Preschooler Week 4

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Opposites

We constantly live with the concept of opposites, but we do not always recognize nor pay too much attention to them. But for kids, learning opposite relationships is as crucial a life skill as reading or writing. It is therefore a must to expose them to different stimuli that would sharpen their observation for both the similar and the opposite. Here are some of the benefits that learning opposites brings to your kids:

  1. It encourages language development. Learning about opposites will give your child a variety of adjectives to choose from when talking about objects. Words such as tall, short, thick, thin, open, close, on, off, strong and weak become commonplace as your child learns about opposites.
  2. It encourages problem-solving skills. Learning about opposites teaches a child to look at the world with renewed attention, letting him or her analyze objects to determine their unique characteristics. A child who understands opposites is able to think of different solutions to common problems.
  3. It encourages pre-math skills. Learning about positional opposites helps children define their position in space. Concepts such as up and under, behind and in front, bottom and top help children develop their visual-spatial perceptual skills necessary for learning math in school.
  4.  It encourages socio-cultural development. Knowing and appreciating opposites can help children understand the concept that different does not necessarily mean inferior. Instead, children who understand opposites will find it easier to realize that people with characteristics that differ from their own are of equal value.

Isnt it amazing that learning about opposites can help a child on all these different levels? The most significant contribution that learning about opposites gives to a childs development, in my opinion, is summarized eloquently by this quote from Hermann Hesse: “We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the others opposite and complement.”

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