Friday, July 2, 2010
How young is too young for geometry?
When I think of geometry, I usually think of my eighth grade math teacher. He was a pretty funny and dry humored guy. But I was 14 in eighth grade. We begin various geometry lessons from the time we can first visualize an item. As babies we had a variety of multiple toys that were played with of all sorts of shapes and sizes. As toddlers and preschoolers we begin to learn the correct naming of all of these fun looking shapes. (Square, triangle, circle, rectangle..etc) Geometry is all around us from the time we are born. We may not know we are learning it but we are. I found an article called The Geometric World of Young Children. The article reminded me of all the fun projects and ideas I had as a preschool teacher. My hope, some day, is to teach a younger elementary grade level. I may not have to get in depth with all of the evasive equations like in our chapter 10 homework, but the teachers who teach in the younger elementary set a guideline for the future of their students. If a student doesn't know a hexagon has six sides they may struggle in future geometry classes. One of the most interesting points I found in the article was, they gave a, sort of, scenario about taking a 4-year-old on a walk to the grocery store. If a parent were to take their child on a walk to the grocery store turning in multiple directions the child, when asked, will be able to point out which direction the grocery store is in when they arrived home. I have witnessed many parents amazement when their 3-year-old can tell them where to turn on their way to preschool. Children at such young ages are using math through multiple everyday experiences and they don't even realize it. I don't know if any age is too young to teach geometry as children are learning it way before we, as future teachers, begin to teach it.
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4 comments:
Amy, I like that you reference how math and geometry are a series of building blocks, and we teach important steps from the time children are very young. I think making sure that we cover all of the correct foundational pieces in each grade is helpful in preparing students for more advanced concepts, such as geometry.
I agree Rachael, I liked her reference to math being a series of building blocks. I never viewed geometry is this sense before. I know I was amazed when one morning my mother-in-law had to drop my daughter off at preschool when she first started almost 2 yrs. ago and she gave her exact directions from our house. It is amazing how much they remember. They say when children get lost they can usually tell you how to get back to their house. They might not always remember the road names, but when they drive it every day it gives them a sense of direction.
I think we can successfully intoduce geometry at any age. Like you said, geometry is all around us and if we are able to make a connection between the real world, geometry and the students, why shouldn't we?
I read an article very similar to the one you read. It is amazing now to you think back to when you do actually start learning geometry. All baby toys are geometrical shaped. Most children know what a ball is when they are very young, so reminding them that the ball is a circle could really make a difference. I think the idea a starting as early as possible is great. There are so many manipulatives around us to guide our learning. Geometry is everywhere and we have never realized it.
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