The transition from one season to another usually offers a variety of weather. Help your child recognize the changes taking place by recording the weather on a calendar. A simple one-month calendar will do.

Each day peek outside and draw a picture of the weather – sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, windy, etc. If you have an outdoor thermometer, write down the temperature as well.

Talking about any patterns you notice is a great way to practice your child’s science and mathematical vocabulary. Is the temperature usually warmer or cooler when it was cloudy? Is it usually windy and snowy? Count and compare the number of sunny days and the number of rainy days.

Alex has been singing the ABC song since he was about a year and a half. He’s been able to recognize some of this letters for awhile now. But something has changed. He is fascinated by letters. He even picks out letters in his own scribbles. He’ll look back at his wild pencil drawing and find a tiny letter e or a bumpy letter m.

We haven’t been doing anything different at home. So I can only attribute Alex’s new letter awareness to his time on Rusty and Rosy. Here’s a little video to show how much he loves it … On the screen, he’s watching pirates collect ABCs with their treasure. (Do you think he’s getting out some angst, or what?!)

At the end of the song, there’s a button that allows you to repeat it. Alex always pushes the button. No matter how many times he watches the ABC song, he always sings along.

Alex was thrilled to have his own equipment, just as I predicted. He gets great pleasure out of having “mine own” mouse and mouse pad in his room. He brings them to my computer each time he plays.

But we don’t really use the mouse pad. I think that mouse pads are tough for kids. Now that the motion on the cursor is set to be a little slower, Alex makes large sweeping motions to move the cursor. The mouse pad didn’t accommodate this at all. He was forced to pick up and set down the mouse so much that we were back to major issues using the mouse.

So the mouse pad is now just a piece of artwork that smiles up from wherever Alex chooses to put it—and we’re both happier that way!

 The fact that he knew what he wanted to do told me he was ready. I was delighted that he could follow instructions on the computer. Now it was just a matter of making the computer do what he wanted it to do.

 I use an adult-size wireless mouse. I keep the motion pretty quick. Alex would spend an inordinate amount of time getting my mouse to point to the item on the screen. Once the cursor was in place, he would reposition his hand from grasping the mouse to clicking the button. In the process of clicking, the cursor would fly off of the target. So he would have to start over again.

 I knew the first thing I needed to do was slow the cursor down. He needed to work with bigger hand movements. We tried that.

 Even when the mouse wasn’t so jumpy, he had the problem of repositioning his hand in the middle of the point-and-click sequence. My mouse just wasn’t right for him.

 So I bought him a notebook sized mouse. Here it is next to my mouse  …

 I added the star to remind him where to click.

 After only a few sessions on the computer, Alex can point and click like a pro!

I had tried a few computer games with him when he was two. That’s when I learned that two-year-olds—even when they are precocious—need lots of help with computers. At two, Alex couldn’t use a mouse at all. The whole concept of moving something here to change something there was way beyond him. And somehow, he always missed the instructions. He would look at the fun graphics with anticipation, but he wouldn’t know what to do. So I would repeat the instructions and let him point to the screen while I used the mouse.

I did not want Rusty and Rosy to be a “lap game.” With a new baby, I needed Alex to be independent just as much as he wanted to be independent.

Two things have amazed me thus far in our adventure:

1. Alex totally participates. When the computer says “sing along,” he sings! When the computer says “get a pencil and paper to practice writing letter A,” he gets the pencil and paper and scribbles (he’s not ready to write quite yet.) He chants letter names along with the computer. He is totally engrossed.
2. Alex uses the mouse like a pro. On day one, I would hear him try over and over to click on the “go on” button. Each time he rolled the mouse over it, the button would say “go on.” This would happen five or ten times before he finally clicked. Now, after about four sessions on the computer, he can click on the first or second try. So practice makes perfect. I also have a little hint about the mouse … but I’ll save that for next time.

So what age did you start your child on the computer? Have you been surprised by the result? Please share your thoughts!

This activity is an excellent way to help your child develop number sense as well. As the original group of objects grows, your child will begin to understand how large numbers are made up of smaller numbers. Don’t worry about making this the focus of your activity, but you might point out that you just made “five altogether” by putting together one and four, and then putting together two and three.

To help him understand, make sure he brings the beans back together in one group then point out that we join sets to find out how many we have in all. As your child gets comfortable with adding, let’s say a group of three, challenge him by adding another bean to the group, and try the processes over again.

Begin building his number foundation by helping him count the numbers 1 to 5.  If he likes being active when counting, even better!  The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics states that that moving, touching, or pointing to objects as he says the number words will establish one-to-one correspondence, and he may begin to notice that the next whole number in the counting sequence is one more than the number just named.

At home you can help your child count the toys as he puts them away, or have him count the buttons on his clothing.  He can count as he jumps, swings, or kicks a soccer ball.  For more quiet counting activities he can count the number of chairs while waiting at the doctor’s office or the number of people walking in a restaurant while you wait to be seated. 

Try to seize any opportunity that can turn into a fun counting activity for your child; these seemingly small experiences teach essential math skills.  And, since children are naturally inclined to count you and your child will come up with many more ideas!

This week ask your child if plants can grow without light. Whether her prediction is yes, no, or she keeps changing her mind, she will come to a conclusion after conducting this experiment!

You will need a houseplant and some black construction paper. Have your child cut two large squares out of the construction paper. Tape the two pieces of paper together with one leaf of the houseplant between them. Make sure that this leaf is getting no light. As you are putting together your experiment talk to your child about what she thinks plants do need to grow.

After one week uncover the leaf and compare its color to that of the other leaves on the plant. Which leaf is greener? Do plants need light to grow?  What would happen if the entire plant was left in the dark? Encourage her to ask more questions and be rest assured that your child is well on her way to becoming a brilliant scientist!

• Have her draw an animal on a piece of paper. Cut the paper into pieces and help her reassemble the animal, referring to each part as the top or the bottom.
• Help your child make patterns with fridge magnets. Help her build the pattern from left to right and then top to bottom.
• Play Hide-and-Seek with her favorite toy (or blanket, candy, etc.). Give her clues to find the item by using the words top, bottom, right and left.
• As you are reading to her, point to the words and explain that you are reading left to right and top to bottom.

Keep practicing by coming up with more fun ways to play! Clay encourages parents to continue opportunities for over learning (practicing well beyond the point you think the behavior is learned).

Building vocabulary is important, even for early math skills. Visit these other blog posts to find more fun activities: “I Spy” and Rock Toss.

Here are some fun alliterative picture books to check out from your local library:

Anamalia, Graeme Base

How Many Trucks Can a Tow Truck Tow?, Charlotte Pomerantz

The Piggy in the Puddle, Charlotte Pomerantz

Pingo the Plaid Panda, Loreen Leedy

Sheep on a Ship, Nancy Shaw

If after reading a few of these books together your child catches on to alliteration help him make up his own silly phrases (Brett bought blue bubblegum). If that is too difficult, help him recognize initial sounds by simply naming words that begin with the same sound (cat, cot, kite, car, etc.).