Reflection on Count On It-Congruency Matters

When you are an accomplished adult, it is difficult to remember how it was when you were acquiring elementary skills such as holding a pencil.using scissors, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. When one becomes a teacher (or a parent) and one is teaching these skills to a child, one sees that these skills, though fundamental, are sometimes a challenge to teach. The journal article Count On It- Congruent Manipulative Displays explains in detail many ways in which manipulative displays could help a student connect concrete mathematical ideas into semi-concrete ideas.

One aspect that is challenging when using manipulatives is management. How do you introduce manipulatives to children who still think of these objects as toys? Also, when you do use manipulatives, are you using a manipulative that will connect the ideas you are teaching to what the student is experiencing. Morin and Samuelson go through important descriptions on how, when, and why to use manipulatives. One example that they describe is how to work with the student who sees manipulatives as toys. The other example that I found helpful was that if the students are counting apples and oranges, to use printouts of apples and oranges as manipulatives, until the student is able to connect the number to less concrete representations such as tally-marks.

I found the article enlightening and helpful. I had not thought to use manipulatives like printed and cut out apples and oranges. This step is necessary for some children until they are ready to use other counters. I also found the discussion of how to manage/ teach students how to use manipulatives so that the use of manipulatives is not destructive and messy.