Have you ever visited a new city and felt confused about finding your bearings_even if you had a
map and directions? After a few days you probably got a feel for the area, and even if you became
lost from time to time, you could count on familiar landmarks to help you on your way. And with
enough exploring, most likely you ventured with more confidence wherever you needed to go.
We can think of the value of firsthand experiences for learning in a similar way. Math has many
areas: patterns, measurement, geometry, statistics, probability,and more–and they’re often
unfamiliar, abstract, and confusing to students. We need to help children develop the ability and
confidence to find their way around each of these areas, see how they connect, and know what to
map and directions? After a few days you probably got a feel for the area, and even if you became
lost from time to time, you could count on familiar landmarks to help you on your way. And with
enough exploring, most likely you ventured with more confidence wherever you needed to go.
We can think of the value of firsthand experiences for learning in a similar way. Math has many
areas: patterns, measurement, geometry, statistics, probability,and more–and they’re often
unfamiliar, abstract, and confusing to students. We need to help children develop the ability and
confidence to find their way around each of these areas, see how they connect, and know what to
do should they forget a fact or procedure. Here are five reasons manipulatives do just that:
2. Manipulatives lift math off the textbook pages.
3. Manipulatives build students’ confidence by giving them a way to test and confirm their reasoning.
4 Manipulatives are useful tools for solving problems.
5 Manipulatives make learning math interesting and enjoyable.
