TEACHING TUESDAY [11.28.23]

Welcome to Teaching Tuesday! If you are new here, I’m a former teacher, have a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and am now a homeschool mom. You can read more about that journey here.

Every Tuesday I’m going to share an at home learning idea for preschool and elementary age kids, new curriculum resources and a freebie or two!

Practicing the concept of same vs. different may seem simple, but even the vocabulary is foreign to a 3 or 4 year old. It’s a skill that takes lots of practice with repetitive vocabulary, but it’s an important prerequisite to more abstract skills.

Differentiating between same and different helps children learn how to identify, sort and count. It also helps with concepts of numbers, patterns and shapes.

When you are first starting to introduce this concept, it’s important to use the same language repetitively.

For example: If there’s a line of shapes (triangle, triangle, square, triangle) you could also say (same, same, different, same). You can also talk about the attributes of the shapes (3 sides, 3 sides, 4 sides, 3 sides) and ask which one is different or not the same.

Don’t be surprised if it takes several introductions to this concept for it to click. It’s an abstract concept and will take multiple interactions to make the connection.

Examples of ways to practice “same vs. different” in everyday life:

• sorting socks

• folding towels and sorting by size

• sorting kitchen items (silverware, plates of different sizes, bowls of different sizes, etc.)

• grouping items by color

• grouping items by quantity (1 orange, 2 apples)

• go on a walk and find flowers/leaves/trees that are the same and that are different

• use different color hula hoops to sort objects of the same color from around the house or classroom

• sort stickers by big and small

• line stickers up in a row and identify which is different by size or color

Here are new resources that I’ve been working on this month!

These 4 units are also available in my VIP PASS (NOVEMBER 2023), a low cost monthly subscription for new curriculum resources (or save 25% on a yearly subscription with code VIP25). Once you are a member you have access to all previous VIP PASS curriculum downloads as well, forever!

The units above are also available through my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking the photos.