Here’s what I love about teaching. It’s never the same. Learners are not homogenous and therein lies the beautiful challenge. I’m blessed with twin fraternal boys (N & M) who look very similar. Even I, their mother find it hard to tell them apart in some photos. However similar they may look, they have their distinct personalities and learn in different ways. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this simple fact and re-adjust my expectations accordingly.
Teaching 101: the more you know about the learner, the better placed you are to teach. The numbers book is simple in concept. However, the way it’s taught and learnt will vary from child to child, even if they have shared the same womb.
Make simple blank booklets by folding paper and stapling it.
Choose a number for the book and draw/stick the corresponding number of items on that page.
Our first book was about ‘1’.
N & M drew one superhero on each page of their books.
I got a bit ahead of myself and thought I could introduce the word ‘one’ to them at the same time. I should have known better and stuck to teaching one new concept at a time; either just the numeral or the word. Thankfully my children are like sponges – whatever is too much for them just glides off them. This is a most forgiving trait.
Our second book was about ‘2’.
On each page of this book, N & M did rainbow writing of the number ‘2’ before sticking down two stickers.
A quick note about rainbow writing, write the ‘model’ number in a light colour like pink or orange so that children can see their own writing (using a darker colour) when they rainbow write on top of it.
That’s the basic outline of the lesson. The details of the lesson varied for N & M. Eg N needed more guidance with his pencil grip when doing his rainbow writing. M needed more incentive and time to engage and commence the activity.
How did you vary this activity for your learner?
N & M : 3 years, 10 months
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