Learning to learn

My grandmother seemed to know instinctively, although she wasn't formally educated, that attending classical music concerts when she was carrying my father in utero, was a worthwhile endeavor. It must have been beneficial to his brain development, because although he was the firstborn (which we all know gives a child an edge) he also went on to be the first person in his family to attend college, and the first to earn a PhD.

Tom Limbert wrote an article about what parents can do to prepare their child for the earliest days of school. Beyond color, number and letter recognition, he talks about social skills, knowing how to listen, take turns, be resilient. I hope our government officials read Mr. Limbert's article. I hope that parents read Mr. Limbert's article. Society will soon need to recognize the importance of the very earliest years and the impact that parenting has on the most critical time of a child's development. Moms & Dads, if you're waiting for school to do the teaching, you will have let tens of thousands of hours of teaching moments slip by. We each need to make sure that our homes are loving, nurturing environments, enriched with materials that foster the natural learning that takes place when parents interact with their children.

There are some wonderful Discovery Toys games that can aid in this effort. You'll want to consider games and activities that help your child think and learn how to learn, not just memorize facts. Play games that teach your child to take turns, be patient, follow instructions. Busy Pets and Short Vowel Fun are simple 3-year old beginning games. Zingo and AB Seas are good for 4-year olds. Friendship Island and Flip Flop Faces Emotions in Motion (now in French, too!) are both good for associating feelings with the words that describe them.

Discovery Toys announces Holiday shipping cut-off dates

HOLIDAY ORDERING GUIDELINES
This information is to assist your holiday planning.

Hanukkah Ordering Guidelines
(Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 1)

Orders Shipping Ground must be received in-house by Wednesday, November 17

Christmas Ordering Guidelines
(Christmas is Saturday, December 25)

Orders Shipping Ground must be received in-house by Monday, December 13

• Ground orders placed December 13 shipping to AB, BC, MB, ON, PQ and SK are targeted to arrive on Thursday, December 23.
• Allow additional delivery days for AK, HI, Territories, APO/FPO and P.O. Boxes
• Short term backorder situations can impact arrival dates

Discovery Toys October/November specials

Click on each of these specials to enlarge the image.

We have something special for our party hostesses, for their guests and for all of our customers!

Brain-on Learning (not hands-on)

Discovery Toys has always suggested playing with your children; it's the best investment you can make. But, it's not every high school that will have this kind of investment:

"After its expected completion in July 2011, students at the renowned
Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy will be able to move from their
cramped 900-square-foot shop into the $6 million, 12,000-square-foot
building."

Read the full article on how this community is helping students understand themselves instead of solely memorizing facts, or "brain-on learning."

Qubits

Click to watch the Shark Tank episode about the inventor of Discovery Toys' exclusive new product, Qubits.