Teaching geometry at the primary level

Shirali, Padmapriya (2014) Teaching geometry at the primary level. At Right Angles, 3 (3). pp. 1-12. ISSN 2582-1873

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Abstract

Prior to entering formal school, a child in her interaction with the environment and natural surroundings encounters different forms and shapes (2-D and 3-D). She has absorbed the perceptions that every object has a form with recognizable features which can be observed, identified, named, described and categorized. She has already experienced numerous examples of these forms. The teaching of geometry at the primary level needs to factor in such familiarity with the world, with regularly used objects like cuboids, cylinders, spheres and the commonly encountered shapes like rectangles, circles, squares, triangles. However it is important to note that the child may not know the names, and therefore introduction to vocabulary should happen only after they have become familiar with a shape and how it behaves. Till then a child may use simple descriptions: sun like, door like, ball like, box like and so on.

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Articles in APF Magazines

Authors:

Shirali, Padmapriya

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