Movement often involves forming large numbers on a blackboard or white board or ‘drawing’ these numbers in the air with your hand. I have found movement and tactile inputs a sure fire way to reinforce correct number formations. Once children have started grasping the concept of how to form the numbers correctly you can use sensory input to pin down the map of how the number is formed. Work on numbers 1 to 5 first and once we are feeling confident and happy about starting in the right spot we move on to number 6 to 10.In the early stages of number formations allow children to trace over numbers or dotted lines making up the numbers.You can also add arrows to indicate the direction you must travel from the starting point. Below is a picture of how to use round stickers to demonstrate where to start the number. This visual cue could be a sticker, smiley face, star, small picture, anything that is going to remind them of the correct place to start that number. Then I use a visual cue to show the children where we are going to start. I have permission from the children to tickle their feet if I catch them starting any numbers from the bottom! We will always start at the same place and drive the same way – no reversing, changing direction or starting in the wrong spot!Īll of the numbers start at the top so we make sure that we always start ‘up there’. I tell the children when we are learning to write numbers that we are always going to drive the same way on the “number road’’ of whichever number we are learning to write. We call this the starting point or the starting spot. The most important idea for me to get across to children learning to form numbers is that they must start from the correct place. There are a few tips that will really help when teaching number formation. This frees up their brain to focus more on the content of what they are working on as opposed to using brainpower to figure out how to make the number. You can read about motor planning and motor planning’s impact on handwriting in previous posts.įollowing the same pattern each time you form the number allows this motor memory to become strengthened more quickly and the child’s ability to form the number automatically develops. Teaching number formation with the correct staring points and the correct path to follow when forming a number allows a motor memory to be effectively laid down in the brain. But it is important to teach correct formations when children begin to write their own numbers. Surely if a 5 looks like a 5 it doesn’t have to be formed in a specific way? It does seem very prescriptive to insist on forming the numbers one way. Is it really that important how they form the numbers? It’s always rewarding to see a young child start to recognize numbers and to attempt to copy what they see. Why correct number formation is important
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