Visuals, stories, and body motions work wonders in helping children learn to read, but honestly, they are stellar vehicles for teaching anything! One of the funnest times I've had in the classroom was the day we studied the water cycle in first grade.
I am a strong believer in several things when it comes to teaching the very young. One is that drill and memorization have no place with preschoolers. Another is that anything you can passively impart to preschoolers is going to be really potent in terms of their learning gains.
It is our experience that using images and other memory hooks is more effective than anything when teaching new material to children since it allows them to remember and not struggle.
