Teaching the far and near concept to preschoolers is a good way to make learning fun for the young ones. When teaching this concept to kids, it is important that you relate this concept with the real world. It is important to be able to demonstrate what you mean when you say far and near. This is something you will be doing from time to time when you are teaching this concept to preschoolers. You do not have to spend hours defining the concept.
The key is to make it simple for the children to understand. Make the pictures simple. For instance, if you are showing the far away train, explain that this is the train that the little boy is riding on. Show him how far away the train is by drawing a straight line between the two points on the train. Explain that the train goes much farther than the circle is complete.
Let your preschooler’s see that the train goes further than far away. Then, tell them how far away the circle is. If it is a longer circle, then your child should know that the train is actually farther away. Do this repeatedly to build your child’s confidence in the idea that far and near are distinct concepts.
Make sure your child is never left in doubt as to what far away objects are. You can use landmarks to help your child see the far away objects clearly. For example, if you put up a picture of a triangle with a circle near it, your child should have no problem understanding that the object in the far away part of the picture is the triangle.
It is also helpful to use small landmarks throughout the lesson. For example, bring out a pen and write the far away landmark on the board. Then, teach your child to count from one to twenty. Tell him or her to count as he or she looks at the landmark and then say it out loud. After that, demonstrate your child’s success by having him or her touch the far away object as he or she hears the teacher says the word and sees the circle outline.
Teach your preschoolers also how to get ready for the faraway concept by having them draw something so they know where they are going. The drawing could be a scaled down version of the faraway object. This allows your child to focus on the drawing and not on where exactly they are. Again, use landmarks to help your preschooler’s see where they are going. Also, let them see how many times you want them to touch the object before they stop, which will help them focus on the task ahead.
Finally, teach your children words to describe the far away object. Some words to describe a far away object might be “big”, “long”, “bigger”, “and” or “bigger than”. Another great word for describing the far away is “around”. Just make sure to choose appropriate words depending on the climate of your region. This will make your preschooler’s easier to understand the concept.
Teaching children about far away is an easy task if you apply these steps. You can do it by yourself or with the help of an adult. You can also ask for help from preschoolers’ parents or other adults. Once your preschoolers grasp the concepts, you will find that your child is happier and more interactive in school. This is because children like having an authority figure around who can help them when they are in trouble.