Check-Up — a step-by-step lesson for grown-up and child
This lesson teaches the check-up as a story with a shape: the doctor looks in, listens to, and counts up everything that is already going right.
What is this?
A check-up is the doctor’s full look-over: ears, mouth, heart, breath, tummy — every check is a way of seeing how the child is growing.
What does it mean?
"Check-up" sounds mechanical; "the doctor counts what is already good" sounds like a compliment. Same actions, different story — and the story is what the child feels.
What does the child need to know?
You need the card and the order of the set: after the helpers say hello, the checking begins — stethoscope, thermometer, ears, mouth, eyes, one deep breath. The cards ARE the running order.
Why this matters
Children do best with sequences they can narrate. "First she listens to my heart, then my ears, then I say ah" gives the child a script to follow instead of a flow of surprises to endure.
What it teaches
Sequencing (first, then, last), body-part vocabulary in context, and cooperation as a skill the child performs proudly rather than endures.
Words to learn
check-uplistenlookcheckhealthygrow
Say this to your child
“"Check-up! The doctor looks and listens and counts what is already good: a strong heart, clean ears, big bright eyes. Everything is growing just right."”
Step by step
- Show the card: "a check-up keeps you healthy."
- Tell the order with the cards: heart, temperature, ears, mouth, eyes, deep breath.
- The frame: "the doctor is counting what is already good."
- Teddy gets the full check-up in order — narrate each step.
- At the real visit, whisper the running order: "heart now… ears next… then the big ah!"
Look closer at the picture
On this card the words "check-up — a check-up keeps you healthy" sit over a doctor listening with a stethoscope to a child on an exam chair, teddy bear close by.
Ask your child
"What is a check-up?" (the doctor looking and listening) "What comes first?" (the heart listen) "What is the doctor counting?" (what is already good)
What your child can say or do
Your child might run check-ups on the whole family at bedtime, demand "count what is good" instead of a song, or narrate their own body parts like a tour guide.
Out in the real world
Check-ups happen for teeth (the dentist), eyes (the optician) and even cars (the mechanic!) — everything with a body or an engine gets a look-over now and then.
Try it together
The Growing Report: after each pretend check, the doctor announces one "already good" thing — "strong legs! bright eyes! a loud laugh!" The report ends with a sticker. Every body leaves the exam proud.
Understanding check
Ask: "What is a check-up for?" (to see how you grow) "What does the doctor check?" (heart, ears, mouth, eyes, breath) "Is anything wrong at a check-up?" (no — counting what is good)
Staying safe
A check-up is not a punishment and never framed as one — no "be good or the doctor will look in your ears." The visit counts what is good; the tone at home decides whether the child believes it.
This lesson pairs with the Check-Up flashcard in the library — print it, show it, keep it on the fridge. Back to Doctor Visit.