Learning Path Stones

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").

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.

Tables, Charts and Graphs

Tables, Charts and Graphs
The ability to use graphical representation, such as tables, graphs, charts and grids, is important in solving and enjoying real-life math problems.

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.

Awards

• 2006 Children's Technology Review, Editor's Choice Award