World Wide Reference

The World Wide Web provides the most amazing reference to help our children learn about and understand the world.  Going back a generation to our own childhood, you would be lucky to have an illustrated encyclopedia, suddenly we have a live reference where we can find information and pictures not only on anything in the past, but on everything new in breaking news stories.

Talk with your toddlers and preschoolers about world events that help to teach topical awareness.  Talk with your children about natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding and famine.  Describe how lucky for what they have and that not everyone is so fortunate.  When stories of natural disasters unfold on the news, talk about the issues and show them pictures and videos on the World Wide Web.  Obviously avoid showing imagery that is too distressing, and drop the topic if it begins to cause anxiety in your little ones.

You can also use the World Wide Web to augment teaching and understanding of other topics that you cover.  When learning colours, look for pictures predominantly portraying each colour.  When learning about animals, the sea, space, food or any other topic, find pictures online to give your little one a proper understanding.  If you have a smartphone with web access, you can even find explanations  and reference pictures when you're out and about and your little one asks a searching question!

Today's children are growing up in a world that we wouldn't have predicted when we were young, knowledge is available instantly and by sharing that with your children, they have the potential to learn and understand at a faster pace than has ever been possible before!