Learning Path Stones

Listening and Speaking

Listening and Speaking
Children learn the intonations and speech patterns in language by listening. Learning to read also requires careful listening, because good listening skills help children break down words into their individual sounds.

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 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).

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.

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.

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

• 2008 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award
• 2007 Outstanding Products Award, iParenting Media
• 2007 Parents' Choice Approved Award, Parents' Choice Foundation
• 2007 Seal of Approval, The National Parenting Center