When I thought about teaching preschool and I started brainstorming ideas, this is what it looked like.
- Colors
- Letters
- Shapes
And.... then I drew a blank? What else are little kids suppose to learn at such a young age? It didn't take me long to shift my focus from "learning" to "introducing." In my opinion, at these young ages the best thing we can do for our children is to introduce them to new ideas, challenges, and the world around them.
Sizes is one of those simple concepts that I started to introduce Porter. My little man is obsessed with Panda Bears right now. I simply cut up the different size Pandas, laminated them (totally optional, but laminating make me giddy so everything here is laminated) and gave them to P. At first, he just placed them however his little brain told him and I just watched. Watching is a crucial part of teaching. Sometimes you need to sit quietly and watch before you teach.
After a few moments, I started talking about sizes, "Can you place the Pandas from biggest to smallest?" And then I felt super foolish. My poor kid looked at me so confused! All of this was definitely new terminology for him. Instead I took two of the Pandas (the biggest and the smallest one) and said to Porter, "Which one is bigger?" He pointed to the smaller one and I gently corrected said, "Try again." Of course, he picked the other one (he had no other option), and I praised him and said something along the lines of, "You are so right! This is so BIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGG!" and stretched my arms out super wide as I said it. We did this a few times, and then switched to the word "smaller." I would put my fingers close together when I said small to signify it was something little. The entire time, I just compared two. But as I would ask him the comparison questions, I would make a biggest to smallest scenario on the ground and show him what that looked like. It was a fun, quick, introduction. Now, every time something doesn't fit he says,"That's to BIIIIG!" in his little voice that makes me melt.
It's quick, it's free, it's a great introduction! Grab it here!
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