Do young children need direct teaching?

Ok, here comes a truth bomb: Young children don’t need direct teaching in order to learn. Research shows that young children need very little formal instruction.

Formal instruction actually works against children’s natural inclination to explore and discover on their own. True learning is all about figuring out what is interesting and meaningful to YOU, and being empowered to learn on your own and follow those interests.

What’s more, oftentimes formal instruction isn’t very enjoyable to a young child. When learning isn’t enjoyable, you’re more likely to end up with power struggles and a negative association with learning.

If you’re thinking, “Ok, but how will my child learn foundational skills if I’m not directly teaching them?” Through the magic of modeling!

When you model, you guide your child and spark their curiosity, instead of feeding them information or quizzing them on their knowledge.

And the amazing thing is, your child can learn any and every skill or concept there is through modeling. All on their own! Without any supplies or lessons.

How awesome is that?!

Try modeling in your daily life when talking, singing, reading and playing:

TALKING:

“Would you like some cereal in this bowl that’s yellow or this bowl that’s purple? Okay, here’s some cereal in your purple bowl.”
(Modeling colors)

SINGING:

“Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped her head…”
(Modeling counting with one-to-one correspondence, number relationships, subtraction)

READING:

“Oh, look! The bear is going to hibernate in the cave. She's going to sleep all winter!”
(Modeling vocabulary)

PLAYING:

“Wow, Puppy is really hungry today. Let's feed her some cookies. How about this triangle block cookie? Yum!"
(Modeling shape names during imaginative play)

As you can tell, modeling is a great way to teach because it’s so natural and there’s no pressure. Plus, it’s such a confidence booster because your child can learn on their own, which is what true learning is all about.

When we teach (without teaching) in a way that sparks our children’s curiosity AND boosts confidence, that’s when things get zesty.