Learning Path Stones

Capitalization

Capitalization
The first word children learn to capitalize is their name. However, it takes a while before they learn that only proper nouns are capitalized. Once children are writing sentences they're taught to capitalize the first word.

Grammar

Grammar
Understanding the rules that govern the use of language, including standard usage (such as selecting the right word) and mechanics (such as punctuation conventions) help children in speaking and writing.

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").

Word Building

Word Building
To read and write, children must understand how individual letter sounds blend together to make words. Experimenting with building words, such as changing mat to cat to rat, helps with reading and spelling.

Word Recognition

Word Recognition
As children learn to read, they must be able to "decode" the words they don't know- to translate strings of letters into words. Eventually they can recognize common words that can't be sounded out (the, said, she).

Consonants

Consonants
There are more consonants sounds than there are consonants in the alphabet. A consonant digraph is a pair of consonants that stand for a single sound (ch, sh, th, wh).

Plurals, Tense and Contractions

Plurals, Tense and Contractions
Children pick up plurals and contractions before they correctly learn the different tenses of words.

Vowels

Vowels
Spelling begins with regular short vowel sounds (cap) and long vowel sounds (with silent e, cap becomes cape). Finally, children learn the rules and patterns of vowel pairs (ee), digraphs (ai in train), dipthongs (oi in boil) and r-controlled vowels (farm, bird).

Word Parts

Word Parts
Once children know all the sounds of our language they learn how some words have parts in common. A good understanding of word parts allows children to spell multisyllabic words, compound words and words with prefixes and suffixes.

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.

Shapes

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

Decimals, Fractions and Percentage

Decimals, Fractions and Percentage
Children first understand fractions as parts of a whole or parts of a set. They begin to connect fractions to decimals, and finally to percentages.

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.

Parts of a Whole

Parts of a Whole
Children first come to understand about part-whole relationships through sharing. It is only later that this knowledge becomes formalized and builds the foundation for learning decimals, fractions and precentages.

Addition

Addition
Once children know that numbers are symbols for objects (2 stands for two cars) they learn to count sets, or groups of objects, to find sums. Finally, sets of objects can be replaced by numerals and added together in equations.

Subtraction

Subtraction
The inverse of addition is subtraction - to take away objects and tell how many are left. Once children grasp subtraction, sets of objects can be replaced by numerals in equations.

Awards

• 2004 iParenting Media Award