My kids loved pop up books, especially at that age. We had a bunch of science pop ups. https://m.barnesandnoble.com/p/the-story-of-everything-neal-layton/1126952543/2661774021899?st=PLA&sid=BNB_ADL+Marketplace+Good+Used+Books+-+Mobile+Low&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_m&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhdTqBRDNARIsABsOl98SDV-lRmCElIzjztTUBcuMA4DZw5ndRX59MqHmn6EIHUktVgJnN5QaAn1uEALw_wcB this was one of their favorites.

This is another good one. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-most-amazing-pop-up-science-book-a-three-dimensional-exploration-watts-amazing-science-books_jay-young/632974/?mkwid=sznCWiYH7%7cdm&pcrid=70112861832&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&pgrid=21323637792&ptaid=aud-473968998433%3apla-339024991645&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhdTqBRDNARIsABsOl99kuPN56kilaAQ8YOeZeHKnxKXf8hncREjzHyNzHXJBZ0CNqIq2NRgaAgqaEALw_wcB#isbn=0694005886&idiq=2697185

They’re not preschool books, but my kids liked them in preschool. Even if they didn’t understand the concepts fully, they found them interesting and the books were really cool. We’d explain them on their level as much as possible. I learned things along the way too

Don't feel dumb, op.
First, ask the daycare teacher to explain to you what she thinks your daughter should know. It isn't acceptable that the teacher dump on you and then fail to provide you with any positive steps you can take. I may even bring this up to the teacher's boss, though depending on the daycare, the teacher's boss may defend the teacher more then help you and your kid.
To answer your specific question, the library is a great resource. You can find, or you can ask the librarians to obtain an age appropriate book on just about any subject. You can also ask your daughter questions about what she thinks. People love to talk about what interests them.



If your daughter has an interest in something, you can take her places that focus on the interest, many are around here and can be done as day trips on a Saturday.
Mostly, you just need to love your kids, spend time with them, and listen to them.


If it helps any, I have three kids. I am totally blind. Colors are something I find difficult to teach. I only care about them in the context of something else, I don't want to wear something that is "puke green" because puke is gross, just like I wouldn't want to wear anything that is "poop brown".


I didn't learn until I was in my 30's that strawberries are red. My husband and kids are sighted, most of the people I know are sighted, and the color of strawberries just never came up. My life was fine before I knew that, and it's fine now. A good teacher will understand your reference points and your experience and be ok with it. My middle daughter got her teacher assignment and when we went to meet the teacher they were talking about objects that were red. I said to my daughter and the teacher "Mommy didn't know strawberries are red until after I had graduated college". The teacher said "That makes sense". Your kid's teacher could probably use some sensitivity, especially if you are concerned enough to post online about your concerns and more importantly feeling dumb about what you don't know. No human should ever make you feel that way, especially an authority figure.
I have another daughter that likes to draw. I am totally blind, and have been all my life, so drawing and how it works isn't intuitive to me. I don't understand for example how a picture of a person and a dog can be a portrait or a cartoon. I know they both take skill to create, but I have no idea how somebody looking at the picture says "That's a real pretty portrait" or "That's a nice cartoon". What I can do is encourage her to draw, let her teachers know that's what she likes, buy her supplies, teach her about math and again let her know I love her. People who can see her drawings are impressed, and she's won some awards at school, so I must be doing something right.



I also can't teach print letter reading, and my drawing daughter likes to read to the point that one of her youth leaders at church took me aside and asked me to tell her not to bring books to the activities. I knew she was bringing books, I just didn't know the youth leader was justifiably upset about it. Again, I encourage reading, I read a lot too, in Braille, we talk about the books we read and things seem to be fine.


You can learn a lot from your kids, and they can learn a lot from you. Know that the daycare teacher has a staff and works in an environment where she has nothing to do all day but look smart to your kid. There are also things she can't teach your kid, at least not in the depth you can. My preschooler and I got into watching Chasing The Moon (on PBS) after we'd go swimming. She wanted to lie in bed and cuddle with me, and I wanted to watch that series, so I told her that's what we'd be doing. Her preschool teacher was wonderful, but no way could she have that experience with any of her students. It wouldn't be appropriate for that teacher to lie in bed with them, and she didn't have the time in the day, or the evening to take one student aside and go in depth with them about a personal interest. I care very deeply about rocketry, so this series was right up my alley.


Often teachers, especially those without children have no idea what it is like to be a mother. Many of them have a very rough time once they do become mothers. My kid needed to rest after the pool, I needed to rest after the pool, she was being very clingy and the best way I knew to get us rest was to get in bed and watch some of the series together.


Realize that you are the only mother your daughter has, and there is way more to mothering then what you know and don't know.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. DD is obsessed with my phone & computer, so I try my best not to google it in front of her. I sometimes say I don't know or have her to ask daddy, and then sometimes she completely forgets about to ask me later. Library is a good place, but unfortunately she does not like library at all. She does not read books that I have purchased at home, but teachers say she loves to read books at daycare "with all other kids". I rarely read books to her at home/bedtime because she is never interested. And, I am a terrible storyteller.

Thanks for suggestions of some books above, and I would look into them. And, to answer one PP question above, her daycare emphasize on academic (esp. stem & letter/number), and her report card is 3 pages long telling me where she is at in each categories each semester.

I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling with bedtime reading. I would suggest taking DD along next time you go to the library. Let her pick a few books. When I go, I usually have two or three books that I’ve put on hold ahead of time. That way, we can swoop by the holds shelf, and add my books to the pile. One trick I use to intrigue my DC is to read a book aloud to the baby, a stuffed animal, or even myself. More often than not, he’ll come over to look at the pictures. I’d like to add another vote for kid’s books by National Geographic. They are my favorite NF publisher for children.

OP here. DD is obsessed with my phone & computer, so I try my best not to google it in front of her. I sometimes say I don't know or have her to ask daddy, and then sometimes she completely forgets about to ask me later. Library is a good place, but unfortunately she does not like library at all. She does not read books that I have purchased at home, but teachers say she loves to read books at daycare "with all other kids". I rarely read books to her at home/bedtime because she is never interested. And, I am a terrible storyteller.

Thanks for suggestions of some books above, and I would look into them. And, to answer one PP question above, her daycare emphasize on academic (esp. stem & letter/number), and her report card is 3 pages long telling me where she is at in each categories each semester.

Totally normal. Go to the library and get a bunch of books on science and whatever else she's interested in. There are some really great non fiction books for young kids.

I agree with others that you should model intellectual curiosity by saying you don't know and looking it up or going to the library.

But I am deeply concerned about a preschool teacher who says there are social science facts that a 4 year old "should" know and that she's behind already. That shows a lack of knowledge about preschool development and appropriate expectations. A 4 year old should be showing curiosity about the world by asking questions, which your daughter is doing, not by having memorized certain facts that a teacher deems important.

As Elmo says “What should we do? Look it up! Hey smarty (smart phone)”

Hey it’s easier than what we did pre-internet...dust off the Encyclopedia

Anonymous wrote:Why can't you say you'll look it up? DS asks questions all the time. Now he's at the point where if I say I don't know he says "ok, can we Google it later?".

DS also self taught a lot of things with YouTube videos and then once he could read a lot of Usborne books

Last year, my twins were in first grade. I was so happy that they learned to read and write better and faster in first grade and also that they learned more about computers in technology that they were able to start Googling on their own. Prior, there was a lot of "Daddy, can you look up X?" Last year, it started being "Daddy, can I Google X?" whether on my phone or my computer. I still monitor them, but they can do a lot more on their own on the computer than they could before first grade.

My son is now 33 but when he was about 4 we were in the car and he was obviously deep in thought. He turned to me and said "Mom, just what is the universe anyway?"

Anonymous wrote:I was asked once to google the tooth fairies phone number.

Haha! My DS once asked me to text the tooth fairy to let her know that he was going to bed a bit early in case she wanted to stop by sooner.

OP, read some old Calvin and Hobbes comics and see how Calvin's dad answered questions. (You can make up anything at that age and they will believe you!--and one day they will point out what you told them that they believed when they were little and you will hang your head in shame)

More helpfully, perhaps--remember that Jeopardy champion won all those rounds by reading children's books at the library.

Also, it's not just about knowing "the answers", it's about learning to use one's brain, right? So maybe before looking things up, talk about what things you/your child already know, imagine reasons why something could be such and such or how something might work--have fun with thought experiments and real experiments. Don't be intimidated!

When I was a kid we had a set of encyclopedias that included different parts -- the main set, but a separate small set having to do with geography and some other subsets, including a simpler A-Z encyclopedia for kids with a lot of pics (also had the history of each letter in pictures at the beginning of each alphabetical section). It occurs to me that searching stuff online misses the random stuff I was able to learn as a young child (even though much has changed--I had no idea when my kid was born 2 kingdoms had become 5, or that starfish had become sea stars!)

I was asked once to google the tooth fairies phone number.

My kid already knows to say:

“Mom can you look it up on your phone?”

Wikipedia is great. And you learn a lot.

You need to just read more with her, including non-fiction books. Go to the library and just spend time there or invest in more books for your home library. I really liked the DK Eyewitness series (Discovery Kids). Although they are an older reading level - they are very dense on great photographs and diagrams, with most of the text in short descriptions or short paragraphs. They have lots of titles in both Science and Social Studies areas. There are other DK series targeted at different age groups too. If you read (skim and flip to parts of interest) with her, you will freshen up your own knowledge.

Example: https://www.amazon.com/Space-Universe-Before-Knowledge-Encyclopedias/dp/1465438068/ref=pd_sbs_14_3/142-2056959-9698523?_encoding=UTF8

Another series my kids liked in early elementary were Basher Science books http://www.basherbooks.com/usa/aboutbooks.html . Not really technical in appearance, but my kids sucked up a huge amount of facts from these.

one of the worst humble brags