"Select Toys to Encourage Learning"
By Wendy Macrides, Director of Education of Sylvan Learning Center

During the holiday season, stores are packed with a variety of toys and games, making it hard for parents to know which types are appropriate matches for their children. By selecting toys that offer a combination of fun and learning, parents can do more than just stimulate a child.s enjoyment – they can enhance reading and math skills while nurturing problem solving and imagination. To strike a balance between learning and fun, parents should look for toys that .t their child.s age, skills, abilities and interests. Take the time to understand how the toy works and whether it.s suitable for your child. You.ll help your child learn and have fun at the same time!

To help parents identify toys that nurture learning behaviors in key areas of development, Sylvan Learning Center offers the following suggestions.

Math
• Board games are a fun way to encourage math discovery and show how math is used beyond the classroom. They help develop number sense and problem solving skills while increasing computation speed and accuracy.

• Electronic counting games offer a realm of number and counting challenges.

• A toy cash register helps children understand money values and compute basic operations with monetary amounts.

• Building blocks teach about geometry and shapes.

• Dominoes are a great game for all ages. Younger children can use them to recognize similar quantities while older children can explore the concepts of probability.
Reading/Writing

• Books help children enhance their vocabulary and comprehension and develop an appreciation for words and literature. For guidance on age-speci.c books in particular subject areas, check out www.bookadventure.org.

• Find a special diary or personalized writing tool so that your child can have hours of fun writing journal entries. Visit www.educate.com for online journal tips.

• Subscribe to a magazine for your child (e.g., Ladybug, Ranger Rick, Spider, Your Big Backyard, Zoobooks, etc.) to increase knowledge about topics of interest. Children become excited about having their own reading materials come in the mail each month.

MAGGIE.S MEMO:
Wendy Macrides is the Director of Education for the SYLVAN LEARNING CENTERS, the leading provider of supplemental education services to students of all ages and skill levels. With more than 25 years of experience and over 1,000 centers worldwide, SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER have changed the lives of millions of students and families.
SYLVAN LEARNING CENTERS are located in Salisbury, Berlin, and Pocomoke. SYLVAN.s educational professionals provide remediation and enrichment in beginning reading, academic reading, writing, math, algebra, SAT prep and study skills. Individualized instruction, certi.ed teachers, and guaranteed results are hallmarks of the supplementary education that SYLVAN offers to help students catch up, keep up and achieve academic success.

MAGGIE SAYS:
Parents of SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER.s students made the following comments:
“My daughter really enjoyed attending SYLVAN. SYLVAN has wonderful and very helpful staff, and SYLVAN was a great experience for all of our family.”

“I have been totally impressed with SYLVAN.s plans and objective for my son. He earned straight A.s in Algebra II. I am convinced his success was due to SYLVAN!”

“SYLVAN was de.nitely worth it for our daughter and we recommend it to everyone!”