It’s hard to find a kid (or even an adult!) who doesn’t love tinkering with LEGOs. However, the same can’t be said for math. Many adults admit to struggling with math from a very early age, and many children today do, too. 

Luckily, you can engage your kids and make math fun by using LEGOs for their math homework!

How Do LEGOs Help with Math Concepts?

LEGOs are an excellent tool for helping children understand math concepts because they have a hard time visualizing math in their heads. Children (especially young children) need to see how adding one and one makes two. Concrete, visible examples are essential at these early ages.

But instead of gathering ten teddy bears, trains, or baby dolls, LEGOs are the perfect, transportable size. They snap together easily to show how two (or more) numbers combine to make a new number and break it apart for subtraction, division, and fraction practice. 

Both standard and Duplo LEGO blocks can be used for math. Keep in mind the age of your child (regular LEGOs are a choking hazard for children three and under) and their abilities. Small hands are less frustrated with large blocks. You can also tape numbers or use a dry-erase marker on large blocks to practice more advanced math skills like skip counting. Standard LEGOs allow you to do large numbers with less space. 

Here are some creative ways to use LEGOs to enhance your child’s learning, no matter their age. 

1. Basic Addition and Subtraction with Blocks

These straightforward exercises are easy and fun to complete. Use the blocks to represent the numbers in the equation to show your child how numbers work together. This reinforces counting skills and helps them visualize how numbers work together. 

2. Introduce Place Value 

Adding and subtracting within the first nine numbers is fairly easy, but once you begin adding and subtracting with tens, hundreds, thousands, and more, things can quickly get tricky. It’s a lot for your child to visualize in their mind. This is why manipulatives (like LEGOs) help them keep track of numbers in their head.

Create a simple place value chart or paper (units, tens, hundreds, etc) like this one. Make multiple stacks of ten blocks for the tens column and have individual blocks for the units column. 

Write out some numbers or equations for your child to practice. For instance, ask them to use the blocks to make the number 13. They should place one stack of ten in the tens column and three blocks in the units column. Or to make the number 54, they should put 5 tens in the tens column and four blocks in the units column. 

3. Addition and Subtraction with Place Value

Once they master this, they can begin to add and subtract. For example, 13 + 54 would result in 7 unit blocks and 6 tens stacks. 

The LEGO magic happens when they create a new tens stack. In the equation 15 + 19, they will see that 5 and 9 make 14; there are too many unit blocks and they have enough to create a new tens stack to place in the tens column. 

The reverse can be done for subtraction. Start with basic subtraction that doesn’t require borrowing, like 44 – 22. Your child takes away two tens stacks and two unit blocks. 

But let’s say the equation is 44 – 26. Your child moves a stack from the tens column to the units column and then takes away 6 blocks from what is now 14. The LEGOs easily break apart so they can come to the right answer. 

4. Skip Counting with Numbered Blocks

Using Duplo blocks, tape or write with a dry-erase marker the numbers you want your child to practice skip counting. For instance, if you want your child to practice skip counting by 3’s, you would write 3, 6, 9, 12, etc, on individual blocks. Your child then stacks them up in the right order.

5. Pattern Recognition

Although pattern recognition is generally taught as a pre-K or kindergarten skill, pattern recognition is essential for math at all levels. 

Give your child a pattern to replicate using different colored blocks. For a young child, these can be simple (like red, blue, red, blue, or red, blue, green, red, blue, green). But for older children, you can give them a greater challenge! You can choose a longer string of colors or an inverted color pattern (like red, yellow, blue, yellow, red).

After presenting them with your pattern, ask them to build their tower to replicate yours. LEGOs make it easy to do a side-by-side comparison and see if your child succeeded.  

6. Measuring and Comparing Lengths

Young children are often tested on knowing a greater or lesser number ( < and >). This can be confusing when phrased in these terms, but are much easier understood when the child builds a LEGO tower. It’s easy to see that a tower 9 blocks high is greater than a tower 7 blocks high. LEGOs bring internal visualization to life for more concrete learning.

Math Activities at Crestwood Preschool Academy

Whether for work or play, Crestwood Preschool Academy loves building blocks! Crestwood Preschool Academy provides age-appropriate blocks for children of all ages. Our teachers love using blocks to explain and enhance their math lessons and find that children better grasp math concepts when using LEGOs as manipulatives.

You’re running late for work and needed to leave five minutes ago, but your child still hasn’t found his shoes. He keeps getting distracted–adding those finishing touches to a LEGO car, finding a lost baseball card, and making silly faces in the mirror. You feel on the verge of snapping.

There are dozens of reasons children struggle to follow directions. When it’s the child who’s not listening, it’s easy to say the child is to blame. 

However, when parents improve how they give directions, they may be surprised to discover their child can follow directions. 

Here are some ways to improve your communication so your child is more likely to follow directions the first time. 

Tip 1: Gain Your Child’s Attention

There’s no point in giving directions if your child isn’t listening! Before you give directions, ensure you have their attention. Are they playing a video game, reading a book, or out of the room? Eye contact is the best way to ensure your child is listening, but a verbal acknowledgment will suffice if the child is out of the room.

Teaching your child to look at the person addressing them takes time and patience but is well worth the effort. Eye contact shows respect for the other person and is considered good manners. 

Tip 2: Give Instructions One at a Time

Toddlers and young children can’t follow more than one direction at a time.  It’s not until kindergarten that most children can consistently follow through with two or more step directions.

Have appropriate expectations for your child’s age. If they are younger, give one-step directions (e.g., “Go get your shoes,” and once this has been done, “Go get your jacket”). This will reduce confusion for your child and frustration for you!

If your child is in elementary school but still unable to follow multiple instructions, give one-step directions for a season. If your child needs one-step directions, this approach will help them achieve two-step (and more) directions faster. If your child is just being lazy, having to go back and forth will get tiresome after a while and they will decide it’s better to do everything all at once. 

Tip 3: Watch Your Tone

You’re less likely to listen to your boss or superiors if they are yelling, speaking sarcastically, or otherwise annoyed with you. The same is true for your children! 

Choosing to speak kindly, respectfully, and positively, not only increases your chances of first-time obedience but also benefits your relationship and models appropriate social interactions for your children. 

Tip 4: Give Simple Choices

There are times when a parent must decide on behalf of the child, and other times when the child can choose. While these can be helpful for the child to express themselves and be independent, be careful not to give complicated choices. For example:

• Would you like to wear your dinosaur or astronaut shirt?
• Would you like strawberry or vanilla ice cream?
• Do you want to ride your scooter or bike?

Giving your child more than two or three choices can feel overwhelming and can result in an avoidable meltdown. Keep things simple!

Tip 5: Ensure Understanding

After you’ve given a direction, allow your child a few seconds to process the directions. Then, ask your child what they were. For instance:

• Where are we going in five minutes?
• What do you need to get from your room?
• When can you eat dessert?

These kinds of questions ensure your child understands the directions and expectations of those directions. 

Following Directions at Crestwood Preschool Academy

At Crestwood Preschool Academy, we aspire to train attentive children who follow through on instructions. Our teachers are clear and kind when giving directions and have age-appropriate expectations and techniques for training children to be attentive listeners.

Most people think the Terrible Two’s is the most challenging years of child-rearing because they want to assert their independence, even if their choices aren’t what’s best for them. When a parent tells them “no,” a meltdown is likely to ensue.

But any parent with older children can attest that meltdowns don’t stop once the toddler turns three–or even older! The meltdowns evolve as the child grows, even if they’re not rolling around on the floor. 

Meltdowns are something every parent has to deal with. Here are some tips that will help you handle meltdowns, no matter the age. 

Stay Calm and Composed

First and foremost, you must stay calm because children mirror what you model. If you are yelling, angry, or asserting your dominance, the child sees nothing wrong with acting this way, as well.

Try to have a whole-body calmness when dealing with a meltdown. Your face should be relaxed and voice calming and understanding, and your body language should be calming. When your child sees that you’re not angry at their tantrum, they will calm down much faster. 

Stick With Your Discipline Methods

Consistency is crucial for a child’s development, and this includes discipline. There are dozens of discipline methods for meltdowns, and it’s the parent’s responsibility to explore which method best fits your child’s needs. But once you choose, it’s essential to stick with it, even when times get tough!

When a child never knows the repercussions of their behavior, there’s less incentive to respond maturely. But when a child knows that their meltdown will result in a consistent outcome, they are motivated to listen to your instruction on calming down.

Of course, there will be times when it’s hard or inconvenient to discipline consistently. But your child is counting on you to be consistent no matter what, and for the good of your child, follow through with your commitment. 

Reward the Behavior You Want

Good parenting is a balance of consequences and rewards. Make your parenting job ten times easier by not just punishing the bad, but rewarding the good. You give a disincentive to throwing a fit (like losing tablet time) and give an incentive to complete the task right away (like five extra minutes of tablet time). 

While rewarding good behavior is important, parents should proceed with caution. Children shouldn’t need a treat or reward for doing as you ask. This can easily slip into bribery, and as your child gets older, simple joys like a sticker or a popsicle won’t cut it.

Don’t underestimate the power of showing pleasure towards your child when they obey! Children want to please their parents, and they will feel aptly rewarded when you show your genuine enthusiasm. Consider how these statements would motivate your child:

• “That was so fast!”
• “Thank you, that was such a big help to me!”
• “I’m so proud of you for doing what we talked about”

Try one of these or tailor them to your child’s specific needs and watch their eyes sparkle. You will feel a spark of joy in your heart, too.

Give Reasonable Choices

Sometimes meltdowns occur because a child feels trapped into only one option. If the situation allows (but before a meltdown occurs), give your child two or three choices. Letting your child choose can eliminate a meltdown altogether.

Bonus tip: Your child is most likely to choose the last option you give them because that’s the one they remember. You can still gently steer your child towards your choice, but they feel in control.

Talk About Next Time

You can do everything right: stay calm, use positive rewards, be consistent in discipline, and give appropriate choices. Inevitably, your child will still have some meltdowns. Part of this is just human nature, and part of it is developmental. Children still have to learn how to overcome meltdowns, so don’t be discouraged if meltdowns still occur.

Once your child has calmed down and can understand you, it’s essential to talk about how to make better choices next time. 

Review the situation together, gently showing how their choices led to the consequences of their actions. Then explain what would have been an appropriate response and encourage them to make better choices. Of course, it’s always good to remind them that you love them. 

For a Better Tomorrow, Take Initiative Today

It’s essential to take charge of meltdowns today. 

Because toddlers and three-year-olds are so little and have darling voices, sometimes adults call their tantrums cute or funny. But ignoring these meltdowns now will only cause heartache, frustration, and extra work later. Your future self (and your future child!) thanks you for dealing with meltdowns now.

If your child is pre-K, kindergarten, or older, and is still experiencing meltdowns, the exhortation is the same! Don’t hesitate to assemble a game plan for handling meltdowns. The only difference between younger and older kids is you can talk through these meltdowns in more depth (what triggered it, how they felt, what kept them from making good choices, what to do next time, etc). 

And remember, consistency is key!

Growing Self-Control at Crestwood Preschool Academy

At Crestwood Preschool Academy, we know that meltdowns happen, but we seek to help children overcome meltdowns. Our teachers are trained to be kind and compassionate with children having meltdowns and how to respond appropriately in a classroom setting. We also seek to work alongside parents, supporting your measures at home, and we rejoice with you when children gradually overcome their meltdowns.

Stories can have a powerful impact on children’s lives. Quality stories can transport us into the author’s world to experience the story as if we were a character ourselves. Because of this, children can learn valuable lifelong lessons, encourage their character growth, and help them make better decisions.

One such impactful book is “What Should Danny Do? School Day!” by Ganit and Adir Levy. This husband-and-wife author team has created a series of children’s choose-your-own-adventure books that show the power of our choices.

What Is the Book About?

The colorful, engaging book follows the main character Danny, an elementary-aged boy, during a day at school.  Follow Danny as he makes choices about getting to school on time, standing up to bullies, being kind to his friends, and staying engaged during class.

Danny wants to be a superhero when he grows up, but his father says his most important superpower is the Power to Choose (or P2C). Each choice changes the outcome of his day: if he makes bad choices, he is met with consequences, but good choices are rewarded!

How Is the Book Written?

The book is written in a choose-your-own-adventure style, which allows your child to make Danny’s choices for him. You will read a few pages of the story that lead up to the next choice Danny has to make. You’ll read the prompt that gives your child Danny’s two choices. Then turn to the page number correlating to your child’s answer and resume the story.

The book has eight different endings, so your child can explore how different choices bring about different results throughout Danny’s day.

How Does the Book Help My Child?

Your child lives vicariously through Danny, seeing how each choice changes the course of Danny’s day. When Danny makes poor choices repeatedly, he gets more and more consequences. But when Danny makes good choices, he is happy and enjoying life.

This book illustrates how it’s never too late to make good choices. If Danny starts his day by playing and missing the bus, his day doesn’t have to stay bad! He can choose to make better choices, altering the outcome of his day. The stories show how mistakes can be overcome.

How Can I Use the Book in Parenting?

“What Should Danny Do? School Day!” can be an excellent tool for teaching children the power of their choices, helping them see how their poor choices can get them in trouble, and offering hope for overcoming mistakes with good choices. Danny lives these choices for them, so they don’t have to!

This book is an excellent resource as your child prepares to resume school. It’s also handy to keep on your bookshelf to revisit several times throughout the school year as your child encounters various challenges at school.

Use the book to illustrate your child’s own choices. The prompt “What should Danny do?”, easily transfers to their own lives–just replace “Danny” with your child’s name! When your child has a decision to make, ask “What should [child’s name] do?” and give them two choices.

For instance, if your child is about to throw a fit when you tell them to get dressed for school, you can say “It’s time to get dressed for school. What should Owen do, throw a fit and miss screen time, or put on his clothes and get screen time?” Your child can recall Danny’s story and how good choices bring about rewards while bad choices only lead to consequences. This can help your child make good choices easily.

Is There More?

Yes!! Ganit and Adir Levy offer several other books:

• What Should Danny Do? The original book follows Danny through a day at home with his parents and younger brother.
• What Should Danny Do? On Vacation! Make decisions for Danny as he goes on vacation with his best friend to an all-inclusive resort.
• What Should Darla Do? Written in the same choose-your-own-adventure style, Darla is Danny’s cousin who needs to use her power to choose throughout her day
• Super Girl Mindset: What Should Darla Do? Coloring Book: If your child loves the series, they’ll love to color in this book which reinforces their power to choose.

Where Can I Find the Book?

If you want to try the books out first, you can find these books at your local library. But because these books are excellent at every new development phase, you’ll want to have a copy on hand to use when the need arises. You can buy your own copy through many online retailers. The Levy’s website gives discounts on the books and also offers fun additional products, like P2C capes, Danny and Darla plushes, educator’s packs, and more!

Every child develops at their own pace, but developmental milestones are one way that pediatricians and parents can anticipate upcoming skills and ensure each child is developing in a timely manner.

What Are Developmental Milestones?

A developmental milestone is the expected level of gross and fine motor skills, mental and emotional skills, cognition skills, and social skills. These will build on each other over time to accomplish greater strength, coordination, and comprehension. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of age-appropriate developmental milestones that many pediatricians use as a guideline in tracking developmental progress. These are not an absolute standard–in fact, they were revised in 2022! Many children eventually develop normally, even if they are “behind” in certain areas. 

While developmental milestones aren’t something to stress over, they can help determine necessary care and therapy if a milestone is missed or delayed. A pediatrician noting these delays can qualify your child for beneficial therapy or healthcare procedures that will benefit their quality of life. 

Why Should Parents Know Developmental Milestones?

Because most pediatricians only observe children at their well visits, months or a year can go by before a pediatrician gets an update on your child. Even with routine well visits, pediatricians rely on the parent’s subjective report of the child’s daily habits.

Parents and guardians, then, need to know what to expect in the age range (or upcoming age range) of their child so they can give an accurate report. Many pediatricians’ offices will provide a handout of these milestones.  

You must be honest at the pediatrician’s office. The pediatrician is on your child’s side! Even if your child isn’t meeting developmental milestones, the pediatrician is the one who can help, so sharing honestly can only benefit your child. 

2 Months

By two months old, babies should be able to:

• Look at your face and be happy to see you
• Make other sounds than crying and be startled by loud noises. They should w
• Watch you move around the room and look at toys for several seconds at a time
• Hold their head up when lying on their tummy
• Move both arms and legs
• Open and close their hands

4 Months

At four months, babies can:

• Smile, chuckle, and make cooing sounds
• Look at their hands with interest
• Recognize that a bottle or breast means food
• Hold their head up
• Put their hands in their mouth
• Use their arms to swing at toys
• Hold themselves up on their forearms while on their tummy

6 Months

Your 6-month-old should be:

• Laughing
• Looking at himself in a mirror
• Recognizing familiar people
• Squealing
• Taking turns with you making sounds
• Blowing “raspberries.”
• Reaching for toys and put them in their mouths
• Rolling from tummy to back
• Pushing up on straight arms when on their tummy
• Sitting (leaning on hands for support if necessary)

9 Months

At 9 months, your baby:

• May be shy or fearful of strangers and react when you leave by crying or reaching for you
• Will laugh at peek-a-boo
• Show various facial expressions (like happy, sad, mad)
• Will respond to their name
• Will say repeated sounds like “mama” or “baba”
• Will lift their arms to be picked up
• Will look for objects dropped out of sight, bang objects together, and transfer objects from one hand to another
• Can get into a sitting position and sit unsupported

12 Months

At a year old, babies:

• Play pat-a-cake
• Wave “bye”
• Say “mama” and “dada”
• Understand “no”
• Put things in a container
• Look for objects you hide under a blanket as a game
• Pull to stand
• Cruise alongside furniture
• Pick up food between their thumb and pointer finger
• Drink from a cup with help. 

15 Months

Around 15 months, toddlers:

• Love to copy what other children do
• Show you their toys
• Clap
• Stack objects
• Show physical affection to toys and loved one
• Say one or two other words, like “da” for dog
• Look at objects when you name them
• Follow simple directions (“give me the toy”)
• Point to someone or something for help
• Taking steps on their own
• Feeding themselves

18 Months

Toddlers at 18 months:

• Point at interesting things
• Play away from you
• Look at books
• Know how to help you dress them
• Try to say more words
• Follow one-step directions
• Copy your chores and mannerisms
• Walk on their own
• Climb on and off a couch
• Scribble
• Try to use utensils 

2 Years

At 2 years, toddlers:

• Pay more attention to social situations by acting sad when others cry or look to see your reaction to a new situation
• Point to familiar objects in a book
• Say two words together (“more milk”)
• Point to two body parts
• Gesture more often by blowing kisses or nodding yes
• Interested in knobs and switches
• Playing with more than one toy at a time
• Running
• Kicking a ball
• Walking up steps
• Eating with a spoon

30 Months

At 2.5 years, toddlers:

• egin to play with other children instead of beside them
• Follow a simple routine (“it’s time to clean up”)
• Like to get your attention to watch them
• Say about 50 words, using a noun and verb together like “doggie run”
• Tell you the names of objects in books
• Say “I,” “me,” and “we.”
• Begin to play imaginatively
• Use simple problem-solving skills
• Follow two-step instructions like “shut the door and take off your coat”
• Identify at least one color
• Begin to use their hands to twist things
• Take off some clothes independently
• Jump with both feet
• Turn pages in a book

3 Years

3-year-olds can:

• Self-soothe within 10 minutes of childcare drop-off
• Play with other children
• Have simple conversations
• Ask “who,” “what,” “where,” or “why” questions
• Identify an action in a book like running or jumping
• Say their first name
• Talk well enough for other adults to understand them
• Draw a circle
• String large beads on a string
• Use a fork
• Put on some clothes independently
• Avoid touching objects like a hot stove when instructed

4 Years

Young children:

• Pretend to be something else during play, like a superhero or ballerina
• Comfort a sad friend
• Avoid dangerous situations like jumping from a tree
• Like to help
• Can change behavior based on their surroundings (home vs. school).
• Their sentences are four or more words long, ask simple questions, and can tell you something about their day.
• They can name colors
• Tell what comes next in a story,
• Draw a person with three or more body parts
• Catch a large ball
• Serve their food
• Unbutton buttons
• Hold their utensil and pencils in a pencil grasp.

5 Years

Children at this age can:

• Play games with simple rules
• Act or dance
• Do simple chores
• Tell simple stories
• Answer simple questions
• Keep a conversation going with up to four exchanges
• Recognize simple rhymes.
• Count to 10
• Recognize some written numbers and letters
• Write some letters in their name
• Pay attention for 5 to 10 minutes
• Use words about time like “yesterday” or “afternoon”
• Button some buttons
• Hop on one foot.

Developmental milestones should be used as a tool to help you and your pediatrician evaluate your child’s development. Some children develop faster than others, and some develop quicker in some areas and not others–like a socially aware child who is a late walker. 

If you have concerns about your child’s development, speak with your pediatrician! They can best assist you.

At Crestwood Preschool Academy, we have a well-rounded curriculum for every age group that helps them meet their developmental milestones. We provide many opportunities throughout the day for children to develop fine and gross motor skills, cognitive skills, and social and emotional skills. 

Children are already prone to impatience. But this impatience is accelerated by our fast-paced, instant-gratification culture that usually allows us to avoid waiting for things we want. It’s no surprise that children usually lack patience.

However, everyone would agree that patience is a necessary life skill. It takes intentionality to develop patience in children, but this character quality is vital to living a fulfilled adult life.

What Makes Children Impatient?

No one has to teach a child to be impatient; it’s human nature! Even before a child can talk, they want their toy or snack, and they want it now! However, there can be contributing factors to a child’s impatience. 

Technology

Cell phones, tablets, televisions, and game consoles are just a sampling of technological devices children use daily. Highly addictive apps deliver instant gratification with minimal effort. This makes it harder for children to persevere in the midst of real-life challenges.

Instant Gratification

Instant gratification comes in many forms: instant food from the drive-thru, lightning-fast internet access, or same-day delivery. 

Modeled Impatience

Children learn how to respond to life’s circumstances from their adult role models. If they witness impatience, it’s likely the child will act the same way. 

Why Should Parents Teach Patience?

Patience is vital to live a happy and fulfilled life. Patience improves your self-esteem, relationships, and life achievements, such as education, career opportunities, and financial stability. 

While many of our desires can be granted quickly, there are still things in life that take time, and there’s no way to speed up the process. Someone who is unable to wait will be incapacitated, jumping from one best thing to the next–as long as it doesn’t take too long.

Patience and perseverance go hand-in-hand. A child who doesn’t learn to persevere through hard times will not meet their potential and face continual discouragement. 

Ways to Help Your Child Develop Patience

It’s primarily the parent’s job to model and teach a child to be patient because parents should be the biggest role models and authority figures in their child’s life. While other authority figures like teachers and grandparents are influential, if the parent isn’t consistent, the child likely won’t learn patience.

Luckily, there are plenty of practical and fun ways to model and teach patience. 

Model Patience

Children learn more by observation than education. You can tell your child to be patient with their homework, but if you get frustrated at the Internet speed, your child will likely follow your example of impatience. 

Choosing to have a positive spin can help your child be more patient. For instance, if you’re waiting in a long grocery line, playing a game like counting all the candy that’s a certain color. Delaying gratification is a wonderful exercise for adults, too! 

Teach Patience Through Games

Games are an excellent way to improve patience skills without children realizing it. Here are some easy patience games:

• Hide and Seek: This classic game teaches children to wait to be found
• Mother, May I?: Also called “Captain, May I?”, this game teaches respectful questioning and patience skills
• Freeze: Play a favorite dance song and pause at random intervals and for various lengths of time. The child should remain “frozen” until the music begins again.
• Popcorn Game: Sitting in a circle, pass around a bowl of popcorn in which each child take only one piece of popcorn to eat at a time. This game teaches turn-taking and patience.  

Delay Gratification

There are countless ways you can help your child learn patience by delaying gratification. Delayed gratification doesn’t mean you withhold anything–you just delay it.

For instance, you can bake cookies instead of opening a package of cookies. In both cases, your child still gets a cookie, but baking them stretches their patience (and is a bonding experience!). 

Other ways you can delay gratification include:

• Work towards a goal: Whether it’s saving up for a new toy or cleaning up their room before going to the park, children experience greater joy and satisfaction in their reward when they’ve worked for it.
• Save toys and treats for special occasions: Children who routinely get a trinket or treat develop an unhealthy expectation that they should get rewards all the time. While you can still surprise your child with a treat, saving rewards for special occasions helps children develop patience and realistic expectations.
• Creating (and sticking with!) boundaries: Whether it’s a treat, toy, or breakfast cereal, children will often push your boundaries. But sticking with your boundaries helps children develop patience because they learn to not give in to every whim. 

Praise Any Progress

Patience is a developed skill, which means children have no idea what patience is until you notice is for them. 

Praising your child for exhibiting patience should be easy and delightful–they did it! Rejoice and celebrate together! You may be surprised at how much your child wants to please you, and if patience pleases you, they are more likely to do it. So make it a big deal and enjoy the rewards of your hard work!

Patience is a necessary life skill that needs to be developed for children to have happy and fulfilling adult lives. It takes a lot of effort and consistency, but the rewards are worth it!

At Crestwood Preschool Academy, our teachers are skilled at helping children learn patience. Our schedule helps children learn patience through taking turns, learning fine and gross motor skills, and cooperative play.