We just finished tending three of my grandchildren for a week at their home in California. We had a blast. Except for one case of strep throat, it was a delightful week and I look forward to doing it again soon. One of the highlights of the trip was my two-year old granddaughter's entrance down their living room staircase. She would go up to her bedroom and dress in one of their princess dresses, then call to us from the top of the stairs so we could watch her descend as a princess. Whenever I would say, "Look at the Princess," she would exclaim, "No. It's Audrey!" It reminded me of how honest and straight-forward young children are in daily life. It is this honesty we need to use to explain the world around them. This is important for early childhood educators to remember. We should be teaching young children using real-life, tangible materials, not abstract paper and pencil tasks. There is no comparison between counting real items, such as blocks, and counting items on a paper. It is the difference between real-life and pretend.
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