There is a broad range of behavior that is normal for preschoolers. Many preschoolers resist learning sessions that involve sitting still to learn numbers, letters and other concepts. Preschoolers who are easily distracted during sedentary activities may be able to sustain concentration when moving around. This is why active learning is so important. Many preschoolers learn by exploring, touching, running around and making messes.
Preschoolers need active learning opportunities that use their entire bodies. You can build multisensory active learning opportunities into playtime with a little imagination. For example, if the children like to play with toy cars, you can create a make-believe parking lot where each car has a number or letter and must be parked in the spot with the corresponding number or letter.
The overall goal is to motivate preschoolers to learn. They should not view learning as tedious, an attitude that can impede learning throughout their lives. By identifying learning opportunities in kids' day-to-day routine, you can get preschoolers to view learning as fun. Try counting the number of cars parked on the street and identifying letters in signs. Look for letters in alphabet soup, and count fingers and toes. With a little imagination, there are many ways to incorporate educational concepts and goals into preschoolers' lives.
There are many DVDs on the market today that claim to teach preschoolers to read and to otherwise enhance children's' brains. According to Rebekah A. Richert, PhD, lead author of a study published in the May 2010 issue of the "Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine," these DVDs do not live up to their claims. In fact, Richert's team found that children who started watching these DVDs at an early age had lower levels of language acquisition than those children who did not watch the DVDs.