Intelligent Toddlers - Magazines

E got a magazine this morning.  It was a treat because she went for a walk with a friend so I could have a half hour 'to myself'.  She loves her magazines. They are a real treat for her as we rarely get them.  But they are filled with so many goodies.  Often they also have gifts attached to the front that have small pieces so am finding imaginative ways to store the better ones.  Todays was s'nakes and ladders' - well cool!  And rather compact without being too small...put the small counters and dice into an old film case from my 'old fashioned' camera and will find a special small baggie to keep the board in with the little pot so that they dont get seperated. 

But as well as educational gifts these magazines have:

• stories;
• letters and numbers that if you follow the arrows you can learn how to write;
• counting exercises;
• observation activities;
• colouring in;
• puzzles;
• matching things;
• follow the line puzzles;
• dot to dots; 
• reward stickers (with places to stick them included)

...and so on.  They are great.  E wanted to do everything at once.  We did the whole book about three times in one day!  (Today)  We gonna do it again tomorrow and we saved some of the activities especially - her idea.  It also makes the school times that we do together more fun because in week day school time I tend to make the activities myself - but they are along the same lines, when the activities are in a book/magazine i think she sees them as more 'proper'.  So it is like the exam after the practise.  I hope this makes sense.

Here in the UK there are a few educational magazines put out by the different childrens TV channels so the characters in them are familiar for instance CBeebies and NickJr.  I assume this is similar across the rest of the world, but of course I cannot pop into the shops to check and when we have travelled she was too young, or I was too ignorant of these things, so I have no recollection.  We started getting them at about her 2nd birthday when she was showing more interest in reading independently. 

I hope that this is helpful.  Oh yeah, when I spoke to the nursery about doing 'school time @ home' the other day they were very supportive and basically said that doing these things - as long as she has the interest - is great because then she is learning things at her own pace and being supported in the home which will do her good in the future.  So if you are doing things at home, be encouraged, there are SOME schools out there that think parents showing an interest in their childrens education is a good thing. 

Peace
EF.x