Investigate Together

How does rain get into the clouds? How do fish breathe under water? Young children love to investigate and find their own answers to their questions about the world. Encouraging your child’s exploration and wonder helps build a strong foundation for early learning.

• Go explore!
  Young children love to explore the world around them. Encourage your child to use their senses to explore. Young children learn best by talking about their first-hand experiences.
• Keep the questions coming
  Encourage your child’s questions. Provide resources to answer those questions. Help your child discover there are many ways to find out answers, such as reading books, searching online, asking experts, and observing the world.
• Track your discoveries
  Write down your child’s ideas and observations. Show them that writing and words are tools for sharing information. Encourage your child to draw pictures of what they see and remember from different experiences and places.
• Numbers are tools for discovery
  Help your child count, classify, and measure things using numbers. Help them learn that numbers and math are tools for discovering the world. For example, help them sort out different shapes of blocks and count how many of each kind.

IEL Resource

• Resource List: Science Exploration for Preschoolers