Incidental teaching often leads to incidental learning. This happens regularly. It’s a wonderful way to build vocabulary for your own children at home and for your students in school. Using uncommon “SAT” type words to substitute more common words is a great way implement incidental teaching. Casual conversations with kids can lead to great learning opportunities for all. It also helps with Social Emotional Learning. An example of incidental learning was when my son was little he loved cars. All cars. The Disney movie Cars, Hot Wheels, Monster Trucks, all cars. He collected hundreds of cars. I am not a car person, but because of him and his passion for cars, I can quote every line of the Disney movie and name most vehicles and models of Hot Wheels. An example where where incidental learning led to explicit instruction was when I was 16 years old and I first drove in the snow. I drove too fast for the conditions and spun out. When I got home I asked my dad what I should do in that situation so it doesn’t happen again. He took me back out in the snow and taught me how to drive in those conditions.
