Did you know that the simple act of reading aloud with your child could boost his future reading success? Reading aloud allows your child the opportunity to acquire necessary verbal skills, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and a familiarity with the basic purposes and mechanisms of reading. By age six, children understand 13,000 words, and children who are spoken to and read to frequently have larger vocabularies and develop into stronger readers.

You may have noticed that your preschooler has become fascinated with print, words, and the letters of the alphabet. Now is the perfect time to provide your child with a healthy diet of books. And with frequent book readings, she will begin to understand that the words in the book (the symbols) are telling the story. Sharing books with your preschooler lays the foundation for learning to read, and children who love books are better readers.

Reading aloud is also an important way to help your child make the transition from babyhood to toddlerhood. Between the ages of one and three, your child will have triumphs and challenges. It can help for your child to hear stories about other kids and how they managed fears about what's under the bed and tackled the challenge of using the potty.

There are numerous benefits for reading to your baby, and the earlier you begin, the better! Reading aloud teaches your baby about communication; introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colours, and shapes in a fun way; builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills; and gives babies information about the world around them. Plus, it is a wonderful shared activity you can continue for years to come – and it's an important form of stimulation.

Parents of young children report that they feel strongly that the formation of attitudes toward ageing and older adults begins early in life. There is no better time to introduce babies to older adults and begin to establish relationships with older adult friends if grandparents are not nearby. For parents just beginning to establish relationships with an older adult “grandfriend,” a baby and music create natural connections.

Young children learn about aging through experiences with those older and younger than they are. At this age, a young child will start to have a better understanding of the notion that a grandparent once was a child. If the child spends time with a younger sibling or playmate regularly, she will also have a sense of that child's growth.

Gross motor abilities grow by leaps and bounds during the toddler years. Your youngster probably has a zest for discovering new movements and for repeating and refining them. Paired with this increased movement repertoire is the developing ability to cease movement (or other activities), called inhibitory control. "Stop and go" games that feature this skill are popular with good reason. Grandparents will find that movement activities with young children provide irresistible incentive to exercise.

Research indicates that attitudes towards older adults and about ageing develop early—as early as the preschool years. Studies also show that experiences with older adults directly and positively affect these attitudes, allowing children to form their own impressions rather than adopting stereotypes.

It makes sense that family life could be chaotic without some routine. But research has shown that there is more to it than that. Routines let your children know what is important to your family. When they are highly meaningful, routines are sometimes referred to as rituals and these play an important role in strengthening shared beliefs and values, and building a sense of belonging and cohesion in families.

Some parents seem to have a magic touch when it comes to helping children stay calm, happy, and cooperative. For many with this talent, the secret is their use of routines and rituals. We know that routines are important to the very youngest. Your newborn baby came into the world with natural sleeping, eating, and alert patterns. At first, you follow your newborn’s lead, and then—over the ensuing months—you guide the creation of routines dependent on your parenting choices and style. The structure and predictability of these routines are essential elements in providing your baby a sense of security and comfort.

Toddlerhood is an emotionally turbulent time, full of temper tantrums, irrational fears, and fierce independence, coupled with hugs, clinging behaviours, and boastful “Me do it!” statements. The routines and rituals you establish can be crucial during this time. At a time full of change, growth, joy, and frustration, your daily routines can be a calming oasis for your child, and act like a secure base to venture forth successfully and then return.

Your preschooler thrives and grows in an environment that includes repetition, routines, and rituals. These events provide great opportunities for your preschool-aged child to try out more complex social interactions and positive behaviour patterns. If playing simple board or card games is a family ritual at your house or a familiar part of her preschool activities, your child is learning many social interactive skills such as turn-taking, helping others, sharing, waiting, and following rules.

PLONKING kids in front of music videos such as the Wiggles or Hi-5 doesn't enhance their musical talent and may even hinder it.  New Australian research shows parents rely heavily on commercially produced CDs and DVDs for children's musical stimulation, claiming they don't have the time or musical talent for anything more creative.

..from a Herald Sun article on  February 05, 2008

When you hear the word play, you may think that play is only a learning tool for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Yet, your big kid needs opportunities and time for play just as much now as he always has. Today many young children are under the pressure to achieve and win at learning. However, play produces many learning skills and habits including curiosity, discovery, risk-taking, trial and error, expressive language, problem-solving, creativity, and social etiquette.

Imagination! That is the one word that describes your preschooler’s playful world of creativity. Imaginative play starts in the mind of your child when she plays with ideas, images, and concepts by re-organising, sorting, and creating. The pleasure of play motivates your preschooler to make sense of the adult world and construct her own reality.

Did you know that your toddler’s play needs to include lots of exploring? Being allowed to explore and experiment within safe limits is extremely important for your toddler’s brain development. Those toddlers who are allowed ample opportunities to explore generally tend to become eager and flexible learners, and they become aware that an object has unlimited possibilities.

Did you know that some toys can actually squelch your child's play? Play is the instinctive way in which your child learns, and boredom is the signal that tells you that play is not happening – sometimes despite the presence of wonderful toys. But boredom is a good thing! It can be your child's turning point toward the type of play that opens up unlimited learning and growing possibilities.

Your big kid is erupting with artistry! This is the time in which most five to seven year olds take new command of expressive media such as music, dance, block building, and storytelling. After years of practice and more practice, your child can begin to intentionally manipulate materials to create his own ideas. Art gives him the opportunity to represent how he feels, thinks, and visualises.

To your baby, your face is a work of art, and your voice is music! At birth, sight is the least developed sense and gazing into your face provides the visual stimulation needed to help your baby overcome sight limitations. And in the first few months, your babies' hearing is geared toward more high pitched noises – which is remarkably why you instinctively use a “parentese” voice—slower, high-pitched, and highly expressive speech with wide swings in pitch and loudness. Just as your face stimulates your child visually, your voice is ideally suited to stimulate your baby's sense of hearing.

Colouring books have been around for a long time. You coloured, your mother coloured, and your grandmother coloured in colouring books. If you want a time-filler or a way to keep your child busy, colouring books are fine. On the other hand, if you would like to encourage your toddler to express originality, experiment, and think as well as act creatively – colouring books alone are not the answer.

It's natural for your preschooler to combine art with movement, rhymes, music, drama, and dance. Expression in one art form stimulates greater expressiveness in other arts, and children instinctively treat the arts as interrelated. It is not uncommon for a child to paint as if dancing the brush across the paper and then stand up and dance across the floor in a similar fashion. For another child upon completion of a well-decorated mask, he might break into a spontaneous drama pretending to be a character who sings to the cat. Through creativity, the elements of pattern, space, rhythm, and contrast overlap and find expression among all of the arts.

Preschoolers have very active imaginations, where their world is full of magic, witches and superheroes – and stories and cartoons seem very real. Your child's imagination and creativity are blossoming at this age, and there are many ideas to enhance this through play and music.

Books open up amazing new worlds and experiences for your toddler, and stories help him develop speech, imagination and even counting skills. Reading books together has probably become a much loved ritual from when he was a baby, so continue your toddler's love of books and reading.

Reading is one of the best ways to help your baby to learn about communication, and at this age it's not all about reading the words – it's more about enjoying the interaction with you, as she loves the sound of your voice and your undivided attention. Your baby will enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the rhythm of your voice long before she can understand the words…

Your big kid is off to school, and entering the wider social world of learning and making friends. For the first time they have to think about finding their own place in the world and feeling part of a social group, as well as trying to understand the rules of life, morals, manners and family values. Even though you're not with your child at school, there's still a lot you can do to help develop his social skills.

An independent research company, showed that 88 percent of people with a post-graduate education were involved in music while in school, and 83 percent of people earning $150,000 or more had a music education.

Developmentally your big kid is moving toward the same abstract thinking process to improvise and revise as a professional symphony composer. This higher level of thinking comes with the ability to recognise and remember even more patterns – gaining a basic understanding of science, algebra and geometry, and skills in logic and reasoning.

You may have noticed your preschooler has become fascinated with books. This symbolic stage of learning enables your child to display this understanding through art, drawing, print, and storytelling. A scribbling comes to represent an emotion. A letter represents his name. Curvy lines combined with circles and squares may represent a map.

Before a toddler starts making memories, he'll have to concentrate first on standing up, falling down, and getting back up again. Once he's mastered his body, his mind kicks it up a notch and he'll begin to think, remember, be alert, and aware. That's when he starts making memories.

Using sign language, your baby can communicate way before her vocal chords are fully developed. And studies show that using sign language strengthens the bond between you and your child, speeds and enhances language development, and eases frustration.

Through songs, toys, and loving playtime between you and your child, Kindermusik Sign & Sing shows you more than 50 signs your child can use to communicate with you.

A simple smile from you can improve your child's self image and brain development. When your child sees you smile, it makes her feel good and also helps her brain to grow.

Smiling and laughter will strengthen the immune system, lower blood pressure, and reduce stress levels. And a healthy sense of humour can help a child handle problems as they grow into adults, as well as enhance the social skills they need to make friends.

Musically, a preschooler can spot and keep a steady beat. That's why it's so important for her to have a wide variety of musical experiences, so when she gets older and starts selecting music on her own, she has a wide variety of music to choose from.

Matching ability with the right activity is important to begin building your child's self-esteem, providing instruments and ideas that are right for her.

The Moon can be a magical nightlight for a child, but it's also fun to learn more about the moon and the night sky. Did you know that the places on the Moon have names just like places on Earth? The next time the moon is full, look up at the Man in the Moon with your child to see if you can find some of these places with him...

Add a new twist to your family's bedtime ritual. Read a favorite story - it can be a classic fairy tale such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears or pick one of your own favorites. Act out this story with finger puppets that you have, or improvise and draw a quick face on your fingers with a washable marker...