When to Teach What: A Guide to Teaching your Child

Inside: Wondering what skills to teach your child at each stage? Here’s a simple roadmap that will give you confidence that you are working on the right skills at the right time. Don’t forget to grab the full Education in the Early Years at the end!

---

I looked at the text I just received from my sister. “Should I be working on letters with my son? I saw in a Facebook group that someone has taught her son letters and numbers already- am I behind?” (My nephew just turned 1). I rolled my eyes.

I’ve seen posts on Facebook that say “My 3-year-old can count to 100, is doing physics, chemistry, and can spell 30 sight words.” (Yes – an actual post I saw.) 

I hate these types of posts. They make most parents worry they aren’t doing enough with their children. I feel sorry for the kids in those homes. They may be able to spell sight words at 2, but how much time do they have to play outside? Invent games? How much downtime do they have to do what they want to do?

After reading this post, you will know some of the most important academic skills to (realistically) be working on with your child.

Teaching your child looks different for each family. Some children know their letters at 2, some don’t learn them until 4….and some don’t learn until kindergarten. Waiting until kindergarten isn’t recommended, so here is a simple guide of what to teach at each stage.

Have Confidence You are Working on the Right Skill at the Right Time

For a more in-depth resource, you may want to check out our Education in the Early Years Guide, which takes you through developmentally appropriate stages on what to teach your child in what order. It guides you through teaching your child academic skills, but also fine and gross motor skills, social-emotional skills, and self-help skills.

You will also find activity suggestions to help you with these, and additional resources that teach you about fine motor skills, technology and the young child’s brain, what to do if you are questioning a learning disability, and how to encourage correct speech. 

Written by a kindergarten teacher, it is our most in-depth roadmap to preparing your child to thrive, laid out in an organized, logical resource, right at your fingertips. 

I have linked to other articles on the blog you may find helpful. Most of the activities in these articles are hands-on activities. Children, especially young children, learn best through play…which means very limited screen time. You may think that giving your child educational apps is teaching them what they need to know, but too much screen time is hurting our kids. 

There are many simple activities you can fit into your daily routine to start working on with your children. If your child is 4, but you haven’t worked with them on a skill I’ve listed in the 2-year old section, go back and start with the earliest skills your child needs to work on. 

What to Work on With Babies

• The best thing you can do for babies is to read to them! Read all kinds of books. Babies especially love books with different textures to explore. The goal is to expose them to as much language as possible. Books are different than just listening to conversations. Some books are repetitive, some are written in rhyme, not to mention they use different vocabulary than we use in conversations. At the age of 2, after dinner, Jacob would say “That was scrumptious!” I don’t say that, but he learned it in a book. What 2-year-old has “scrumptious” in their vocabulary? Jacob did because he listened to so many books. 

• Talk a lot to your baby. Explain what you are doing as you do it. “We are going to put your yellow shirt on today. In go your arms!” 

• Sing to your baby. It’s never too early to start singing the ABC’s or other familiar songs. 

What to Work on With 1-Year-Olds

• Name Colors and animals
• Match animal sounds
• Start learning feeling words – Feelings are so important to start working on early! Children need to be able to put a name to those big feelings that are inside. It’s important that kids understand that it is normal to feel sadness, anger, and fear. Practice making faces that show each feeling. Talk about how characters are feeling when you are reading books. When your child has a big reaction to an emotion, name the emotion they are feeling. “Are you feeling scared? I would be scared too.” Discuss how to handle these feelings. Start early!

Check out our favorite books for 1 and 2-year-olds

What to Work on With 2-Year-Olds

• Sing letters in their name
• Count to 10- Start by counting to 3. After that, move up to 5. After your child can count to 5, finally go up to 10. Count the stairs, how many seconds it takes to get dressed, how many plates you put on the table for dinner. Count, count, count! 
• Sing ABC’s
• Identify Shapes 

Check out our favorite books for 1 and 2-year-olds

What to Work on With 3-Year-Olds

• Recognize written first name
• Count to 20+
• Recognize uppercase and lowercase letters out of order
• Plays games – Check out our favorite games for 3-year-olds.  The best ones I’ve found are Peaceable Kingdom because they are cooperative games so you work as a team against the game. Most also have different levels of play so they grow with your child!
• Counts using one number for each object

Check out our favorite books for 3 and 4-year-olds

What to Work on With 4-Year-Olds

• Recognizes first and last name
• Write first name in all capitals
• Counts to 30+
• Recognizes numbers 1-10

Check out our favorite books for 3 and 4-year-olds

What to Work on With 5-Year-Olds 

(These are kindergarten standards, but your child may need support at home)

• Sorts objects by color, shape, and size
• Writes name correctly with capital first letter, lowercase for the rest
• Can identify and produce rhymes 
• Can write letters and numbers

Check out our favorite books for 5 and 6-year-olds

SHOP OUR PRINTABLES 

Written by a kindergarten teacher, the Education in the Early Years Guide is a complete roadmap to preparing your child to thrive. 

It takes you through developmentally appropriate stages on what to teach your child in what order. It also addresses not only academic skills, but fine and gross motor skills, social-emotional skills, and self-help skills. You will also find activity suggestions to help you with these, and additional resources that teach you about fine motor skills, technology and the young child’s brain, what to do if you are questioning a learning disability, and how to encourage correct speech. 

You May Also Enjoy: 

Our Favorite Educational Toys

Creating a Toddler Routine that will Set Your Child Up for Success

How to Teach Your Toddler or Preschooler to Read