Measuring Can Be Fun too

Children love to learn and they are very creative enough to transform their play into a learning experience. Learning need not be confined to worksheets and abstract concepts. When left alone, they could even come up with their own creative idea and invent their own learning method. The only thing that I learnt that I need as an educator is to keep restrain. I had to be patient enough to let ideas blossom naturally by giving time, space, freedom and by providing a loving and non interfering environment for him to unleash his creativity. S loves to play with Jenga blocks. You could believe what I am saying by looking at the pictures. 

One fine day, after playing with the blocks for some time, he was able to figure out that the Jenga blocks could be used as a tool to measure things at home. He measured as many objects as he could using the Jenga blocks and prepared a report that gave details about the length of each object that he measured. It was amazing to read the report he prepared in a quick manner that read "My noddy car is 2 Jenga blocks long. My favourite book is 3 Jenga blocks long. Our centre table is 11 Jenga blocks long..." I noticed that he generally writes slowly but the time he took to prepare this report was too very fast and I could not believe the speed with which he did that.

That leaves me with - Children can develop their own lesson plans. Knowledge and concepts amassed through such self directed learning is huge and lasts for ever because it is actually original. And that is so much fun for them too.

Enjoy learning and sharing.

Exploring 3D Shapes

Lately, we have been integrating Math and art a lot. In an attempt to explore 3 D shapes, my sweet heart ended up making many colourful models . And the joy doubles when we are able to accomplish such work with the very simple materials that we have at home. Being a dominant spatial learner, my boy thoroughly enjoyed this activity since comprehending 3 D images and shapes is very easy for him. 

While parents and educators are worried nowadays that children are starting to loose focus by the stimulation of high energy distractions from the surrounding environment, this is one such activity that can really slow down a child and take them to the meditative world. For my son, what kept him occupied and challenged was to get the structure of the car he made, to put the model upright without having it to fall. Though it was challenging for him, he looked very calm and focused. It was an opportunity for me to observe him and understand that he will not give up. 

What activities have you done that really was relaxing for you and at the same time helped you to integrate a key concept in learning?

Enjoy learning and sharing.