(Age 3 to 9)

How to Teach Children (Age 3 to 9) Children do a lot of growing and developing between the ages

of 3 and 9. At 3, children are moving out of babyhood and into

childhood. They have rich imaginations, may have strong

fears, and love to play physically. As they move through the

preschool ages and into school ages, they become more

independent and confident about trying new things. Cognitive

and language development change dramatically through

these ages, as children go from asking the same “why?”

questions repeatedly to being able to tell stories in sequential

order and enjoying jokes and riddles. Whatever your role in a

child’s life (teacher, parent, or other caregiver), there are

some ways to make learning productive, fun, and enjoyable

for the both of you.

Teaching through Play and Example

1 Read to your children. Reading aloud to children is widely

recognized as the single most important activity in language

development. It builds word-sound awareness, which is a

huge predictor of their own reading success. It also builds

motivation, curiosity, memory, and of course, vocabulary.

When children begin having good experiences with books at a

very early age, they are more likely to continue this feeling of

enjoyment and confidence with their own reading throughout

their lives.

Find books with pictures for the younger ages (3-6) and allow

children to stop and ask questions or talk about the book

during your reading times.

Keep a variety of age- and interest- appropriate books around

the house or the classroom to foster children’s independent

reading. Ask children what they like to read and make those

types of books available.

Continue reading aloud to older children; they never really

become too old for it! Before bed time each night, or at the

end of the school day, are perfect times to set aside for this

activity.[1]

2 Play pretend games with your children. Playing house or

other types of fantasy play is very important for children’s

imaginations as well as their social and language

development. They will love nothing more than to have you

enter into their little fantasy world.

Mimic their activities occasionally. If a child picks up a stone

and zooms it around like a car, try picking up another one and

doing the same. Chances are they will be delighted.

Keep a “prop box” for pretend play in the house or classroom

that is filled with empty boxes, old clothes and hats, purses,

telephones, magazines, (non-breakable) cooking utensils and

dishes, stuffed animals and dolls, fabric pieces or blankets

and sheets (for fort-making), and other random items like post

cards, old tickets, coins, etc.[2]

3 Do arts and crafts. Coloring, drawing, and crafts are not only

a great way to keep children entertained on a rainy day, but

they also help develop children’s fine motor skills, develop

their concepts of colors and numbers, and help them see

scientific processes like how glue works. Be sure to use age

appropriate tools and materials, like child scissors.

For younger kids, try making finger puppets, pasta jewelry, or

felt collages together.

Older kids often enjoy magazine collages, making pottery,

and making masks.

Have an “art center” at home or in the classroom where you

keep paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue,

and other art materials like felt, foam, pipe cleaners, tissue

paper, etc.[3]

4 Sing songs and play music. Music has long been linked

with the development of mathematical thinking. Hearing

rhythm and counting beats fosters math skills, and hearing

words put to song also fosters language skills. Children also

often use music to develop physical skills, because they like

to run, dance, jump and skip while music is playing.

Sing nursery rhymes to young children. They will love the silly

nature and repetition of them, and will learn to sing them

along with you.

Find popular children’s songs on CD or the web and play

them around the house or as a transition time in the

classroom.

Older children (7-9) may develop a particular interest in an

instrument or in singing or dancing. If they do, try fostering

this interest with a beginner’s instrument of their own, or in

lessons with a music (or vocal or dance) instructor.[4]

5 Play sports together. Even if you’re not the most athletic

caregiver in the world, exposing children to sports and playing

with them is important for their physical development and

motor skills. Sports also teach honesty, teamwork, fair play,

respect for rules, and respect for themselves and others.

Choose a sport or two you’ll play sometimes with your

children and get the necessary things together for playing. For

example, get a basketball and find some local courts you can

go to, or get a baseball, gloves, and a bat and try organizing a

neighborhood game.

If you’re a classroom teacher, support your students’ interests

in sports by providing sport equipment for recess, asking

about their games, and going to see them participate in

school or local sport events.[5]

6 Bring your children along on errands. You’ll want to make

this a time- and age-appropriate activity. For example, you

won’t want to bring your three-old out for errands during nap

time (unless you don’t have a choice), but otherwise,

exposing children to errands can help them develop “real-life”

skills in a fun way. Explain what you have to do for different

errands in a way the children can understand. You’ll also want

to keep your list of things to do short to avoid getting the kids

overly tired, bored, or frustrated.

Set expectations for behavior during errands. Let your child

know that while you like having him help pick out cereal at the

grocery store, it’s unacceptable to pull things off the shelves

himself or whine about not getting every type of candy that’s

there.

Talk about costs of items and the purposes of different things

and services that we buy. Explain how things work in the post

office or at the car mechanic. Explain where different food

comes from and how it gets transported to our local grocery

stores.

Remember to slow down. You won’t get errands done as

quickly with children as you would without them and that’s

okay. Use the time as an educational experience for them.[6]

7 Ask for their help. Young children naturally love to help. It

makes them feel important and valued by you. Foster this

feeling into their older years by asking them to help you with

various chores. Gradually, through watching and imitating

you, they will learn to take over certain chores themselves

and develop a sense of responsibility.

Ask your preschooler to help you pick up their toys and put

them away in the appropriate places. Give praise for being a

good helper.

Begin giving your older child (7-9) some actual chores for him

to complete on his own. Give a small allowance in exchange

for completing chores well and without complaining. Advise

him to save his allowance earnings toward things he’d like to

buy.

If you’re in a classroom, develop a rotating system of class

jobs for students to complete, such as cleaning the board,

wiping desks, passing out papers, collecting homework,

emptying the trash can, etc. You can add rewards systems for

completing the various jobs as extra incentive.[7]

Instructing Directly

1 Break new information down into small chunks. When

you’re teaching something new to a child, you need to

remember that what they know is at a different level than an

adult level. You’ll need to simplify ideas and start with what

they already know. Teachers often refer to these methods of

simplifying and building on prior knowledge as chunking and

scaffolding.

Find out what the child already knows about the new concept

and go from there. If you’re teaching new words, use words

the child already knows to define the new words. If you use a

certain word while explaining and you’re not sure if the child

knows it, it’s okay to ask, “Do you know what that means?” If

not, use another word to clarify.[8]

2 Review often. You will probably need to say the same things

in different ways multiple times while teaching children,

especially if you’re working with more than one child at a time.

All children learn at different rates and in different styles, so

you should anticipate repeating yourself and practicing some

skills over and over again.[9]

3

Use visual aids. Graphic organizers, pictures, and charts are

all helpful in providing children with multiple ways of learning

new information. Graphic organizers are specific tools often

used in classes for young children that help them to break up

(chunk) information into smaller parts. They can use them to

organize information into a variety of ways, like sequencing or

cause and effect for stories, or categorizing for learning new

science terms.[10]

Talking to Children

1 Listen and answer questions. Children will naturally come

up with questions while learning something new. Take time to

listen to their questions and try to formulate the best answer

you can think of that directly answers their question.

Sometimes you might have to ask if you understand their

question correctly. You can find out by rephrasing it and

saying, “Is that what you’re asking?” After you answer, you

can ask, “Did that answer your question?”

If your child asks questions at home at times that aren’t good

for you, be sure to explain to them that it’s not a good time

and why. This also goes for any time your child talks to you.

Children don’t always understand that sometimes when you’re

in the middle of cooking a complicated dinner it’s not a good

time to discuss what happened to them that day.

Be sure to say, “I really want to hear about that (or talk about

that), but right now isn’t a good time. Can we talk during

dinner (or at another specified time)?[11]

2 Speak kindly. It’s important to talk to children, and to other

adults while you’re around children, the way you would like for

them to talk. Children learn best by imitating. If you want your

children to be polite, be sure to use manners. Pay attention to

the tone of your voice.

Be sure to say “please,” “thank you,” “excuse me,” and “I’m

sorry” appropriately while interacting with your children or with

other adults in front of them.

Listen to the tone of your voice through the child’s ears.

Children often pay more attention to tone than they do to what

you’re actually saying. Have you ever had a child say to you,

“Why are you yelling at me?” when you weren’t actually

yelling? This is most likely because your tone sounded angry,

frustrated, or unhappy in some way, possibly without you

even realizing it.[12]

3 Take children’s emotions seriously. Children have very

strong emotions, and sometimes they are about things that

don’t appear important to adults. It’s important to not

downplay how a child feels about a certain event or situation.

Help children to make sense of their emotions in a helpful

way. You can start by saying, “I understand this is upsetting to

you. Let’s talk about why you’re upset.” You can then try to

calm them down by talking about ways that they can cope

with feeling upset, or explaining other points of view that they

may not have thought of.[13]

4 Have patience. Patience is an extremely important quality to

have while working with children. It can be a challenge, but

the best thing to do is remember when “kids are being kids.”

They are usually not intentionally trying to irritate you. Unless

they are… and in those cases sometimes you just have to

ignore them. When you spend lots of time with kids in any

capacity, it’s important to take care of yourself too. Get

enough sleep, drink enough water, exercise and eat a healthy

diet, and allow yourself some occasional breaks away from

them to regroup and gather your thoughts.[14]

Teach Your Child To Read

and Enable Your Child to Become a

Fast and Fluent Reader!

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