What is incidental teaching?

Incidental teaching is a strategy that focuses on providing structured learning opportunities that are directly linked to a child's interests. By utilizing moments that arise naturally in everyday situations, educators can embed learning into these spontaneous interactions, making the experience more engaging and relevant for the child. This approach allows for skill development in a context that feels authentic, as it capitalizes on the child's motivation and curiosity.

The other options do not accurately reflect the principles of incidental teaching. For instance, teaching only in controlled environments does not align with the flexible, naturalistic approach that incidental teaching embodies. Similarly, while formal assessments can be valuable in measuring progress, they do not represent the essence of incidental teaching, which emphasizes learning in real-life contexts rather than through structured testing scenarios. Therefore, the correct choice accurately captures the core mechanism of incidental teaching.