Stories for Mathematics
Creative Planning-Thinking out the box
Box Construction Revisited!
MAKE IT APPEALING !!!!
What an eye opener I had the other day. I was invited for tea at the home of 2 little pre-schoolers.
Mummy had to go along with the idea as it was the 3-year old who had invited me. No kettle was boiled for tea nor any lounge visited. It was straight to the bedroom for “tea” and “cake”
AND a thorough “show and tell” of every single item in the room.
BUT THEN THE TREASURES APPEARED!
Under the bed was every conceivable type of BOX CONSTRUCTION. A number of constructions lovingly collected over a period of time.
I suggested getting an orange bag and recycling it all.
Bad idea!
- Every box construction had a purpose.
- Every box construction was something.
- Every box construction had a “creature” in it.
- Every box construction was part of a long long long game.
I was amazed and in awe of how much thought was in all those old box constructions.
NEVER AGAIN WILL I UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER AND VALUE OF THIS FANTASTIC CREATIVE ACTIVITY THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY IN ANY AND EVERY CREATIVE ROOM.
I am one to always promote using available resources. Tap into the children’s creativity. But this experience awakened my thinking again. The idea as for how some children can “CREATE” and be 3-year in the active play and free play zone while other children are brainwashed and fed adult stuff that rarely leads to this incredible imagination from some silly old boxes that didn’t quite make it into the orange bag for recycling.
Next time you set up your box construction area remember that a young child will visit to make and create and begin an everlasting fantastic game…..
A FEW IDEAS OF WHAT TO COLLECT TO CREATE AN EXCITING BOX CONSTRUCTION AREA IN YOUR CREATIVE SPACE.
Grocery boxes. Egg boxes. Meat trays. Ribbons. Brown packets. Milk tops. Milk cartons. Shoe boxes. Stickers. Yoghurt tubs. Marge tubs. Beer boxes.
AND the list is endless…. don’t forget the scissors and glue
MOST IMPORTANT : Remember that you are creating an inviting and appealing “set up” that just screams ….COME AND ENJOY!!!!
TEACHING LEFTIES
FACTS
10 – 13% of the population are left-handed
99% of left-handed people have difficulty with handwriting.
A higher percentage in therapy
Boys are 1:5 times more likely to be left handed than girls.
Frequently struggle with fine motor skills.
Can affect self-esteem.
Left-handedness is genetic.
COMMON PROBLEMS
Pencil grip
Hooked hand
Cutting
Handwriting
Threading
Letter formation
HOW TO HELP
The left-handed child should be placed at the desk so that he/she is on the outside to avoid bumping arms with the right-handed child.
Position and height of the chair is important.
Be aware of desk incline and lighting.
Know who are your left-handed children are before they start class.
The child must be slightly raised so they can see over their hands. Put cushions on the chairs so they can look over their hand. You can even use telephone directories.
In group work check the child is facing the board as their eyesight can be impeded.
Position the paper at a slight angle, otherwise they develop the hooked grip and this affects the wrist in the long term. Always make sure that the arm is rested flat on the table.
HAND FORMATION – Why worry?
Aching wrists
Stress in writing shoulder
Tires quickly
Less writing
DRAWING, COLOURING & WORKBOOKS
Use right to left movements when colouring in. If the child does it the other way it is difficult. The child must pull and not push the pen.
If using Craypas start colouring in from right to left.
Dot-to-Dot is for a right-handed person. Look at the direction of the numbers.
Tear the pages out of the work-book otherwise the spine is in the way. Preferably use spiral bound work-books.
When using symmetry drawings make sure that they are also for left handed children.
The word or symbol the child is copying must be on both sides of the page so the left-handed child can see the word, letter, number, picture or pattern when they are copying it. Finger space – use their right hand.
Dog_____________________________________________Dog
The_____________________________________________The
b_______________________________________________b
Biggest problem is that left handed children copy right-handed children and teachers.
CUTTING
Must use left handed scissors. There is no such thing as duel scissors as some suppliers would like you to think.
When deciding if a child is left or right handed check more than one aspect. The child could still be establishing dominance.
Check eye dominance
POINTERS TO CHECK DOMINANCE
Eye dominance
Hand dominance (throwing, catching, clapping)
Foot dominance (hopping, kicking, jumping)
Do lots of bilateral activities
Cross dominance
POSSIBLE LEARNING PROBLEMS
Transposing of letters
Mirror writing
Dyslexia
Reading problems
X Laterality
Visual problems
Try and create an environment where the left-handed child does not feel different.
WORKING WITH DICE
An example of a traditional dice is a rounded cube with each of its six faces showing a different number of dots (pips) from one to six.
When thrown the dice comes to rest showing on its upper surface a random integer (number) for one to six. Each value being equally likely..
Each value being equally likely?
What does that mean early childhood thinkers?
We can do so much with a dice ………
- We can make our own using a sponge
- We can make our own using a sugar cube
- We can make our own because we know that the opposite sides will add up to seven
- We can make our own out of a cardboard box
Apart for the importance of teaching young children the correct procedures in rolling a dice (not out the window!) in a game such as Ludo or Snakes and Ladders …….. There is so much more fun that we can have with a dice or two in our hands.
A dice is so valuable to a teaching lesson
- It has six sides
- It is a cube
- The opposite sides add up to seven
The opposite side of one is six- The opposite side of two is five
- The opposite side of three is four
- The opposite side of four is three
- The opposite side of five is two
- The opposite side of six is one
We use a dice for playing games or any game that requires us to move on because of a designated number
Thinking caps on!!
- Each child has a dice, rolls it ….What is your number?
- Each child has 2 dice, rolls them….. What do they add up to?
- Each child has a dice, rolls it…. Find someone with the same number?
- Each child has 3 dice, rolls them… What do they add up to?
- The teacher has a dice, rolls it …. the child with 5 does the weather
- The teacher has a dice, rolls it …. any child who rolls the same number can go out to play. (put your dice in the box on the way out)
