Learning Path Stones

Vocabulary

Vocabulary
While infants and toddlers learn vocabulary by memory, older children use word structure and context to help understand the meaning of a word. They identify synonyms and antonyms. They use prefixes, suffixes and base words to build their own vocabulary.

Phonics Skills

Phonics Skills
Before they can read independently, children must learn the relationship of letters to their sounds and be able to distinguish individual sounds, or phonemes, within words. Phonics skills help children sounds out new words (If I can read "pot", then I can read "hot" and "spot").

The Alphabet

The Alphabet
Knowing the letters of the alphabet is one of the first steps toward learning to read and write. Introducing letters to young children helps them learn to recognize the different shapes and names - an early indicator for reading achievement.

Spanish Vocabulary

Spanish Vocabulary
Exposure to foreign languages at a young age can help children understand their own language better. Studies show that children who are bilingual or who study foreign languages enjoy increased academic achievement and perform better on standardized tests.

Colors

Colors
Learning color names and matching them consistently to the right color develops by around the age of 2 to 3 years. When children eventually come to understand the concepts of color they can then use that information to categorize shapes, patterns and other visual information.

Logic and Reasoning

Logic and Reasoning
Logic and reasoning start to develop by the time a child is around 18 months old. Children use logic in everyday situations to solve problems and draw conclusions.

Matching

Matching
Matching develops early logic and reasoning skills and is a component of early math and literacy.Children match like objects, shapes, patterns, pictures and stories, letters to sounds and pictures to words.

Memory Skills

Memory Skills
Memory skills are essential for learning. It is fairly easy to help your child train their memory using memory games, poems and particular memory strategies.

Recognizing Patterns

Recognizing Patterns
The ability to extend, complete and duplicate patterns by determining the specific attributes of those patterns is a logical reasoning skill that forms a basis for future work in math. Recognizing patterns is also important for learning to read. Many high frequency words have similiar components (the sound "an" is in can, and hand). Recognizing these patterns helps children work out a new word faster.

Sorting and Classifying

Sorting and Classifying
Children actively arrange their blocks, cars and dolls, using visual discrimination to sort objects around them. Essential for math and science, classification is the logical reasoning ability to identify and group objects by attributes such as color, size, number, function, length, volume, weight, area, time and other familiar characteristics.

Keyboarding

Keyboarding
Learning to use the keyboard is another step in becoming computer literate. It can take a while for children to learn the positioning of each key, but simply searching for the right key helps children with letter recognition. Eventually, they'll be able to use the keyboard commands as an alternative to using the mouse.

Mousing

Mousing
Children start off using the computer mouse before they learn how to use the keys. It's best to get a child-sized mouse so that it's small enough for children to handle correctly. Within a short space of time children become adept at navigating the screen using the mouse to point and click.

Screen Navigation

Screen Navigation
Children quickly learn the basics of screen navigation. By pointing and clicking they can open programs they can use to help them learn.

Music

Music
From birth, children love music and even prefer it to speech. Apart from the obvious joy of music there are a number of surprising benefits to listening to music: it helps develop language, problem solving skills, memory, and physical coordination.

Shapes

Shapes
Identifying and manipulating shapes lays the groundwork for geometry by giving children concrete experience with angles, symmetry and relative sizes.

Early Number Sense

Early Number Sense
As early as 6 months, babies begin to understand the concept of numbers, noticing small groups of one, two or three things. As children develop number sense they learn to count by ones, skip count and count backwards, gaining the foundation for operations. Children who have good number sense find learning operations like addition and subtraction much easier.

Number Recognition

Number Recognition
To begin their study of math, children must distinguish numerals from letters and shapes and understand that numbers are symbols for amounts.

Awards

• 2007 Outstanding Product, iParenting Media Awards