List of Basic Early Childhood Concepts

Spatial

• Spacial concepts have to do with location. Specific examples of spatial concepts that should be taught to young children include on/in, over/under and between. Parents or educators can begin to teach this concept to children while reading picture books, such as "Is the dog on or in the doghouse?" or by capitalizing on everyday educational opportunities, such as asking the child if the construction paper is over or under the crayons in the cabinet.

Temporal

• When children are taught concepts of time before they enter kindergarten, they are more likely to keep pace with a teacher's mathematics lessons and to catch on quickly when educators ask them to read the short and long hands on the classroom clock. Temporal concepts can be taught via words such as old/young and short/long. Ask young children if the TV commercial was shorter or longer than the program segment. Engage them while outdoors by asking if one passerby is older or younger than mommy and daddy.

Quantity

• Quantity concepts help to build early math and problem-solving skills into young children. Ideas such as more/less and full/empty can be taught to children during the course of everyday activities. Ask if the cookie jar is empty or full. Give your young prodigy a handful of nuts and, after he has eaten a few, say, "There are less nuts in your hand now, because you have eaten some." Simple object lessons like these will encourage children to wrestle with the concept of quantity in a no-pressure manner until they grasp it fully.

Quality

• Tactile learners will thoroughly enjoy learning the concept of quality. Rough/smooth, hard/soft and hot/cold are all examples of basic descriptions that children are equipped to learn at a young age. Get out some sandpaper, turn on the bath tap or run through a house with both hardwood floors and carpeting to provide fun and effective learning opportunities for children.

Social-Emotional

• Sensitive children in particular will benefit a great deal from an education in social-emotional concepts before entering a crowded classroom. Happy/sad, easy/hard, nice/mean are some of the core concepts to teach young children. Young children tend to swing quickly between moods; take the opportunity to ask them, "Are you happy or sad right now?" Also inquire as to the difficulty level of each task in which they are engaged, inquiring if the work they are doing is easy or hard.