I'm all for teaching our kiddos whenever the opportunities arises. One day as we are getting ready to leave the house, our 5 years old boy asked me what are those letters and pictures in front my steering means. I checked my watch and since we have a bit more time before we have to send him to his preK, I started explaining what is the area called.
Dashboard. It allows us to see how fast/slow mummy is driving, how hot or cold the car is and the petrol amount left in the car, some of the easier things I think is adequate to explain to him for now.
I go on to explain to him when mummy drives the car, say about 40, it means I'm covering 40km per hour, I go on to explain if mummy drives very fast when the road has speed limit then that is very dangerous and a big no-no.
I moved on to the temperature side, I asked him what letters are there, he said H (as in 'hah' and 'cah' phonics way). Then I explained H means Hot, C means Cold. If mummy's car indicate it is hot, then mummy gotta stop and cool down the car, it needs water and rest!
And lastly, on the petrol indicator side, I asked him what are the letters there, he said 'Ffffhhh' and 'Eehhh'. I explained to him F means Full while E means Empty.
Pretty easy and simple right? Just because they are kiddos and you think they might not understand mechanical stuff etc then you don't dare to teach them? Nooooo! Scale down to easier parts if you are worried they might not understand so much. You might missed an educational opportunity if you keep quiet right? Go on, give it a try the next time your kiddos hop into the car with you! ;)
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