By Charles Wood Teachers of small children face special challenges. Some children have been to pre-k prior to kindergarten and have an ide...

Do Learning Games For Kindergarten And 1st Grade Really Teach

By Charles Wood


Teachers of small children face special challenges. Some children have been to pre-k prior to kindergarten and have an idea of what to expect. For others, it is their first time in a school environment. Most are excited, happy, anxious, and unsure of themselves, all at the same time. Teachers have to take all of this into account as they begin each new school year. Children entering first grade are a little more seasoned and more secure about what is expected of them, but they are still very young. Education professionals can start the year on a positive note by introducing learning games for kindergarten and 1st grade early on.

Teachers have to adhere to certain guidelines that the school districts set down. There are achievements that students must meet before they can proceed to the next grade level. Within the curriculum however, there is leeway for the educator to be creative enough to engage their students and help convince them that learning can be fun.

Small kids have notoriously short attention spans. As an educator, you do not have very much time to capture their attention and imaginations. This is where playing a game can help. If you distract them with something new and unexpected, children will be curious and willing to give it a try.

Most young people are visual. They love picture books, kids television shows, animated movies, and puzzles. Many of them are already computer literate. If you offer them interesting and novel images that tell a story or pose a problem, they will not even realize they are learning a lesson.

One of the nice things about new learners is their eagerness to please. They are still young enough that they want you to like them and will make an effort to earn your praise. At this age, kids tend to be curious and like to have things explained to them in a way they can understand and remember. Repetition works with small children and so does consistency. You will always have a few in the class that hang back, afraid to answer questions for fear of making a mistake. These children need extra time and coaxing to succeed.

Even adults have a hard time sitting in one place all day. The younger the child, the harder it is for him or her to concentrate without frequent breaks. One recess a day is not enough. If you can incorporate exercise into a learning game, children will work harder and do better when they have to sit at their desks.

Games that involve music are wonderful. The correlation between music and math is well documented and starting to teach this early can make a big difference in the educational life of your students. Music helps children remember things better and retain them longer. You can find great examples of musical learning games online.

Games will help reinforce the idea that learning is fun. The more creative and imaginative you, as their teacher and guide, can be the more they will absorb and retain. Students remember good teachers all of their lives.




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