25/09/2025
While well intentioned, we are doing too much and overcomplicating something very simple. In fact, we are often getting in the way of how children learn best.
When we try to condense learning into weekly themes, or design a day around a single letter, we miss the reality of how learning actually works. There is no special day or week when a child learns the letter K.
Internalizing symbols like colors, numbers, shapes, and letters is not the result of being drilled with charts, flashcards, or worksheets. It is the byproduct of accumulated experiences that carry relevance and meaning.
A child begins to understand the letter K when they see it on the sign for the park they love to visit, or on the packaging of their favorite snack.
Numbers make sense when they notice the bus they ride home, or when they count how many apples go into the bag at the store.
Shapes and colors take on weight when they are discovered in nature, on buildings, and in the everyday patterns that surround them and elicit authentic interest.
Learning is built in real time, in real spaces, through real encounters and real connections. When we isolate symbols from life and relevant context, they lose their power. When we notice them alongside children in the world they are already navigating, those same symbols come alive and carry meaning that actually sticks.