While it is clear that background building is essential for young readers and learners, it is also important to recognize that background building enriches writing. Limited experiences affect how a young writer approaches writing. Experiences provide opportunities for children to learn the concepts, vocabulary, and information that contribute to prior knowledge development. These experiences can be as simple as visits to the grocery store, reading a book together, eating in a restaurant, or playing with worms in the backyard. Or, they can be as planned and organized as a family vacation, a trip to the zoo, or playing in a hands-on museum.
All learners learn by doing.
Learning occurs through play, everyday experiences, books, and many other types of learning opportunities. Playing out scenarios, building, drawing, painting, molding, sculpting, digging, etc. provides support for future learning. Exploring with a magnifying glass, binoculars, telescope, measuring tools, etc. can also help children discover new things about the world. Everyday Experiences Everyday experiences at home, school, stores, and driving around town provide important concepts and learning for the child. Other everyday experiences can support learning through adult supervision.