, even when times get tough!

Consistency is crucial for a child’s development, and this includes discipline. When a child never knows the repercussions of their behavior, there’s less incentive to respond maturely. Why not have a huge meltdown to see what mom does this time? But when a child knows that their meltdown will result in a consistent outcome, they are motivated to listen to your instruction on calming down.

Of course, there will be times in which it is challenging to stick with your discipline method. Perhaps you’ve had a long day, are battling an illness, or are under a lot of stress. Consistent discipline is hard, and it’s easy to let discipline slide. But your child is counting on you to be consistent no matter what, and for the good of your child, follow through with your commitment. 

Reward Positive Behavior

Good parenting is a balance of consequences and rewards. Your parenting job is made ten times easier by not just punishing the bad, but by rewarding the good. 

Your child’s room is messy, and you’ve told them to clean it up before going to the park. They know that having a meltdown results in losing tablet time, but you’ve told them that cleaning up their room earns a trip to the park. Your child is not just incentivized by losing tablet time, but also by getting the reward. 

While rewarding good behavior is important, parents have to be careful to not fall into bribery. Children shouldn’t need a treat or reward for doing as you ask. Sometimes simply avoiding the consequence of a meltdown is a positive reward in itself. But don’t underestimate the power of showing pleasure towards your child when they obey! 

Children want to please their parents, and they will feel aptly rewarded when you show your genuine enthusiasm. Consider how these statements would motivate your child:

• “That was so fast!”
• “Thank you, that was such a big help to me!”
• “I’m so proud of you for doing what we talked about”

Try one of these or tailor them to your child’s specific needs and watch their eyes sparkle. You will feel a spark of joy in your heart, too.

Give Choices

Sometimes meltdowns occur because a child feels trapped into only one option. If the situation allows (but before a meltdown occurs), give two or three choices. Letting your child choose can eliminate a meltdown altogether.

Bonus tip: Your child is most likely to choose the last option you give them because that’s the one they remember. So if your child can choose a dessert at the party but you’d prefer they choose a cookie, you can say “Which would you like, a brownie or a cookie?” and they will likely opt for the cookie.

Prep for Better Choices

No matter how well you’ve handled your own emotions, used positive rewards, been consistent in discipline, or given choices, your child will still have some meltdowns. Part of this is just human nature, and part of it is developmental. Children still have to learn how to overcome meltdowns, so don’t be discouraged if meltdowns still occur.

Once your child has calmed down and can calmly understand you, it’s essential to pave the way for them to make better choices in the future. 

Review the situation together, gently showing how their choices led to the consequences of their actions. Then explain what would have been an appropriate response and encourage them to make better choices. Of course, it’s always good to remind them that you love them. 

Growing Self-Control at Bright Start Louisville

At Bright Start Louisville, we know that meltdowns happen. Our teachers are trained to be kind and compassionate with children having meltdowns and how to respond appropriately in a classroom setting. We also seek to work alongside parents, supporting your measures at home, and we rejoice with you when children gradually overcome their meltdowns.

A new baby is a blessing–but sometimes a big sibling doesn’t see it that way. While many children are delighted to have a baby brother or sister, it’s understandable when big siblings are dubious. 

Whether your child is excited or apprehensive, all big siblings need a little preparation for the journey ahead. 

How you prepare your child for a new baby is mainly up to their age and understanding of babies. The following suggestions are broken down into age-appropriate categories.

Be Realistic About New Baby Habits

Cute baby clothes and baby snuggles are a wonderful part of infancy, but there are realistic challenges and changes you need to prepare big siblings for.

Babies cry. They wake up at night. They require a lot of mom’s attention. They need a quiet space to sleep. If your big kid doesn’t know these will happen, they will feel caught off guard and may have trouble bonding with their baby sibling.

For every age, there are excellent books you can check out at the library that will help your child get a more realistic picture of life with a new baby.

Toddler

Baby dolls are an excellent way to prepare both boy and girl toddlers for the new baby. Teach your toddler how to care for the baby: hold it, feed it a bottle, wrap it in a blanket, etc. Especially as you get closer to your due date, practice a routine like wrapping the baby, feeding it a bottle, and laying it down for a nap. Then play quietly (toddlers love to say “shh!”) while the baby sleeps.

Pre-K and Kindergarten

Children at this age have a better understanding of an infant’s needs, but they will still need lots of repetition for what life with an infant will be like. Some of this needed repetition comes from anxiety, so present these changes realistically but joyfully. 

Early Elementary

Early elementary-aged children have the greatest capacity for understanding the upcoming family changes. They could be the most excited, or the most apprehensive or resentful. If they are struggling to accept the new changes, give them lots of understanding, but also include them in preparing for the baby. Let them pick out the nursery color, their going-home outfit, contribute to the gender reveal, or even the name.

Spend Special Time Together

Big siblings may worry that mom and dad will love them less once the new baby comes. This is an understandable concern because newborns do require so much attention. Even in the preparation phase, there’s so much to discuss, plan, and buy, and it’s easy for a child to assume their parents love their new sibling more than them. 

Besides reassuring your child that you love all your children equally, it’s vital to carve out time that’s just you and your older child. Starting this while pregnant will help ease any anxieties your older child has about a newborn taking extra attention.

Toddler

Toddlers can be the easiest to please because anything you do with them feels special! You can include them in just about anything you’re doing, from cooking to folding laundry, and this will be a bonding experience for both of you.

But don’t limit yourself to daily duties; a little effort goes a long way with this age group. Jazz up snack time by making it a little tea party with special cups and plates. Construct a blanket fort before snuggling to read books.

Pre-K and Kindergarten

At this age, your child loves to choose what they want to do. So let them have fun with choosing something special to do. Perhaps you make a craft, paint fingernails, or go on a walk. However, steer your child towards choosing something that allows conversation and isn’t a passive activity.  

Early Elementary

Children at this age may shy away from intentional parent-child time. But an excellent way to spend special time can be letting them stay up a little later to do a fun activity with you. Choose an activity that lets you talk, and ask intentional questions to help them express themselves. 

Involve Older Siblings in Preparing for the New Baby

A way to help older siblings be excited for a new baby is to involve them in preparation for the birth. 

Toddler

While toddlers may be indifferent to preparations for a new baby (they won’t care whether the nursery is baby blue or pastel blue), it’s still fun to incorporate them into decisions. Let them pick out a special toy to give to the baby, buy them matching outfits, and talk about names.

Pre-K and Kindergarten

Children at this age may want to be the most involved in preparations. Luckily, they can actually be good helpers! They love to open packages and arrange things into baskets. Let them pick out something cute for the going-home outfit. Make and freeze postpartum treats for easy snacking. 

Early Elementary

Early elementary kids have the greatest capability of helping. They can help assemble and arrange the nursery furniture, fold and put away new clothes, wash bottles, and more. You can also show them how to make basic meals or snacks so they can feed themselves if you’re caught up with a crying baby at mealtimes. 

Be Understanding About Their Apprehension

We’ve all seen the videos of a pregnancy announcement where the big sibling throws a fit. It’s funny and sad at the same time because, of course, parents want their big kids to be happy with them. But it’s also understandable for anxiety to overwhelm big siblings, and this causes them to feel apprehensive about a newborn.

The best thing you can do as a parent is listen to your child and be understanding. 

Toddler

The cause of toddler apprehension is often because of misunderstandings. Perhaps they think they’re being replaced, you don’t love them anymore, or you wish they were different. Clearing these up usually turns their fears into genuine excitement.  

Pre-K and Kindergarten

Children at this age may already have one or two other siblings, so their fears may be more based on their current relationship with younger siblings. They may not want to share their toys, room, or clothes with anyone else. 

You can remind them how an infant’s needs are different from those of a toddler, and they won’t be taking their possessions any time soon. It’s ok for them to feel confused or sad right now. But as a baby grows, they will feel genuinely excited to share things with their sibling because it’s exciting to see how a baby grows.  

Early Elementary

To a child of this age, a newborn can feel like a wrench is thrown into their lives. They may worry what their friends will think, if they’ll be able to do their old activities like sports or dance, or if you’ll have any time for them. 

Let them share all their anxieties, disappointments, and fears without interrupting. Don’t diminish how they’re feeling, but validate any reasonable worries. It may take extra time for early elementary kids to warm up to having a baby sibling, but remaining understanding and loving towards them will eventually win them over. 

The Best Prep for Siblings: Bright Start Louisville

Believe it or not, Brigh Start Louisville is one of the best places to prepare your child for a baby sibling. Making friends with peers who have baby siblings can relieve a lot of anxiety as they hear their experiences. They will also see babies daily, which can help them comprehend what their own sibling will be like.

You can even make friends with another family in the infant classroom so your older siblings get a glimpse of what it’s like to hold or play with a baby. 

Stories can have a powerful impact on children’s lives. Quality stories can transport us into the author’s world to experience the story as if we were a character ourselves. Because of this, children can learn valuable lifelong lessons, encourage their character growth, and help them make better decisions.

One such impactful book is “What Should Danny Do? On Vacation!” by Ganit and Adir Levy. This husband-and-wife author team has created a series of children’s choose-your-own-adventure books that show the power of our choices.

What Is the Book About?

The colorful, engaging book follows the main character Danny, an elementary-aged boy, as he heads on a resort vacation with his parents, younger brother, and best friend’s family.  Follow Danny as he makes choices kids encounter on vacation, like sharing toys, playing nicely, overcoming fears, and following directions.

Danny wants to be a superhero when he grows up, but his father says his most important superpower is the Power to Choose (or P2C). Each choice changes the outcome of his day: if he makes bad choices, he is met with consequences, but good choices are rewarded!

How Is the Book Written?

The book is written in a choose-your-own-adventure style, which allows your child to make Danny’s choices for him. You will read a few pages of the story that lead up to the next choice Danny has to make. You’ll read the prompt that gives your child Danny’s two choices. Then turn to the page number correlating to your child’s answer and resume the story.

The book has eight different endings, so your child can explore how different choices bring about different results throughout Danny’s day.

How Does the Book Help My Child?

Your child lives vicariously through Danny, seeing how each choice changes the course of Danny’s day. When Danny makes poor choices repeatedly, he gets more and more consequences. But when Danny makes good choices, he is happy and enjoying life. His friends and family have a fun vacation, too.

One choice Danny makes results in him temporarily losing his parents. This scenario is scary for parents and children alike, and it’s one that parents can forget to prepare their children for. But “What Should Danny Do? On Vacation!” gives parents the perfect opportunity to talk through this situation before it inevitably arises.

This book illustrates how it’s never too late to make good choices. If Danny starts his day yelling at his brother and selfishly holding onto his toys, his day doesn’t have to stay bad! He can choose to make better choices, altering the outcome of his day. The stories show how mistakes can be overcome.

How Can I Use the Book in Parenting?

“What Should Danny Do? On Vacation!” can be an excellent tool for teaching children the power of their choices, helping them see how their poor choices can get them in trouble, and offering hope for overcoming mistakes with good choices. Danny lives these choices for them, so they don’t have to!

This book is an excellent resource as you prepare your child for an upcoming vacation. The circumstances may not be identical (you may be going to the beach, etc), but the book will spark conversations about how to stay safe and have the most fun on vacation.

Use the book to illustrate your child’s own choices. The prompt “What should Danny do?”, easily transfers to their own lives–just replace “Danny” with your child’s name! When your child has a decision to make, ask “What should [child’s name] do?” and give them two choices. For instance, you can say “You need sunscreen before you can play in the pool. What should Caleb do, throw a fit and have a time out, or put on sunscreen so you can play?” Your child can recall Danny’s story and how good choices bring about rewards while bad choices only lead to consequences. This can help your child make good choices easily.

Is There More?

Yes!! Ganit and Adir Levy offer several other books:

• What Should Danny Do? The original book follows Danny through a day at home with his parents and younger brother.
• What Should Danny Do? School Day: Follow Danny through his elementary school as he makes decisions about schoolwork, friends, bullies, sharing, and more!
• What Should Darla Do? Written in the same choose-your-own-adventure style, Darla is Danny’s cousin who needs to use her power to choose throughout her day
• Super Girl Mindset: What Should Darla Do? Coloring Book: If your child loves the series, they’ll love to color in this book which reinforces their power to choose.

Where Can I Find the Book?

If you want to try the books out first, you can find these books at your local library. But because these books are excellent at every new development phase, you’ll want to have a copy on hand to use when the need arises. You can buy your own copy through many online retailers. The Levy’s website gives discounts on the books and also offers fun additional products, like P2C capes, Danny and Darla plushes, educator’s packs, and more!

While we tend to attribute impatience to children, everyone struggles with patience to a certain degree. Our fast-paced, instant-gratification culture usually allows us to avoid waiting for things we want.  

Children are already prone to impatience. It’s no surprise that children these days, surrounded by instant gratification, usually lack patience.

However, everyone would agree that patience is a necessary life skill. It takes time (no pun intended) to develop patience in children, but this character quality is vital to living a fulfilled adult life.

Why Are Children Impatient?

No one has to teach a child to be impatient; it’s human nature! Even before a child can talk, they want their toy or snack, and they want it now! However, there can be contributing factors to a child’s impatience. 

Technology

Cell phones, tablets, televisions, and game consoles are just a sampling of technological devices children access for hours at a time. Each one contains highly addictive programs that require minimal effort to enjoy but make it harder for children to persevere during real-life challenges.

Instant Gratification

Instant gratification comes in many forms: food from the drive-thru instead of a homemade meal, watching a movie instead of reading a book, or paying for same-day delivery instead of waiting a week for shipping. When so many things are received instantaneously, there’s little need for patience. 

Modeled Impatience

Children learn how to respond to life’s circumstances from the adult role models in their lives. If their parent models impatience, it’s likely the child will, as well. 

Why Is Patience Important?

Patience is vital to live a happy and fulfilled life. Patience improves your self-esteem, relationships, and life achievements, such as education, career opportunities, and financial stability. 

While many of our desires can be granted quickly, many things in life take time, and there’s no way to speed up the process. Christmas and birthdays come only once a year, the long car ride can’t be any shorter, and even the microwave sometimes doesn’t warm up food fast enough.

Someone unable to wait will be incapacitated, jumping from one best thing to the next–as long as it doesn’t take too long.

Patience and perseverance go hand-in-hand. A child who doesn’t learn to persevere through hard times will not meet their potential and face continual discouragement. 

Ways to Help Your Child Develop Patience

It’s primarily the parent’s job to model and teach a child to be patient. This is because parents should be the biggest role models and authority figures in their child’s life. While other authority figures like teachers and grandparents are influential, if the parent isn’t consistent, the child likely won’t learn patience.

Luckily, there are plenty of practical and fun ways to model and teach patience. 

Modeling Patience

Children learn more by observation than by education. You can tell your child to be patient with their homework, but if you get frustrated at the Internet speed, your child will likely follow your example of impatience. 

Choosing to have a positive spin can help your child be more patient. For instance, if you’re waiting in a long grocery line, playing a game like counting all the candy that’s a certain color. Delaying gratification is a wonderful exercise for adults, too! 

Patience Games

Games are an excellent way to improve patience skills without children realizing it. Here are some fun patience games:

• Hide and Seek: This classic game teaches children to wait to be found
• Mother, May I?: Also called “Captain, May I?”, this game teaches respectful questioning and patience skills
• Freeze: Play a favorite dance song and pause at random intervals and for various lengths of time. The child should remain “frozen” until the music begins again.
• Popcorn Game: Sitting in a circle, pass around a bowl of popcorn in which each child take only one piece of popcorn to eat at a time. This game teaches turn taking and patience.  

Delay Gratification

There are countless ways you can help your child learn patience by delaying gratification. Delayed gratification doesn’t mean you withhold anything–you just delay it.

For instance, you can bake cookies instead of opening a package of cookies. In both cases, your child still gets a cookie, but baking them stretches their patience (and is a bonding experience!). 

Other ways you can delay gratification include:

• Work towards a goal: Whether it’s saving up for a new toy or cleaning up their room before going to the park, children experience greater joy and satisfaction in their reward when they’ve worked for it.
• Save toys and treats for special occasions: Children who routinely get a trinket or treat develop an unhealthy expectation that they should get rewards all the time. While you can still surprise your child with a treat, saving rewards for special occasions helps children develop patience and realistic expectations.
• Creating (and sticking with!) boundaries: Whether it’s a treat, toy, or breakfast cereal, children will often push your boundaries. But sticking with your boundaries helps children develop patience because they learn to not give in to every whim. 

Praise the Progress

Patience is a developed skill, which means children have no idea what patience is until you notice is for them. 

Praising your child for exhibiting patience should be easy and delightful–they did it! Rejoice and celebrate together! You may be surprised at how much your child wants to please you, and if patience pleases you, they are more likely to do it. So make it a big deal and enjoy the rewards of your hard work!

Patience is a necessary life skill that needs to be developed for children to have happy and fulfilling adult lives. It takes a lot of effort and consistency, but the rewards are worth it!

At Bright Start Louisville, our teachers are skilled at helping children learn patience. Our schedule helps children learn patience through taking turns, learning fine and gross motor skills, and cooperative play. 

There is a lot that’s new and exciting about the first day of school, like new clothes, school supplies, friends, and teachers.

But what’s not exciting? Dusting the cobwebs off the knowledge and skills from the month of May. 

This summer, be proactive and prevent your child from backsliding academically with these simple tips! 

The Summer Slide

When school’s out, everyone wants to veg out. This is understandable, and everyone (parents, too!) deserves a break. 

But very quickly–and quicker than parents realize–children lose the educational skills they’ve worked hard to build throughout the school year.

It’s estimated that children lose over one month of learning during the summer vacation months! On average over the summer, children:

• Lose 2.6 months of math skills
• Lose 2 months of reading skills
• Spend 6 weeks re-learning old material in the fall to make up for summer learning loss

While a short break is beneficial, the long months of doing little besides video games, playtime, and vacations can hinder your child’s education. 

Avoiding the Summer Slide

Imagine your child walking into their first day of school feeling confident because they remember all the educational knowledge from last year. What a great way to start a new school year! And it’s easier than you may think.

Doing just a little educational work every day can prevent the summer slide and give your child a head start on their upcoming school year. Here are some fun and practical ways to accomplish this.

Join Your Library’s Summer Reading Program

This is one of the most practical ways to prevent the summer slide. Almost every library system has a summer reading program to keep kids learning, complete with weekly (or sometimes daily!) prizes, grand prize winners, fun activities, and more!

While picking any book of interest is sometimes necessary to keep your child interested in reading, your parental job is to guide your child toward choosing educational topics. 

These requirements don’t have to be extensive and rigid. But your child should keep reading a range of educational topics, including math, science, history, and fiction. Covering these subjects can be easily accomplished in a week. For instance, pick five educational books and read one a day. This is manageable for most families. 

Consider your child’s interests as you choose books. Perhaps they love bugs, LEGOs (which are excellent for math skills), or a certain time period in history. Choose books that interest them!

If your child finds an author or series they like, check out as many as you can. Your librarian can also give invaluable advice on selecting books or helping your child stay motivated with reading.

Remember that your child doesn’t have to physically read every book (unless they need to work on their reading skills!). Many children love to be read to and can listen for much longer than adults realize. Reading aloud while your children color or build LEGOs primes the pump for deeper learning.

Enjoy Nature

Let your child soak up nature, get their energy out, and learn educational concepts all at the same time! Parks are wonderful ways for children to enjoy the outdoors but try to plan times to get away from manmade play structures. Even in cities, there are accessible parks and nature preserves where your child can appreciate the beauty of nature.

Plan to walk a nature trail, take a hike, or visit a creek or river. You can make each visit new and exciting by:

• Take along a plant, bug, or bird field guide and identify what you see. 
• Create or print a scavenger hunt list
• Using packing tape, wrap a strip around your child’s wrist so the sticky part faces out. Have your child stick flowers to their wristband for their very own nature wristband.
• Bring along a child’s camera so they can take their own photos
• If your child likes to draw, bring a sketchbook and pencils
• Collect special rocks, nuts, sticks, and fossils. 

Plan a Trip to a Museum or Zoo

Many cities have art, history, or science museums. Zoos and aquariums are another excellent choice for a fun, educational outing. You can often get a discounted price when going with a group, so round up a group of friends and have your own field trip!

While at the museum, zoo, or aquarium, have your child make notes of things they find interesting. Then use your library’s app to find books that relate to these subjects and keep the learning going!

Math is Everywhere

Humans use math every day whether we realize it or not! Math is more than addition and subtraction; it’s shapes, patterns, measurements, dimensions, and much more. The more you can point out math in everyday life, the more motivated your child will be to learn these concepts. 

For young children, books, playing with LEGOs or blocks, and discussing shapes and patterns are sufficient to retain math concepts. But for older children, you can download a math app that makes math fun for summer.

Have a Plan… and Stick With It!

Remember, you’re the parent and you set the rules! Carefully consider reasonable educational goals for the summer, set up a tantalizing reward system, and stick with the requirements you set forth.

Many parents choose to have children get their educational subjects accomplished before allowing access to technology. This is an excellent way for children to stay motivated. Additionally, it can be wise to set a time limit on how many video games or apps children play so they naturally find other things to do.

Write out your plan and print off a daily checklist. Just like everything else in parenting, consistency is key! If you and your child stay accountable to the summer plan–giving rewards and removing privileges as necessary–then your child will be more than ready for their next grade level.

Summer at Bright Start Louisville

At Bright Start Louisville, we have a daily routine that reviews learned educational concepts and introduces new ones! Our teachers love to read books to their students to maximize learning. When you enroll your child in Bright Start Louisville over the summer, you can rest assured that your child is getting all their summer education and preparing for the next school year.