Engaging Kindergarten Learners to Logic Using Manipulatives

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Teaching Kindergarten is a very challenging role for teachers. Kindergarten children as young learners are not behaviorally developed and have difficulty paying attention for a significant period of time. In Alupay Elementary School, Kindergarten teachers have considered an extra mile in teaching Kindergarten logic this year by using concrete manipulatives. This piece of work therefore is considered as an assessment of the effectiveness of the use of manipulatives in teaching Kindergarten learners to discover different possibilities on how to equip the preschoolers the skills they need and prepare them to be globally-competitive in the future.

METHODS

The researcher employed the Descriptive Method while targeting the concerns of Kindergarten learners of Alupay Elementary School, one of the schools in the East District of Rosario, Batangas. The primary source of data is the results of a teacher-made test in Logic administered to the Kindergarten learners.

RESULTS

Results reveal that objects such as balls, boxes, plates, and glass are used by teachers in teaching logic. It can also be gleaned that the teachers also use cut-out shapes and pictures, blocks and cubes, pattern blocks, coloring books, and story boards. Science apparatuses such as beakers and graduated cylinders are used to show the volume of water. When it comes to students' performance in the teacher-made test, majority of the learners got perfect scores with grouping objects getting the highest number of learners with perfect scores. However, figures also revealed that more or less 30% of the learners got 1 out of 3 points in items that suggest that learners create own patterns and transform/translate patterns from one form to another. The average score garnered by all learners (n=77) is 2.49.

DISCUSSIONS

The results revealed that the use of manipulatives can be of great help for student learning. However, there are still competencies where Kindergarten learners of Alupay Elementary School have to develop. Thus, the researcher suggests a program "MATHALINO" that encourages the use of virtual manipulatives that are suited for the 21st Century learners. It also includes activities that promote higher engagement of students in lessons for maximum learning potential.