If you are thinking of taking your child to the zoo (see yesterday's blog) here is a suggestion for making the trip even more fun and educational.
Before you go to the zoo, while you are on-line reading about a few of the animals, print out one or two of the photographs. When you get to the zoo, let your child look for that animal’s silhouette on the map. See if your child can follow the map to find that animal.
Use directional words such as north and south and left and right. Also use sequential words, such as first, before, after, next. While looking at the map, ask questions (but not many!) such as “Do you think we’ll come to the giraffe exhibit first or the bird exhibit?”
Let your child plan what to see. If he wants to see the birds and the meerkats, ask him which one he wants to see first. “Okay, we’ll see the meerkats first and the birds second.” Or “That sounds like a good plan. We’ll see the meerkats before we see the birds.”
When you tell your child “We get to the gorilla exhibit before we get to the bird exhibit,” you are preparing her to understand when her teacher says “We’ll do math before we go to recess.”
