Activity 2:
Mathematics / Fine motor skills: Cutting around shapes with scissors
Materials: A piece of paper with a square, rectangle and triangle drawn on it (big enough for the child to cut. Otherwise, draw two shapes on one paper and the third one on another sheet).
Beginning: Show the paper with the shapes on it to the child and ask him/her what shapes they see in front of them. Hand the scissors to the child and ask him/her to cut all the shapes one by one.
Middle: Make sure that the child has a proper grip on the scissors and let him/her cut all the shapes out.
End: Once the child has cut out the three shapes, talk to them about their properties (For example, how many sides/points does a triangle,rectangle/square have?)
Extension: Let your child cut an image from the newspaper.
Duration of the activity: 10-15 minutes
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ACTIVE LEARNING
“Active
learning is defined as learning in which the child, by acting on objects and
interacting with people, ideas, and events, constructs new understanding. No
one else can have experiences for the child. Children must do this for
themselves." - Mary Hohmann & David P. Weikart
The HighScope
Curriculum is distinguished from other curriculum by its importance on “Active
Learning”. That means learning is not simply a process of adults giving
information to the children. Rather, the children are active learners-
discovering things through active involvement with people, objects, events and
ideas. They learn best from following their own interests while being actively
supported and challenged by adults. In the classroom, the teachers are as
active and involved as the children. They give thoughtful attention to the
materials they provide, the activities they plan, and the ways they talk with
the children to both support and challenge what the children are experiencing
and thinking. This approach is called
“Active Learning” – a process in which the adults and the children are partners
in the learning process.
Active
Learning has five
ingredients, all of which must be present when the teachers plan an activity
for the children. These five ingredients are:
1. Materials:
The adults provide enough materials of children’s interest. For Instance,
the children like to play with cars, or dinosaurs etc. Then these objects may
be used for sorting, classifying or counting activities to develop mathematical
skills.
2. Manipulation: The children have opportunities to
explore and transform the materials they choose to use. For instance, the adults
do not demonstrate how to use the materials. If a child does not want to count
the cars but he/she is sorting them by colors then he is given a choice to do
so. The child is still learning a mathematical skill by classifying the cars by
their colors.
3. Choice: The children choose materials and
play partners and plan their activities according to their interests and needs.
For instance, a child chooses to play in the block center with the cars only
with a certain person.
4. Child language: The children describe verbally or non verbally
what they see and do. For instance, in an activity, if the adult is doing all
the talking the child becomes distracted and impatient; therefore no learning
is taking place. When a child talks about what they are doing, they modify
their thinking to take new learning in account.
5. Adult
Scaffolding: The
adults support the children’s current developmental level and offer gentle
extension to advance their abilities to reason, create and problem-solve. For instance, using the same example, if a
child does not want to count the cars but he/she is sorting them by colors then
the adult may encourage him/her to count the sorted colored cars and discover
which is more and less.
Family
involvement is a key
aspect of “Active Learning”. The teachers are experts in child development and
the parents are experts on their children. Working together will lead to a
happier and successful child. Just as children engage in active learning
throughout the class, they can do the same at home when parents incorporate
learning into different parts of the day. The children’s homes can be
extensions of the classroom and therefore can be natural learning environments.
Family members can use the home environment to build on learning; for example,
supporting math concepts my naming the shape of common household objects, such
as round plates, or counting the stair steps on the way to a room. The parents
may also provide their children with activities keeping in mind the five ingredients
of Active Learning.
Regards,
Ms Zarmeena
Aamir
Active learning video ⇓
