Tips and resources to support children birth to age five
What's Your Parenting Challenge Today?
If there's a question or concern on your mind, I'm here to offer some suggestions and support. How can I help you today?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Patricia Nan Anderson on -
I'm delighted to see that no one has any parenting challenges - no one has posted a question since this thread was started a few weeks ago. But I don't believe it! So post here - your own challenges or challenges you see in parents around you. Let's talk!
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Permalink Reply by Trista Bente on -
Hello my name is Trista Bente. I have a 5 year old step son named Max. This is his 3rd year in preschool, and sitting here with him we are trying to count nickels. My question is how high should a child his age be able to count and what numbers should he be able to identify. We only have him every other weekend and we know for a fact his mother doesn't help him outside of school which i read was best for the children to grasp the concepts taught in preschool. What concepts school a child be able to understand before allowed to enter kindergarten. Any advice is appreciated, or a point in the right direction is good too. Thank you.
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Permalink Reply by Patricia Nan Anderson on
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Trista -
First, my apologies for not responding sooner! Second, thanks for a really great question. Here are my thoughts.
Find opportunities when you're with Max to count things, to notice numbers of things, and so on. At three, he might be able to count (recite numbers) from one to 10 or he might skip a few numbers or say them out of order. He may not be able to assign a number to a set of objects yet... he might not be able to say that "two" goes with two things... but he might. He might be able to do that with some numbers but not all. I would not expect him at this age to know that the numeral 2 means "two" or means two things. Reading the numerals comes last.
But if you hand him two crackers and say "one... two..." or ask him how many pieces of macaroni are there (when there are only a few of them) and then count them together... if you find daily ways to do these sorts of things just conversationally, he'll pick it up.
Since you don't have him all the time, I can understand that you might be tempted to try to cram things in and make your time with him more instructional. But avoid stressing him (or yourself) about this. Easy does it. Frequent, fun interaction around numbers and letters is the way to go.
You might find it helpful to listen to the audio-slide presentation on my Tips page on Spontaneous Reading. It will give you more ideas on how to support Max without getting anxious.
Best wishes! Let me know how things go!
Trista Bente said:Hello my name is Trista Bente. I have a 5 year old step son named Max. This is his 3rd year in preschool, and sitting here with him we are trying to count nickels. My question is how high should a child his age be able to count and what numbers should he be able to identify. We only have him every other weekend and we know for a fact his mother doesn't help him outside of school which i read was best for the children to grasp the concepts taught in preschool. What concepts school a child be able to understand before allowed to enter kindergarten. Any advice is appreciated, or a point in the right direction is good too. Thank you.
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Permalink Reply by Elana Sims on -
Hello Dr. Anderson! I have a question about the use of pacifiers. My 3.5 yr old nephew still has his "binky" and will not let it go! Just about everyone in my family from me to my mom to my aunts have tried to convince him that he's a big boy now and does not need his binky anymore. Should we be telling him this? Or is there a better way to approach this situation? His younger brother, who will be turning 2 this month, stopped using his pacifier a few months ago. Is there an age at which children should stop using them?
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Permalink Reply by Meggan on -
My little girl's pediatrician and dentist both said kids should stop using them at 12 months. My little girl is 21 months and we just now gave it up. Her dentist gave us a great suggestion to help her stop. With scissors cut a tiny little bit of the end of the pacifier off. Do this to all, but 1 pacifier. (They said leave 1 alone just incase they start sucking their thumb instead you can give the pacifier back) Then every few days cut a bit more off. Eventually there won't be enough for them to suck on and they'll give it up on their own. My little girl hates things broken, so as soon as she saw her pacifiers like this she said they were broken and threw them away. Now whenever she asks for it, we just say " remember it's broken, we threw it away". It really wasn't that hard. Going to bed was the hardest part for us, but we just resorted to going for a drive to calm her down until she gets used to not having it.
Elana Sims said:Hello Dr. Anderson! I have a question about the use of pacifiers. My 3.5 yr old nephew still has his "binky" and will not let it go! Just about everyone in my family from me to my mom to my aunts have tried to convince him that he's a big boy now and does not need his binky anymore. Should we be telling him this? Or is there a better way to approach this situation? His younger brother, who will be turning 2 this month, stopped using his pacifier a few months ago. Is there an age at which children should stop using them?
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Permalink Reply by Meggan on
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My parenting challenge today is being a working mom. I drop my little girl (21 months) off at 7:30 and pick her up at 4:45 and we have a 45 minute commute. By the time we get home, it's all I can do to get dinner made/cleaned up, bath, play for a short time, then off to bed. She loves going to preschool and I am very happy with it, but it's still not me. I just worry about her b/c I feel like I'm not being the best mom I can be. I am in the early childhood education field, so I know how important it is for parents to work with their kids, but honestly I just don't have the time to work with her like I want to. I wonder if I stayed home w/ her, would she be developing faster or would she be talking more? Could I be setting her up for failure since most of a child's brain is developed by age 3 and I don't stimulate her enough before then? I guess today's challenge for me is a bad case of Working Mommy Guilt.
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