Programs should enable all children to:
Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them
This can be demonstrated by the children in the following ways:
And…programs should enable all children to:
Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data…
This can be demonstrated by the children in the following ways:
Sorting and classifying is something we do all the time with children. We can have children sort nearly anything that we have many of. It is easier for children to sort by one attribute at a time (for children under 4, only sort by one attribute at a time). When putting the cutlery out for lunch, put it out in a pile, all mixed up with spoons, forks, and knives. Have the children sort them before setting the table. There is a great lesson about this very idea in the Early Math Counts site. Click here to see it.
There are a couple other lessons available in the Early Math Counts site about sorting and classifying. Click here or here to check them out.
If you try any of them out, let us know how they go.
]]>There are several directions you could go with this set. I would start by introducing it on a table (rather than in the Housekeeping Area) so that children can explore the shapes in whatever way they choose. The children themselves may come up with some very interesting ways of playing with these cookies. Observe carefully. You may find that the children naturally begin sorting them into categories without any prompting from the adults. I imagine that some of the categories children will come up with, may be hard to see or recognize. They may sort the cookies into piles of “Cookies I Like” and “Cookies I don’t Like”. That is what I would do.
Later, you can ask that they sort the cookies in specific ways by observable attributes (color, size, shape). They can count them, distribute them, make patterns out of them and eventually play all of the games that come with the set.
The thing I like best about this set, is that these cookies look like the cookies I grew up with. Do you remember the “Pinwheel” cookie, or am I aging myself?
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Solid shapes are a little bit harder and slightly more advanced in terms of defining attributes. When a circle is 2 dimensional, it is a circle. When it is 3 dimensional, it is a sphere. This bucket of Geometric Solid Shapes supports the young child’s emerging concepts of 3-dimensional shapes. They can be sorted, classified, and counted based on color, shape, size or attribute. They might seem too advanced for the smaller children, but I guarantee, that some of your kids are ready for this manipulative.
]]>This story has been told and retold over the years so often that I question its truthfulness…even though it does make a great story.
Young children will often pick out the most obvious attribute of something they see and point it out. I’ve had children ask me why my teeth are yellow, or what is wrong with my skin (I have freckles- a lot of them)? It is pretty normal for children to do this. We, as adults have to remember that they are not making judgments as much as they are making observations.
The word “attribute” usually refer to a specific characteristic or property of a thing (an object, person, idea, or animal). It helps define that thing by providing a quality to that thing. An apple can be “red” or “round”- both are attributes, and a dog can be “tall” or “smelly” – also attributes.
We use defining attributes with children as they begin to sort out the world around them. Once they have a concept of “color” they can use this attribute as a means of sorting, classifying, patterning, and defining. Some attributes are easy to see – color and shape, while others are much more nuanced and will take longer to understand.
This month, we are going to look at manipulatives that support young children’s understandings of attributes, while also exploring websites that also do so.
So, “Here’s to you, Fat Lady.”
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