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First Attempt at Sorting

Some days are better than others and today was a better day! I decided to try the Sorting Game so I pulled the cards out. Jake was excited to see something new in our Structured Play area. I laid all the cards out for him to see and he picked one up and tried to eat it! (I know great start!)
I tried to show, him by modeling, how to sort. He just kept 'eating' the apples. (Another great reason to laminate the cards!) Then throwing the apples. I finally gave up and just let him play with the pieces. (This is an important lesson in of itself, letting your child lead the way sometimes can lead to an even better lesson than you had hoped.)
This is when it got good...
As he was walking around and playing with the pieces he walked over to get a small red wagon. He plays with it all the time so I did not think much about it. He then proceeded to put the apple Sorting pieces into the red wagon. 
I could not believe it! 
When we went to the Apple Orchard we put the apples we picked in a red wagon. Jake did this all on his own. No modeling, no prompting! I was a proud mama! This is a good example of the value and importance of 'Field Trips'. Giving children real world exposure helps them to learn and retain knowledge and experience. To see him make a connection from a real world experience is priceless! This is what Structured Play is all about!

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