Learning is everywhere : finding teachable moments
Learning is Everywhere: How We Find Teachable Moments
When I was a kid, I loved school. I loved reading and writing. Truly, I loved learning. Now that I’m geeky mom, I have the unique privilege of playing “teacher” to my son. As I watch him grow and develop, taking in and processing this great big world around him, I’ve realized something very important: Learning is everywhere.
From playtime to bathtime to mealtime and beyond, here’s how we turn everyday experiences and play into magical teachable moments.
Learning with Colors
Teaching Judah about colors is as simple as opening up a box of crayons and letting his imagination run wild across blank pieces of paper. But there’s lots of other places to work on teaching colors, too. The grocery store produce aisle is one of my favorite places to point out colors, asking Judah to find me something red or green. When the weather’s nice, we talk about colors on walks to a public garden just down the street from our house, filled with flowers and plants.
Learning with Numbers
Judah is already learning how to count at 17 months. He can recognize on sight several numbers: one, two, three, eight and nine, to be precise. He’s been able to recognize the number eight for a couple of months now! Right now, he’s not really grasping the “counting” part of numbers quite yet. For him, he sees something that looks like an eight and can recognize that. I like using finger foods at mealtimes, such as cucumber slices or pieces of cereal, to teach Judah how to count in small groups.
Learning with Letters
We’re also working on letters with Judah, and these are proving a little trickier than numbers. We have a set of large foam letters at home, but when we go out, we’re always on the hunt for large signs or displays with big letters. The mall is a great place for this as are shopping districts and main streets: think about all the store signs you can point out along your way!
Learning with Animal Sounds
Judah is a master mimic. Old MacDonald is his favorite song, and he loves to make animal sounds. With two cats, we’ve really driven home the whole “what does a cat say?” point. Our two trips to farms this summer gave us lots more opportunities to hear animal sounds in action. We haven’t yet taken Judah to the zoo, but that’s another great place to work on animal sounds.
Learning with Vocabulary
Judah knows a ton of words for 17 months. One of his newest words and concepts? “Almost.” He says it as he’s learning how to use utensils during mealtime (as in, he “almost” got food on his fork). Whenever we’re out, no matter where we are, we try to reinforce the vocabulary that he knows. In the early stages of his vocab building, making a Word Wall made it so much easier to keep track of the words he knew and could say.
Geeky mamas: how are you incorporating teachable moments into your play with baby?
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