To follow up with the first topic of our 4-part Parent-Child Workshop on Child Development, Liberty International School is posting this to help parents choose the right toys that support children's speech and language development.

Supporting our children with their speech and language development should not be so difficult or complicated as long as parents find and take advantage of opportunities that occur every day. It can be as simple as spending a portion of your day talking and listening to your kids tell stories, or just playing with them.

The following are some suggested toys and how they support speech and language development of infants and toddlers:

Stacking and Nesting Toys

-    Preposition, color, shape and size concepts
-    Concepts of full/empty by filling cups up with sensory materials like sand, beans, rice, water
-    Counting skills
-    Problem solving skills by  figuring out which one stacks or nests within the other  best
-    Fine motor and planning skills
-    Cause and Effect relationship

Wooden Blocks

-    Hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and visual processing
-    Preposition, color, shape and size concepts
-    Counting Skills
-    Problem solving skills by figuring out how to create a tower  that will not fall down
-    Letter and number concepts if  using blocks with letters and numbers
-    Social skills like sharing with friends, taking turns, cooperation and problem solving skills when played with friends in school, at home or at a play station

Balls

-    Preposition, color, shape and size concepts
-    Tactile concepts and vocabulary when using balls made of different materials
-    Counting concepts and problem solving skills
-    Gross motor, planning and hand-eye skills when catching, throwing and rolling the ball
-    Social skills like sharing, taking turns, playing nicely, reading non-verbal cues of friends

Shape Sorter

-    Preposition, color, shape and size concepts
-    Empty and full concepts
-    Fine motor and planning skills
-    Counting and problem solving skills

Toy Phone

-    Social skills through pretend play by practicing his speech and language skills talking to a different array of people. Many times, your child will ask you talk after he talks on the phone which is also contributes a lot to learning how to take turns.
Play-dough
-    Tactile development
-    Creativity
-    Color and shapes skills
-    Fine motor skills
-    Hand-eye coordination

Set of animals

-    Literacy through practicing animal sounds, recognizing different animals, where they live, and how they help people, among other things.
-    Hand-eye coordination by walking the animals around.

Puzzles

-    Develops grasp of children
-    Hand-eye coordination
-    Enhances memory
-    Problem solving skills

Play Food

-    Literacy through recognizing different food available in and out of the house
-    Play pretend; teaching responsibility as they pretend they are cooking for their friends or their family.
-    Provides a venue to practice their vocabulary while they are playing pretend

Baby Doll

-    Teaches body parts
-    Teaches clothing vocabulary
-    Preposition, colors, shapes and sizes concepts
-    Teaches basic and every day action words like feed, cry, carry, etc
-    Understanding wh questions by asking your child Where is the baby? What does the baby want to eat? Why is the baby crying?
-    Great tool in developing social skills like taking turns, taking care of siblings, sharing, neatness, cleanliness, hygiene, etc. 

Toy Cars/Trucks

-    Prepositions, shapes, numbers, colors, shapes skills
-    Part-whole relationships
-    Simple every day action words
-    Social skills

These are just some of the toys that are readily available in Phnom Penh. Most of these are affordable and can be bought in the local markets like Orussey and other major toy stores in the city. Of course, you do not have to limit yourselves to the toys mentioned on this post. We just want to give you a general picture of what kinds of toys are good for your toddlers. We hope that this will help you.

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Here are some tips to parents in helping children form a habit of doing their homework:

1. Know the teachers — and what they're looking for. Attend school events, such as parent-teacher conferences, to meet your child's teachers. Ask about their homework policies and how you should be involved.
2. Set up a homework-friendly area. Make sure kids have a well-lit, quiet and comfortable place designated as a study area. Keep supplies — paper, pencils, glue, scissors — within reach.
3. Schedule a regular study time. Some kids work best in the afternoon, following a snack and play period; others may prefer to wait until after dinner. Know what works best with your child and choose that time as your child’s regular study time, whether he has homework or not.
4. Help them make a plan.  Encourage your child break up the homework into loads that they can manage. Create a work schedule if necessary. This scheduling skill will help your child manage days when they have lots of homework to accomplish.
5. Keep distractions to a minimum. This means no TV, loud music, or phone calls. If there are other children in the house, they should be kept away and instructed to be quiet or play away from where your child’s homework place.
6. Make sure kids do their own work. They won't learn if they don't think for themselves and make their own mistakes. Parents can make suggestions and help with directions. But it's a kid's job to do the learning.
7. Be a motivator and monitor. Check if there is homework or any take-home tasks. Make this a habit every day. Encourage your child to read and review the day’s lesson every day.
8. Set a good example. Children follow what they see us, their parents, do. Set as a good example to your child. If your child sees you managing your time well despite your busy schedule, read a book or anything valuable, they are more likely to follow rather than just mere advices.
9. Praise their work and efforts. Make sure that your child knows that his efforts in school are appreciated. Post an aced test or art project on the refrigerator. Mention academic achievements to relatives.
10. If there are continuing problems with homework, get help. Talk about it with your child's teacher. Some kids have trouble seeing the board and may need glasses; others might need an evaluation for a learning problem or attention disorder.

For young learners (preschoolers and kindergartners), homework is just given out to establish good study habits for the children. Our role as parents is to just follow up, motivate and monitor our children. We don’t have to stress or pressure the child to perfect the homework.