Measurement and sorting, which are the foundational concepts of math, are much more than school exercises, and are fundamental methods through which young children construct meaning of their world. Sorting also allows them to arrange the information, find trends in it, and categorise objects according to their noticeable characteristics. The concept of quantity, comparison, and space is introduced with the idea of measuring. These activities play a primary role at Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready, a playful, discovery-based approach to early numeracy. We will bring these ideas to life through the facilitated, practical experiences of Kinder Ready Tutoring, as the logical thinking, vocabulary, and self-esteem needed to perceive mathematics as something real and interesting in daily life.
The first step would be sorting, because this is in line with the instinct in a child to establish order and classify. The Kinder Ready Elizabeth Fraley approach brings about sorting in the form of free-ended play using various materials. During a tutoring session, a child may be shown an assortment of mixed numbers of buttons, shells or colored blocks. Then the teacher asks easy questions that are exploratory: “Can you group the similar things? or “Find all the red objects.” As the ability of the child increases, the standards become more complicated, with the progression of colour, size, shape, texture or type. The given activity helps to develop such important cognitive skills as observation, comparison, and decision-making. Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready has a mission that includes letting children experience various methods of learning, and sorting lets visual, tactile and verbal learners interact to the fullest extent, wherein they learn and find the rule and relationship by direct manipulation.
Measurement activities expose children to the notion of size, length, volume and weight in a non-standardised manner. Children are taught to use rulers or scales directly before using them. The Kinder Ready Tutoring lessons include playful measurement based on the use of daily objects. A child may also use their own feet to measure the size of a rug, pile up blocks to determine which toy is higher, or utilise cups and spoons in a sensory box to find out which fine tool has more sand. The teacher adds words like longer, shorter, heavier, lighter, full, and empty to this play to provide it with more specific language. This practical study brings abstract concepts to life. It also promotes problem-solving and estimation, because children make predictions and try their hypothesis, which is a fundamental part of a scientific way of thinking.
Finally, by learning these activities through play, mathematical confidence and reasoning capability are developed considerably. The ability to sort a complicated set of items successfully or to correctly guess which box contains more makes a child feel a certain achievement. The Elizabeth Fraley Kinder Ready philosophy is aimed at attaining this confidence. When a child feels competent in sorting and comparing things, they will be more likely to take formal math classes with a positive and inquisitive attitude. Moreover, the skills can be directly applied to the kindergarten readiness, including following instructions, including those that require sorting by an attribute, as well as basic geometry and data representations. Through the concept of measuring and sorting in personalised, interest-based play, Kinder Ready Tutoring will see that children gain a solid foundation of mathematics using their intuitive skills.
For further details on Kinder Ready’s programs, visit their website: https://www.kinderready.com/.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ElizabethFraleyKinderReady