Montessori Geometric Metal Insets | CIRCLE presentation prepares a preschooler for future handwriting and promotes hand-eye coordination.
Today, we are continuing our work with Montessori metal insets (buy here ). For this Montessori Geometric Metal Insets | CIRCLE presentation, I use a regular wooden tray with handles (buy here). (Alternatively, you can purchase a tray specifically designed for Montessori metal insets here.) You will also need paper sized about 5.5” x 5.5″ and colored pencils. Adrian loves Giotto Mega pencils (buy here) since they are extremely vibrant and comfortable due to their thick grooved core.
Although Geometric Metal Insets are traditionally part of the Montessori language area, the purpose of this material is to prepare a child for future handwriting.
A child also learns to hold the pencil. At three years of age, a dynamic quadrupod, when a child folds a pencil with three fingers is acceptable. (With this grip pattern, the thumb and the first three fingers are used to grip the pencil. Only the pinky finger and the outside portion of the hand provide stability. The thumb doesn’t cross over. It assists the other three fingers in directing the pencil.) By the age of five, you would focus on achieving a dynamic tripod grip where the thumb and forefinger act like pincers, gripping the barrel of the pencil near its tip. (In a dynamic tripod grip, the third finger acts like support, bracing the forefinger as it moves. The fourth and fifth fingers act as a stabilizing base on the writing surface.)
Below is a video of Adrian doing Presentation #1 Montessori Geometric Metal Insets | CIRCLE
Montessori Geometric Metal Insets | CIRCLE INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions for tracing using Montessori Metal Insets are very detailed and exact:
When tracing the inset, a child should start tracing at the bottom left-hand corner of the shape, and trace clockwise around the shape and meet up to the starting point at the bottom left-hand corner. Make sure that the child does not stop the tracing process until he/she has completed the shape. When coloring the shape within the frame, a child should use small strokes that move top to bottom, left to the right side. Remind the child not to lift the pencil up off the paper until the pencil is at the very right of the shape, and definitely, not to change the positioning of the stroke itself.
GEOMETRIC PLANE
We also discussed the geometric representations of a circle. A circle is a 2-dimensional perfectly round shape with no sides. It is a line that is curved so that its ends meet and every point on the line is the same.
There is a difference between a circle and a disk. A circle is a line, without considering an area in the middle. So, when Adrian drew a “double line” – he drew a circle. However, when Adrian colored in the circle with the red pencil, he made a disk, which is a round portion of a circular outline.
Invite a child to gathered objects around the house that had a circular outline.
FOR MORE on Montessori METAL INSETS
Read HERE Exploring a Triangle Presentation # 1.
Have you worked with Montessori metal insets? Leave a comment!
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