Teaching basic skills is so important for all learners. It can be fun, hands-on as well as educational all at the same time. Sorting skills is one such skill in education and it is an integral part of learning, including for children with special needs.
Sorting activities in the classroom allow children to experience hands-on fun and it also promotes organization, matching, manipulating, and classifying objects and thus enhances logical thinking. To handle children with SEN, sorting skills provide them to build kinesthetic skills besides improving their logical thinking. Sorting mats are one popular way to teach children about sorting skills.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Sorting Mats!
Visual and Tactile Learning
With sorting mats, both visual, as well as tactile learners, can be accommodated. Sorting mats are fun to make and use. With visually attractive colors and models of structure sorting mats can grab students' attention very quickly. With this special Ed learners can identify similarities and differences between objects.
Improves Cognitive Skills
Sorting mats helps to improve logical thinking, problem-solving and develops language skills as well. When children sort objects they are determining the group that object belongs to and makes a logical decision. Organizing and grouping of objects is a part of problem-solving skills and lastly, children start to learn about the name of the shapes, sizes, quality and etc., such as long & short, light, medium and heavy, more & fewer, small & large, the color of the object and many more.
Covers Multiple Topics With Less Prep Time
Sorting mats can cover multiple topics including math topics for enhancing children's skills in that area. Additionally, it can be stored and used for a long period of time. Special Ed teachers do not need to worry about preparing it each year, they are timeless treasures when it comes to classroom usage and teachers can also expand theirs slowly or quickly according to the needs of the classroom. plus they can be stored very easily. You can place them in small containers or zippered bags or even in pencil pouches (if they are small).
Tips On How To Use Sorting Mats Effectively!
In the beginning, special Ed teachers can introduce sorting mats with concrete objects. Leaners can use written sticky notes to be more adaptive to ideas and information for sorting, classifying, and organizing. You can start by using the object to organize or sort them in variety of ways. To make it more fun and engaging, include learners to model each new sorting mat and they can also pick which mat they are going to work on for learning.
Your Takeaway
Sorting activities, in general, is very much relevant for real world learning. For starters, sorting dishes, clothes for laundry, and even arranging books and copies are just part of our daily lives. It is said that Learners who are able to sort well are more likely to understand relationships and connections between numbers, objects, and people. Additionally, sorting mats allow children to experience learning with their own hands, this gives them a closer look at what they are learning as they manipulate pieces of objects while enjoying the activity.Sorting mats by their very design provide learners a chance to experience hands-on learning and thus enables them to move learn and retain information better and longer.
For teachers who are building a career in teaching in an inclusive classroom, Special Education Courses can foster deeper understanding in using tools and resources in the special Ed classroom with a modern approach.
Written By : Ashwini Chandra
