Learning Before School -- Teaching Pre-Grammar Stage Students

The Well-Trained Mind podcast

In this episode, Susan Wise Bauer and Susanna Jarrett discuss creating a positive learning environment for young children, before formal education begins.

Our Top Recommendations for Preschool Curricula:

1. Preschool Math at Home by Kate Snow
2. The Toddler Busy Book by Trish Kuffner
3. Complete Daily Curriculum for Early Childhood by Pam Schiller and Patt Phipps

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:14) - Welcome to Season 2! (plus a little Season 1 recap)
• (00:43) - The Nuts and Bolts of Classical Education
• (01:28) - What Classical Education looks like before the grammar stage
• (06:50) - The preschool years at a brain development level
• (09:15) - The preschool years at a physical development level
• (11:40) - Laying out some basic principles
• (11:50) - Don't push into formal education activities
• (12:44) - Create and environment for reading, math, and thinking
• (21:27) - If your child does want to do school
• (24:24) - How to create a learning environment
• (24:58) - Don't confuse entertainment with education
• (27:50) - Encourage drawing counter-clockwise circles
• (29:15) - Incorporate counting into everyday life
• (31:16) - Talk! (and listen!)
• (34:21) - Read read read!
• (38:23) - What your kid should know before 1st grade
• (42:31) - Outro