Preschool Social Studies: Exploring Me and My World (continued)

• Talk about the community you live in. What is the name of the city you live in? Does your neighborhood have a name? Tell your child his address (although he may be too young to memorize it now, that will come soon).
• Who are the community helpers your child has a relationship with? Who are his doctors, dentists or teachers? Next time you go for a visit, have your child ask some questions about their jobs.
• What are some of the community helpers you see on a regular basis? See if you can arrange a tour of a local post office, fire station, library, grocery store, vet or dry cleaners. Ask questions about the job each person performs.
• Libraries have a wonderful collection of non-fiction books about community helpers. Non-fiction books include a variety of important features that fiction books do not contain: a table of contents and index, charts and graphs and photographs rather than illustrations. Pick up a few on your next trip to the library and point out some of these features while learning about community helpers, or check these fiction titles out at your local library:
  Franklin's Neighborhood by Paulette Bourgeois (Kids Can Press, Ltd. 1999)
  My Teacher Sleeps in School by Leatie Weiss (Puffin, 1985)

Let your child lead you on an exploration of his world through his natural curiosity. Focus your attention in these early years around the things your child has experiences with: himself, his family and his community. Have discussions, draw pictures, read books and learn about the community you live in through family field trips, and you will provide your child with wonderful social studies explorations to build upon!