For Practica Parents with 2 to 7 year old children:
Do you routinely ask questions like “Can you
name this colour?” or “How many ducks do you see?” when you’re around your
child? If the answer is yes, you may be slipping into the role of a test administrator
instead of having fun as a parent! The good news is, you can turn just about
any opportunity into a fun experience by taking turns with your child.
Here’s how!
- Take turns to facilitate learning:
For
example, instead of pointing to a block and asking, “Can you name this colour?”,
introduce a game where the two of you take turns to add a block to a tower
whilst stating the colour of every block as you place it.
Or,
instead of saying: “How many ducks do you see?” introduce a game where the two
of you take turns to point out things that are in groups of three (or whichever
number you choose for the day)
- Introduce a ritual to teach a skill:
Instead
of appearing as if out of nowhere with juice in hand after your child asked for
something to drink, invite him into the kitchen. Once he is there, routinely hand
him two tumblers before pouring the juice. Say: “Hand me the blue (or green, or yellow) tumbler,
and I will use it to give you what you need”.
Or
when snacktime comes around, routinely encourage your little one to sort pieces
of food into “groups of two” or “groups of three” on a breadboard before eating
his own little arrangements.
How can I extend this advice to using my Practica
box in new ways?
Build towers with counters from the Math Set to create “skittles”. Then play a fun
bowling game where you and your child take
turns to roll a tennis ball to see how many skittles you can knock over.
Encourage your child to routinely
follow a ritual by counting the fallen skittles one-by-one as he stands
them up again to re-set the game for the next round.
- For kids aged 20 – 40 months: Build skittles of similar height and count out loud, one-by-one, as your child re-sets them for the next round.
- For kids aged 3½ years and older: Build skittles of varying heights. Ask your child to help you count the counters in each skittle and fit a number indicator onto each of them to indicate the number of counters in that skittle. Then see who knocks over the highest number. Start off using only small numbers and gradually include higher numbers as your child’s number concept develops.
Why are these teaching strategies so effective?
The strategy of routinely following a ritual
that aims at developing a specific skill is effective simply because it leads
to repetition and “practice makes perfect”.
Taking turns is also an effective teaching
strategy because young children exist in the moment and therefore learn through
their senses and bodily experiences. Consequently, they get a much clearer idea
of what is expected of them while copying someone else, as apposed to being
given a set of instructions.
In other words, every time you take your turn
as you play with him, you are literally modelling to him what he should be doing
directly afterwards, when it’s his turn to play.
Written by Lizette van Huyssteen
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