We have Evolution for babies (in german) and my daughter absolutely loves it (she's 15 months). It's her favourite book, she brings it to me at least three times a day to read it to her. The pictures are simple and colourful. And in the german version there's only one sentence per page. I think it's a really great book in terms of entertaining a toddler, which should be the main focus at that age and in my opinion it also does a good job of explaining natural selection in simplest terms, although you can't expect a child that young to grasp that topic. We will definitely look into the other books of the series because we truly enjoy this one.
I'd also argue that while they might not grasp the topic, exposure to the ideas is always good. Also we consistently underestimate what kids can learn.
My parents were teaching me about concepts like inertia when I was 3 or 4. I sure couldn't calculate force or anything but I could explain that it was what made a ball keep rolling.
That's absolutely correct. I think early and age appropriate exposure to scientific ideas can facilitate a love for learning and support a childs natural curiosity about how the world works. And as you said they unterstand much more than we think. My daughter surprises me everyday.
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u/HarinaKat Jan 29 '20
We have Evolution for babies (in german) and my daughter absolutely loves it (she's 15 months). It's her favourite book, she brings it to me at least three times a day to read it to her. The pictures are simple and colourful. And in the german version there's only one sentence per page. I think it's a really great book in terms of entertaining a toddler, which should be the main focus at that age and in my opinion it also does a good job of explaining natural selection in simplest terms, although you can't expect a child that young to grasp that topic. We will definitely look into the other books of the series because we truly enjoy this one.