The Importance of Manipulatives

"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand."

Benjamin Franklin

I love the above quote. In all my year's teaching, I know this to be true; hands-on, mind-on activities always benefit a child's learning. Just think about a time when you learned something new. What made the new knowledge stick? Was it actually doing the task? Most likely, your answer is "yes". Manipulatives are essential in the early stages of mathematics. Manipulative materials consist of any concrete objects that allow students to explore an idea in an active, hands-on approach. Manipulatives can be almost anything: blocks, cubes, bears, beans, fraction circles, base-ten blocks, tangrams, shapes, spinners, sticks, rocks, flowers, or even paper that is cut or folded. When we use these manipulatives, learning occurs on multiple levels, including visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic. When learning is multi-modal, it helps the brain create more robust neural pathways and increases learning. As teachers, we need to use manipulatives to encourage "hands-on-minds-on" learning whenever possible. "Active learning" helps students engage more deeply with the task at hand, makes the task meaningful, and helps students remember.

What Happens When We Skip Manipulatives?

I often see children who struggle with math after 4th grade. I find that these students had little or no experience learning with manipulatives during their early years; the result is that they lack a conceptual understanding of mathematics. An example would be a student who can complete an algorithm, like long division, but they don't understand why it works. Later, when the same student moves on to more complex tasks, they will struggle due to their learning and understanding gaps. A college professor and friend of mine will often ask me to tutor her students who lack conceptual understanding. I get out my trusty manipulatives and once the students see math, they have an "Ah-Ha" moment. Once conceptual understanding or "The Why" of math happens, students can then begin to use their new knowledge to figure out abstract problems and become successful in advanced math classes. I am here to say that worksheets are okay, but students should also use manipulatives to learn and practice their math assignments daily. Bring math learning into your daily lives, play games, and use manipulatives to help make math meaningful. Please give your students/children the gift of conceptual understanding and by showing them math tools that they can see and touch.

Below are links about the importance of manipulatives and how to use them with your student. Please subscribe to my Math Mania blog for more tips and tricks.