The beauty of this strategy is the simplicity. What’s an important word from your upcoming travel destination? In the Netherlands, new concepts like windmills and canal systems were important to understand how the Dutch work cooperatively to develop land despite living below sea level.

As we prepare for our trip to New Mexico, we look forward to visiting the Loretto Chapel and seeing the incredible spiral staircase there. It was crafted without the use of a center support, beams, or nails.

Recently my kids have rediscovered my childhood Spirograph which was miraculously intact. The kit even included the original pens which my son declared had “passed away” and tossed unceremoniously into the garbage can.

As the boys tried out different pen and gear combos, I reminded them of the word spiral, wrote out the word with a simple drawing, and pulled up a picture of the miraculous spiral staircase. They used the tools to make different spirals and I heard them use the word spiral in conversation. The concept of spiral is part of their schema now, and they’ll be one step closer to understanding the miracle of this famous staircase when we see it.

Apply this simple pre-experience vocabulary building strategy by anticipating key words or concepts for the various items on your itinerary. Examples: archeology site – “fossil,” modern art museum- “bold,” Grand Canyon- “erosion.”

• introduce the new word (spiral)
• explain what it means (go around and around)
• connects a current activity to upcoming experience (You’re creating a spiral with your Spirograph tools. In Santa Fe, we’ll see a famous spiral staircase! They both go around and around.)

Share a key word that connects to an upcoming travel experience for your family!