Flashcards are a simple and effective way to teach young children letters, numbers and words. Here I share techniques to make your child's learning experience positive and effective.

Five Tips for Using Flashcards

1. Simple Words: Start off with simple words on your early learning flashcards that can be easily made into a picture that your baby can learn. Car, van, hand, foot, etc... are easy ones to start with. You can have a picture with the word on the card or you could point to what that word says.
2. Routine: Early learning flashcards can be effective if used correctly and constantly. Using them 3-5 times weekly is recommmended. Getting your child into a routine is essential.By having a routine your baby will become familiar with the early learning flashcards. It's just like eating and sleeping. You don't change eating and sleeping times for your child so stick to the same time of day forgetting out the flashcards.
3. Timing: Pick a good time when your child's concentration is at their peak. You can't teach a child anything when they'retired.  A good time to pick is either after breakfast or lunch, after they've had a nap if they have one so they have plenty of energy.
4. Repeat: Don't just say the word once before moving on to the next early learning flashcard. Repeat each word four or five times before moving onto the next word and make sure to point at the object as you say the word as well as changing the order the order isn't memorised. By repeating the process, the child picks up on what you're saying and they'll be trying to say the word as well as recognising the word on the flashcard.
5. Interactive and Positive: Let your child interact by helping them point to the correct object. Encourage them to point to things and clap when guess the early learning flashcard correctly. Lots of praise is the key and they'll soon pick up on it and repeat what you are doing once they realise this. As you go over the early learning flashcards daily, they'll soon learn what you are teaching them. Then before you know it they'll know when you are holding up the word 'car' and point to the object.

When using flashcards you will be encouraging your child to learn and store the information early on when learning to read, talk and recognise words. Education is important and by starting early with early learning flashcards, you are giving your child the necessary tools they'll need when starting school.