Entertainment And Early Learning

by: Liz Burgess

Some people think education begins when a child enters kindergarten, they don't realize that early learning can begin as young as a few months old.

Children aren’t just learning about the world around them, they're beginning to learn things like colors, logic, counting, letters and fair play.

Believe it or not, you may have the biggest impact in these areas, and how they learn will stay with them for the rest of their lives - for better or worse.

Don't be afraid to turn to someone for help like I did. I’m not good at teaching, and I know it. Early learning for my daughter came from Sesame Street and I am not ashamed to admit it. They taught her a lot of the things she needs to know, and she is far ahead of her peers.

She can write her name at four years old while none of the other children in her class at church can do so. I’m not saying she’s smarter than the other kids, I just think I did my part to give her a good head start in early learning.

If you don’t know what you're doing, much like me, you really should investigate the tools that are out there geared towards early learning. You can find shows like the Wiggles, Sesame Street or maybe Little Einstein to help them along their way.

Children can learn from television, just make sure the early learning shows you allow them to watch are indeed helping them. You don’t want it to be purely entertainment, though there is nothing wrong with a little entertainment to go along with the learning.

In fact, entertainment might be the key to early learning in children. Take the Wiggles for example. They give lessons, but they disguise them in a story or song. They have skits that teach children without the children even realizing what's happening.

Their help with early learning goes far beyond numbers and letters. They also teach about good manners, fair play, and how to do so many different things, and they do it in a way that does not talk down to children. They just lead by example, and that is the best way, as far as I am concerned, to help a child learn and grow.

If it had not been for Sesame Street and the Wiggles it may have been something else, but I thank God for them everyday. Not only have they taught my child so much, they have made it fun for me as well. More fun than you could imagine!

Children and grown-ups are a lot alike. We listen and learn better when we don't realize we're being taught - we think we're being entertained.

Liz Burgess is a proud mommy who enjoys sharing what she's learned with her fellow mommies.