Your Childā€™s Journey

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  • 1st grade students sit a table working using colored pencils and paper. In the 1st grade, your child will be learning to write simple sentences accompanied by a drawing to express their ideas.

    What Will My Child be Learning in the 1st Grade?

    Most 6-year-olds will be attending the 1st grade this year and you'll notice their skills progress exponentially! Whereas they were learning their letter names and sounds in kindergarten, 1st grade will teach them to write simple sentences and how to read sight words. It's an exciting time and knowing what they'll be expected to learn this year will help you to support their learning at home.

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  • 1-year-old boy plays with a Storypod and Carfties at the coffee table with his father. It is important to engage with your child at this age in order to encourage social development.

    4 Games to Play with Your 1-Year-Old to Encourage Social Development

    Playing games with your 1-year-old can be a fun way to bond and help them develop socially. At this age, children are learning about the world around them and how to interact with others, so it's a good idea to create fruitful interactions that will allow them to learn about and practice these skills. Think any activity that encourages sharing, turn-taking, talking, or stretching the imagination.

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  • Two-year-old girl talks excitedly with her older siblings while playing with the Storypod Tali Tucan Craftie. Communicating verbally with family is one of the best ways to encourage language development in your 2-year-old.

    How to Encourage Language Development in Your 2 Year Old

    It's an exciting time for your child and their language development! At 2-years-old, your child will have a vocabulary of around 50 words and will be able to string together sentences of a couple of words. Furthermore, they'll be able to understand much of what is being said around then and can follow simple, two-part commands. Their language abilities are developing rapidly and now is an important time to take steps that will encourage healthy growth in this area.

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  • A pair of 3-year-old boys take turns playing with Storypod's Sugar Monster Craftie. Being able to manipulate items in one's hands is an important motor skill that children are still strengthening at this age.

    What Can I Do to Strengthen Motor Skills in My 3-Year-Old?

    Motor skills refer to your child's ability to move and use their bodies to participate in everyday activities. It includes everything from walking to using their hands to hold a crayon and draw. Motor skills are essential for a childā€™s growth and development, as they enable them to interact with their environment and take care of themselves. These skills grow gradually over time, but there are ways you can help strengthen, practice, and reinforce your 3-year-oldā€™s progressing motor development.

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  • 6-year-old boy lays in a pile of leaves with a relaxed expression on his face. There are several methods to help your child focus that will lead to task completion in a calm and collected manner.

    Is Your Child Having Trouble Focusing? Here Are a Few Practices to Start Today

    Having trouble getting your child to put their coat, shoes, and backpack on before heading out for the bus? Or is your bedtime routine chaos because you're constantly nagging your little one with reminders to brush their teeth or pick up their toys? While young children aren't expected to be specimens of calm and efficiency, they should certainly be able to get through relatively simple tasks without too much resistance.Ā 

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  • A toddler and a young child hold hands while walking through a field. Turn taking a crucial social skill that you will want to begin instilling in your child as early as possible.

    Instill Turn Taking with a Few Simple Practices

    At two-years-old, your child will naturally be very self-centered. Their ability to comprehend the needs of others is just starting to develop, so things like taking turns and sharing can be difficult at the start. And this is to be expected! They're inundated by new information and feelings each day and so they're still learning to navigate the big world as a little person. Add the feelings and needs of others to the mix? Wellā€¦ it's going to take some time and practice.

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  • Children's wooden blocks with numbers on them lay scattered on a surface. Toddlers may begin counting and getting familiar with numbers as early as the age of 2.

    Tips & Tricks for Teaching Your Toddler to Count

    As early as the age of 2, your child may start recognizing numbers and attempting to count (even if they're saying the numbers out of order). It's a wonderful time to start engaging with numbers and other math skills that they will solidify in the future. With some simple and fun activities and a few tips, parents can teach their toddlers to count and foster a love of numbers that will last a lifetime.

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  • Mother sits on a bed with a toddler on her lap and her 4-year-old daughter by her side. Practicing reading comprehension skills even before your child can read will give benefit your child greatly.

    Reading Comprehension with Your 4-Year-Old

    Even though your child hasn't started reading on their own quite yet, preschoolers delight in being read to by their parents or care providers. And with good reason. Their little minds are taking in a lot! From absorbing the illustrations to using context clues to learn vocabulary, your 4-year-old is building their reading comprehension skills each time you read them a book!

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  • A child's hand is open with his fingers spread. Using the 5-Finger-Retell strategy is great for building reading comprehension skills.

    5 Finger Retelling to Strengthen Reading Comprehension Skills

    At 6 years of age, your child is likely working on reading comprehension strategies in school. To help support your little one's progress, employ the 5 Finger Retell whenever you read your daily story at home. Due to the visual nature of this activity, it's something your child can remember easily, can take with them wherever they go, and with regular practice, they'll be able to efficiently summarize stories in no time!

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  • Grandmother and 3-year-old grandson stand together at the sink washing up. 3-year-old are eager to be helpers and giving them chores to do will help them feel a sense of independence and accomplishment.

    7 Simple Chores Your Little "Helper" Will Love Doing

    At three years old, children are beginning to develop their independence and sense of responsibility. Giving them age-appropriate chores can help foster these qualities, while also teaching them valuable life skills. Your toddler will beam with pride as they accomplish important tasks that contribute to their household. They'll also understand that a household and family function when everyone helps.

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  • A pair of child's hands build an imaginary apparatus with Legos. Imaginative play is crucial for a 4-year-old's development.

    Why is Imaginative Play So Important for 4-Year-Olds?

    Imaginative play, also known as pretend play, is a type of play that allows children to create their own stories and characters, and act them out in a make-believe world. This includes playing dress-up, building their own worlds using blocks, and using dolls and toy animals to create scenarios. This type of play is particularly important for 4-year-olds, as they are deep into the "Magic Years," a period between 3 and 4 years of age that is rooted in imagination and discovery. Playing pretend helps them to develop a number of important skills that will be useful to them throughout their lives.

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  • 3-year-old boy laughs with glee as he plays with the water coming out of a garden hose. Letting your child take risks is one factor of raising independent children.

    5 Tips for Fostering Independence in Your Toddler

    Toddlers are at a stage in their development where they are eager to explore and learn about the world around them. As parents or caregivers, it is important to foster their independence so that they can develop important life skills and become more self-sufficient.

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