Blocks And 3d Puzzles

It is a well known fact that children who have learned basic math skills do better when they enter school.  Here is one “game” to play with your toddler to give him/her a head start with his math skills.

Using toy blocks you can teach this simple lesson of kindergarten and preschool math measurement. Before you begin with the lessons, however, allow your children to just play with their cardboard building blocks without any rules. Creative play comes easy and you will enjoy watching your child make up his own activities when he is given building block toys.

Then, in a couple of weeks after your child has had a chance to explore the materials, he will be ready to use them in the structured activity that you will introduce to him. Remember that preschool learning toys for children are most often just open ended toys such as toy blocks that are just fun to play with; they do not need to know that they are really educational learning toys.

It’s lesson time!  Get out a hard covered book and three medium blue blocks sized 6 x 3 x 3 (we will show you where to see these blocks later on).  Now, line the toy blocks up against the book and pointing to each one separately count them 1 – 2 – 3.

Tell your child that your book is 3 blocks long. Repeat this visual activity of counting a couple of times.  Point out to your child where the first block is starting and where your last block ended; do not worry that your blocks are not the same exact length of the book. You could add a fourth block either now or in a week or so.

During your demonstration talk to your child about why you need to use identical blocks.  Have your toddler choose a book for himself and have him select identical blocks from his set of blocks and have him try to measure his book.

You can find more teaching measurement projects at: Kindergarten Lessons.com.

This “game” will help your children begin to get used to the idea that objects have different sizes and can be measured.  Go to All I Can Imagine to see a teaching tool to use for this and other math lessons.

Little Reader Blocks

You can begin teaching sight words to kids as young as infants by choosing books that pair words with depictions of those words. Many pretty and appropriate books are available and will help you teach colors, numbers, and animals as well as some of the first 100 basic sight words children need to learn.

Teaching sight words only requires a few minutes and day and plenty of patience. Children start learning sight words at a very young age and you can make it fun by using Little Reader Blocks.  These 3” cube blocks are color coded and are an educational toy and make perfect preschool learning toys for children either at home or in a daycare setting.

Sight words are considered to be words that children must memorize instead of phonetically sounding out. Children start connecting written language to meaning when teachers and parents read books, signs and anything with words printed on them.

For toddlers, choose books with short sentences and colorful illustrations. For infants and toddlers, reading the same books over and over will build recognition of concepts and develop an awareness of language and sounds.

Besides books incorporate Little Reader Blocks in your lessons and young children will have fun learning interactively.  Even before they can begin to recognize different words they can learn colors from the red, blue, green, yellow and white 3” cardboard cubes.  They will love stacking them too.

Read about many activities you can use with these wonderful toddler learning toys at: http://www.smartmonkeytoys.com/instructions/LRBPlayActivities.pdf

The set includes:

3 green noun blocks (18 nouns)
5 blue verb blocks (30 verbs)
5 red pronoun blocks (30 pronouns)
3 yellow adjective blocks (18 adjectives)
2 white preposition blocks (12 prepositions)

Educational toys make great gifts anytime of the year and provide fun opportunities for parents and children to bond and have fun while learning at the same time.

Teaching your child how to build a strong sight word vocabulary is one of several essential strategies to develop reading skill and fluency. Young learners in preschool can benefit from learning common sight words.

Children will begin to learn information from their surrounding environments so it is never too early to help them develop sight word skills.  If your children are showing early signs of learning disabilities you can begin literacy skills in ways that are appropriate for their developmental level.

Here is a website we like and you many find useful in your child’s early learning education:  http://www.ehow.com/how_6122195_teach-sight-words-preschool.html.

Remember to visit our website and read more about our Little Reader Blocks. They are on Sale!

Phonics – How Important is This Method in Teaching Kids to Read?

It has been said that learning to read is not a natural process. As Mitford Mathews said, “Words are not like tadpoles or flowers or horses. Words are man-made…”   Many numbers of changes have been made throughout the years regarding the systems for teaching reading in an attempt to make learning to read easier.

In the one room school era spelling was considered very important and spelling bees were quite popular.  When I was in grade school in the early 1950’s I remember participating in spelling bees; and I was quite good too.

Blocks help kids learn 100 basic sight words

You will unlock endless hours of creative, safe play with kids toy blocks called ImagiBRICKS™.  These toys for toddlers will be the focus of this week’s Friday Feature.

ImagiBRICKS™ are kids building blocks and are educational kids toys designed to stimulate your children’s minds as they provide opportunities for creative, open-ended play.

MADE IN THE USA!

These giant cardboard building blocks are made right here in America. They are produced in Wisconsin where there is a large paper industry. Smart Monkey’s warehouse is near the plant where the blocks are produced. By keeping everything close, they are cutting down on the fuel needed to transport materials and providing much-needed jobs to American workers. The paper industry in our country has been struggling with many companies buying their cardboard from China. China has to import their raw materials from the U.S. or Canada to make their cardboard.

CHILDREN WHO HAVE A PHYSICAL DISABILITIES CAN PLAY WITH THESE CARDBOARD BLOCKS

The size and shape of these kids building blocks enables a caregiver to provide hand over hand assistance to a child without obstructing the child’s view.  The light weight of these cardboard blocks is beneficial to children with muscle weaknesses.  You may play catch with the toy blocks as they will not be harmed by tossing them and/or dropping them.  They are easier than a ball to catch and have no rough edges to hurt any child.  If your child can sit at a table he will still be able to do some stacking and/or sorting exercises/games.   He, too, will be able to develop eye-hand coordination and cooperative hand movements depending on his abilities.  And as with any young child he will delight in all the bright colors of this set of cardboard blocks!

These kid’s building blocks are geared for children 18 months and up and will provide open-ended play for both boys and girls.  The cardboard building blocks are available online and come in sets of 16, 24, 40 and bulk quantities.  Except for the 16 piece set which contains all large red, 12 x 6 x 3 inch building blocks all sets have three sized blocks in yellow, blue and red.

Another popular toy block sets are the Rainbow blocks which are the same size as the red blocks.  These Rainbow block sets include the red along with green, purple and orange.

Build Tall Towers with Rainbow Blocks

The 24 piece set of Rainbow blocks in on sale.

You may have been reading the articles we are posting about homeschooling and we have several more to post. However, we’d now like to talk about another choice you may not have thought about – Boarding Schools.

Boarding schools are a small part of America’s educational system and are not just for the elite or troubled students.  There are a wide range of philosophies, lifestyles and teaching modes to choose from if you would like to consider a boarding school as an alternate to public, private, and homeschooling.

Nowadays, there are schools for every need – no matter what your child’s interest or your families religious affiliation.  If you are interested in having your child in a very strict environment such as found in the military there are military schools. Is your child interested in the arts and likely to pursue a career in professional dance or music; there are art schools. Schools are available in elementary and middle school grade levels.  There are also schools for both special needs and behavioral and emotional needs.

As you can see, public schools are not our only option nowadays.  Boarding schools also offer much smaller class sizes with a ratio of 8.6 to 1 and often as low as 3 to 1 in schools specializing in children’s academic problems.

An intense academic curriculum is available in boarding schools and the majority of the educators have advanced degrees.  Evening study is also a part of the regular every day schedule.

Faculty in boarding schools lives on the campus in many cases and they are available to your children not only in class but throughout the rest of the day and each school has extracurricular programs to fit its particular culture.

Another advantage of a boarding school education is that it will give your children their first taste of independence ( in a controlled atmosphere),  getting them ready for living away from home when they go on to college.

If you are interested in finding a boarding school or learning about further options you could visit this website:  http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/researchschools.php.  It will provide you with many links to help you in your search and decision making.

Got another minute?  Browse through our website, All I Can Imagine for quality built toddler toy; a great idea for an anytime gift are ImagiBRICKS.  We sell the award-winning giant cardboard building blocks. These are kids toy blocks that are crush proof and have a drool-proof coating.

Strong ImagiBRICKS toy blocks

ImagiBRICKS giant cardboard building blocks are one of best toddler toys on the market for your children. And, here is why we can make this statement.

Creative play is of utmost importance in your babies and toddlers early lives and you want to provide them quality kids building blocks. ImagiBRICKS are the award-winning block toys your grandparents enjoyed playing with and so will your children.

These kids toy blocks are easy to assemble by simple folding and have secured fitting, smooth seams.  They are also crush proof and have a drool-proof coating.  This coating makes it easy for you to keep the blocks sanitary and clean.  You will be delighted to learn that this coating is not slippery and the blocks will stack as high as your toddlers can reach.

ImagiBRICKS giant cardboard building blocks are not only strong, they are lightweight. Young children and toddlers enjoy carrying these blocks around and as they get older will begin to build simple structures.  As they get a little older they will have fun (and build even more muscle strength) when they begin to build their mighty towers. Knocking down their towers will be a quiet activity (cardboard blocks do not make noise) except for the squeals of delight by your children.

Spatial awareness, beginning math, recognizing different sizes and colors, and opened ended play with no rules (except for the ones they, themselves make up) make building block toys one of the most desired educational toy parents, daycare centers, play zones, museums, and homes will provide their children.

When shopping for these kids building blocks you will find a variety of sets available online. When you find some that sell for half the price they will not be the toy blocks we are describing here, in this article. ImagiBRICKS cardboard building blocks are stronger and crush proof while the less expensive blocks are not.

The giant cardboard blocks in this article are made in the USA and manufactured from 50% recycled materials and this will conclude giving you all the information you will need to know about ImagiBRICKS and did not know who to ask.

Sooner or later you will be purchasing some ABC blocks for your young children. With the variety of ABC blocks on the market this will probably be sooner. Alphabet blocks, which are thought to be the first type of building block toy produced,  have been around since the 17th century in England.

Located at the Strong Museum, the National Toy Hall of Fame has recognized the ABC toy blocks as America’s toys of national significance. Spawned from the simple concept of the basic toy block, many toys have been developed over the years.

These types of blocks are children’s wooden toys which are both fun as well as one of the best toddler learning toys on the market. This type of block will help teach your children about shapes, colors and might very well be the first exposure your children will have to letters and numbers besides some children’s TV shows.

Another popular toddler learning toy for young kids are wood blocks with pictures on them. These  wooden toys are manufactured by ImagiPLAY, located in Colorado. Backyard animals, farm animals and jungle animals are the three sets of wooden blocks sets available.

Each set of wood blocks (mentioned above) will form six different puzzles featuring colorful animals. Each four piece kid’s toy block set comes with its own storage tray that measure 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2.5″.

When going to a baby shower blocks with either ABC’s or pictures will make a very nice gift. Always remember to buy blocks that are splinter proof and painted with non-toxic paints.

There are four tips here today for you to implement if you are a working home school parent.  The first part of this article was posted on May 30^th.

Make Smart Use of Your Daily Drive – There are a lot of people who home school and commute to work every day. One of their secrets is making smart use of their daily drive to and from work. Instead of making extra trips to the art supply store or library with their kids, they take the time to run these errands as they are going to or leaving work.

Assign Lessons to Children During the Day – Obviously, if you and your spouse are working daily jobs, then someone has to be at home with your children. You can assign your children lessons to do during the day and ask your childcare professional to oversee the work and make sure that it gets done.

Home school at Night – How many college students take night classes? There are many that do, so why can’t you home school your children at night after you get home from work? You can easily go over lessons at the dinner table or a couple hours before bedtime.

 Always Plan – For those who work outside the home and want to home school too, planning is essential. You need to make a weekly schedule that clearly dictates when lessons will take place. This will save you a lot of time and make homeschooling go much more smoothly.

If you have toddlers that need a quiet type toy to play with while you are teaching your older children browse through our childrens wooden toys.  Our toddler learning toys, such as our Jungle Buddy wood blocks are an interesting educational for young children to play with.

It’s not uncommon for people to think of homeschooling families as those with a stay at home parent, most often the mother. However, this isn’t necessarily always the case. It is actually possible to work outside of the home and home school too.

However, many mothers feel as if they have to choose to either, home school and stay home or to work and send their kids to public schools. In fact, you may be one of these women. If you are considering homeschooling and currently have a job away from home, know that it’s possible to do both. Below are a few tips to help.

1. Change Your Perspective – The majority of those who think about homeschooling think that it has to work just like the public school system, as far as time is concerned. Many people feel that homeschooling will take all day and needs to be done during the morning to mid-afternoon, but this isn’t the case. In fact, you’ll be surprised to learn that homeschooling often takes less time than traditional schooling.

How? First of all, you don’t have to wait for children to arrive as they are already there and secondly, you aren’t going to be teaching large numbers of children – just your own. Therefore, homeschooling works much quicker than traditional education does. In fact, it can actually be done in under an hour each day!

2. Choose Your Curriculum Wisely – Not all homeschooling curriculum is hard to understand and complicated. Therefore, if you want to work outside the home and home school also, then you should look for curriculums that present information in an easy-to-understand way. For example, look for a curriculum that has short lessons that don’t take up a lot of time. Also, be willing to consider a curriculum that doesn’t teach “lessons.”

Part two of this article will be posted on June 6th – watch for it!

Got another minute?  Check out our giant cardboard building blocks.  These kids toy blocks will allow your children to play creatively and gain muscle strength.  Did you know that kids learn basic math skills when playing with building block toys?

Sooner or later you will be purchasing some ABC blocks for your young children. With the variety of ABC blocks on the market this will probably be sooner. Alphabet blocks are thought to be the first type of building block toy produced and have been around since the 17th century in England.

Located at the Strong Museum  in Rochester, New York, the National Toy Hall of Fame has recognized the ABC toy block as America’s toys of national significance. Spawned from the simple concept of the basic toy block, many toys have been developed over the years.

ABC blocks are both fun as well as one of the best educational toys on the market. This type of block will help teach your children about shapes, colors and might very well be the first exposure your children will have to letters and numbers besides some children’s TV shows.

Another popular toddler learning toy for young toddlers is wood blocks with pictures on them. These children’s wooden toys are manufactured by Smart Monkey Toys, LLC located in Wisconsin and may be purchased from All I Can Imagine. Backyard animals, farm animals and jungle animals are the three sets of wooden blocks sets available.

Each set of wood blocks will form six different puzzles featuring colorful animals. Each four piece kid’s toy block set comes with its own storage tray that measure 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2.5″.

When going to a baby shower blocks with either ABC’s or pictures will make a very nice gift. Always remember to buy blocks that are splinter proof and painted with non-toxic paints.