Concept Cat: Teaching Concepts in the Early Years

Conceptual vocabulary shapes children’s thinking in the Early Years and forms the foundation for later mathematical and scientific learning. However, these words are abstract and often tricky to learn – and to teach.

Concept Cat is a tried-and-tested, evidence-based approach that supports all young children’s learning of conceptual vocabulary. Vocabulary is taught in a structured and engaging manner with explicit teaching of vocabulary followed by implicit teaching in play-based learning. It is based on the same principles as Word Aware but specifically focuses on concepts learnt in the Early Years. It is a fun and engaging method of teaching children early verbal concepts such as ‘both, corner, direction and total’.

The resource provides:

• A step-by-step guide to teaching 150 different concepts, using songs, stories and play-based activities.
• A whole-class approach, which is accessible for a wide range of children, including those with limited language.
• Guidance and resources for working with families to effectively support children’s learning.
• Accompanying downloadable resources, including printable symbols of each concept, for immediate use in the classroom.

Concept Cat is a complete guide to implementing this approach and an essential resource for Early Years educators, primary teachers, and speech and language therapists. All you need is a cat toy to get you started!

The authors have worked with the amazing people at Lift Lessons and they have developed Concept Cat videos for a range of the earlier concepts. Click on the Video tab to see an example for ‘through’. You can subscribe and access the videos on the Lift Lessons site.