Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Elementary: Harnessing Natural Curiosity for Learning That Transfers

Teaching overly-factual content to young students is misguided: it is developmentally inappropriate, and ignores what we know about how children naturally learn. We can and should view all children as thinking beings, creating ideal environments for them to make sense of the world while being very careful to protect their inherent love of learning. This book teaches a concept-based curriculum in a way that respects the developmental stages of childhood with intellectual rigour. Infants rapidly develop their understanding of concepts such as hot and cold, happy and sad, in and out, and at three years old, they begin their characteristic, persistent questioning: "Why? Why? Why?" By following this natural tendency, the book's approach cultivates their conceptual understanding in a gentle manner that honours their innate curiosity.