pedo-, paedo-, ped-, paed-, paido-, paid-

(Greek: child, boy; infant)

The British tend to use paed- while those in the United States tend to use ped-. Remember that the Greek ped- means "child" while the Latin ped- means "foot". Don't confuse this Greek element with another Greek pedo- which means "ground, soil, earth".

propedeutic, propaedeutic (adjective); more propedeutic, propedeutic, more propaedeutic; most propedeutic, most propedeutic, propaedeutic
1. Pertaining to, or of the nature of preparatory teaching: Propedeutic and preliminary instruction supplies the knowledge or discipline necessary in order to learn or to instruct some art, science, or some more advanced study.
2. Etymology: formed from Greek propaideueiv, "to teach beforehand"; from pro-, "before" + paideueiv, "to train, to educate, to teach"; from pais, genitive of paidos, "child".
propedeutics (s) (noun) (no pl)
The principles or rules that are introductory to any academic subject or special study: Propedeutics is usually a preliminary presentation by teachers when students are learning a certain branch of knowledge that is taught in a school, college, or university.