When does learning begin? Some experts say that the brain starts its journey as early as conception, thus encouraging expectant moms to wear listening devices strapped across their bulging bellies, creating an in-uterus development center.

        Other experts promote the theory that babies enter this world full of awestruck wonder, immediately absorbing their environment like sea sponges floating in an ocean of knowledge.

        Most everyone agrees that learning must begin sooner than the moment a child enters a classroom. As a coach to many parents, I have discovered that most moms and dads want to create not only a loving, nurturing, and safe home for their children, but they long to establish a place that invites creativity and encompasses educational stepping stones.

        These stepping stones are not to be confused with developmental milestones— deserving of an entirely separate article in and of itself.

        For more than a decade, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with an entire team of pediatric specialists, mainly in my home. The range of expertise has run from physical therapy to developmental specialists to language and speech pathology. Along the way, I have learned two critical factors that have shaped the early learning and development of my three children: create an environment that offers endless learning opportunities, and make learning fun.

        So how can we invite early learning techniques into our home and transitional environments, especially when our schedules already runneth over?

HERE ARE A FEW STRATEGIES TO GET STARTED 

1.    Interaction IS Education. If you have more than one child, you already have a rich well from which to draw ideas in almost every waking moment. You can encourage lifelong skills such as teamwork, conflict resolution, tolerance, sharing, and taking turns just through children interacting with one another. If you have an only child, simply set up playdates to help incorporate these peer-related, yet invaluable, life lessons.

2.     Be the Teacher, Not the Playmate. In our culture, we have often been advised to get down to our child’s level and play. I’d like to take this one step further. Lower yourself to your child’s eyeballs, but teach instead. This will keep you the parent and keep the child the child, minimizing the likelihood of the child losing respect for the adult or authority figure. You can still play, but play in a teachable way using objects like puzzles, games, books, and blocks. You can teach cooking, reading, building, creating, and problem solving. You are now modeling and demonstrating versus becoming a peer in your child’s eyes. 

3.     Colors and Numbers Are Everywhere. One of the core goals for many parents is to prepare their child for school. We tend to forget that school prepares our children for life. We learn to count money, balance accounts, read signs in order to drive, and recognize colors for warnings. There are shapes, colors, numbers, and names all around us. My youngest, almost age three, loves to help in the kitchen. He makes pizza for dinner. He counts out the dough—1, 2, 3, 4—one for each member in our family. He shapes the dough first into a ball (sphere) and then rolls it into a circle. He spreads red sauce on the dough and sprinkles white cheese and black olives on top. He wears an apron and chef’s hat for kitchen detail and is extremely proud of his results. Including toddlers in kitchen time ensures that they become part of the broader community in a family. (Don’t forget to use this environment to teach safety as well!)

4.     Language, Manners, and Enunciation. I never did subscribe to the baby-talk thing. This is probably because my firstborn is a special needs child and language has been such a critical part in his growth and development. I limited radio and television and instead held conversations with my kids. I taught all three boys some American Sign Language and a bit of Spanish. Even small exposure to second languages helps create stronger associations with sentence structure and sounds. Taking a moment to correct something as minor as pronoun use for a toddler helps build strong language skills. For example, many 2- or 3-year-olds will say “Me want.”   A great response to this can be “Who wants?” or “How would you like to ask for that?” and then model the sentence, “I would like more, please.” A young toddler may only correct themselves by responding, “More please.” But they have heard the correct way to ask for something—both with language and manners.

5.     Use Challenges. At age seven, my son came home from school complaining about another young boy who was not being nice. It broke my heart to hear about it, but I decided to turn something challenging into a teachable moment. I asked my son some questions, like “Do you think this boy is hurting inside?” and “Is something painful going on with this boy?” My hope was to help my son discern the difference between a person acting out in pain versus someone reacting in anger—and how to handle both. We discovered that this young boy had recently lost a family member and was generally a friend who liked to share. This exercise can coincide with stranger danger lessons and dealing with bullies.

        How can we make learning fun when we are trying to keep on top of all these great teachable moments? Simply keep your sense of humor, and try to remember that a little encouragement in every situation can stretch a long way!

        It is never too early to teach. And more important, it is never too late to learn. One of the greatest things we can learn as parents is to lead by example and model the behavior and skills we expect from our children. In turn, what many parents discover (myself included) is that their children become their greatest teachers.

Rebecca Evans is an author who resides in Idaho with her three sons, a Newfoundland, guinea pig, and two hermit crabs.