Assessments
Three times a year we have finalization on our assessment and observations. During the last term I noticed that many of our children had a hard time knowing what largest and smallest are . Today I did a little activity to see how far along we’ve come.
We started first with the large group of vehicles. We talked about them. I stated ” all these are vehicles or modes of transportation help us go places. They all have wheels. What else do they all have? ”
I got answers like doors, windows, lights, and even motors. The motor answer is an interesting because that lets me know that this child has knowledge of real vehicles. We didn’t SEE motors. To go a step further when I asked which vehicle was larger even though the blue car was obviously the largest- he said the tow truck. In his mind he saw a real tow truck and not the toy one in front of him .
We sorted our vehicles by color . And then I started doing the assessment which was the purpose for our game. I asked the children to pick up the smallest and the largest. Without fail most of them could do it. Yay !!
I don’t do small groups as often as I used to. Believe it or not they used to be daily. Sometimes a small group is necessary in order to isolate which skills I might need to find more opportunities for practice during our day.
Sorting as I have told you before is a beginning math activity. Although many programs focus on reciting numbers or counting objects there is so much more to really understanding math.
I read that infants start sorting early in life. An example is when they smile or Goo they elicit a response from an adult. When they cry they elicit a different response. That is in essence sorting emotions right?
There are ways you can sort at home too. It comes naturally for most children. The other day when we were folding our drying cloths I noticed that Leavie was only choosing the red – sorting. At home children can sort silverware , they can sort socks, they can sort anything that has ways of grouping like materials together.
We also spent time outside today and did a little leaf raking.
This picture shows you the end result after the kids helped me rake up and bag one huge bag of dead leaves. Teamwork !