The Importance of Manipulatives

 

The Importance of Manipulatives



"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand." 

Benjamin Franklin 

I have taught for many years now, and a lot has changed. However, one thing has stayed consistent, which makes me strongly believe in the above quote; Hand-on, Minds-on activities always benefit a child's learning. Just think about a time when you learned something new. What made the new knowledge stick? Was it actually doing the task? Most likely, your answer is yes. Manipulatives are essential in the early stages of mathematics. Manipulative materials are any concrete objects that allow students to explore an idea in an active, hands-on approach. Manipulatives can be almost anything: blocks, cubes, bears, beans, fraction circles, base ten blocks, tangrams, shapes, spinners, or even paper that is cut or folded. When we use these manipulatives, learning occurs on multiple levels, including visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and when done in groups, social. As teachers, we need to use manipulatives to encourage hands-on, minds-on learning whenever possible. "Active learning" helps students engage more deeply with the task at hand, makes the task meaningful, and helps them remember. 

What Happens When We Skip Manipulatives

I often see children who struggle with math after 4th grade.  I often find that these students had little or no experience learning with manipulatives during their early years and the result is that they lack a conceptual understanding of mathematics. An example would be a student who can complete an algorithm, like long division,  but they don't understand why it works. Later, when the same student moves on to more complex tasks, they will struggle due to the gaps in their learning and understanding. A college professor friend of mine will often ask me to tutor her students who lack the necessary conceptual understanding to be successful in her course. I get out my trusty manipulatives and once the students see math, they have an "Ah-Ha" moment and can then begin to use their new knowledge to figure out abstract problems. I am here to say that worksheets are okay, but students should also be using manipulatives to learn and practice their math assignments daily. Please give your students/children the gift of conceptual understanding and by showing them math tools that they can see and touch.

Below are links about the importance of manipulatives and how to use them with your student. Please click on the link: Math Mania for more detailed videos and ideas about how to use manipulatives at home. Please subscribe to my blog for more tips and tricks.





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