Sound Boxes
Work was okay today. In the morning, the children went for their sports rehearsal in the morning. They did their marching in the morning, the 4 years class (otherwise code named "baby class" by every other class!), the 5 years (Advanced & Beginners) and the two 6 year classes. After that, the 4 years class played their individual class games (Bunny Hopping with 3 hoops; and running ZigZag around 3 hoops).
After the two games were played, the 4 years class went in, (at about 9.45am). They didn't seem very tired out although I think Lilian and I was already!! After drinking from their bottles and settled down for a while, I started on their "Sound Boxes" lesson with them.
I was informed that there'll be two new children enrolling after the 2nd semester starts.
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Activity: Sound Boxes ( 5 pairs of Sound Bottles orange and yellow bottles per pair).
Implementation: The children were seated in a group around the mat. I told the children that for this lesson, they had to keep silent and watch as I presented. Then I showed them how to hold the bottles (using the pincer grip).
After that, I had the children individually do the activity.
Evaluation: The children had much difficulty for this exercise. There were 5 pairs of sound bottles in the box, so I had to take one pair and make it to 4 pairs. As I tried out the activity with the children, I realised that even 4 pairs of bottles were too many, so in the end it was 3 pairs of bottles with contrasting sounds ( loud- pasta, soft-salt, rice-loud).
I presented the lesson according to the way I was taught during the Montessori course, but then I realised it didn't work as the children had trouble following the instructions of doing it by themselves as I had presented.
In the end, I just took one orange bottle and 3 yellow bottles. I took the 4 bottles and placed it in front of the child, and as I shook each bottle, I asked the child to answer me either "same" or "not the same" or to point out the matching sound bottles.
Only Tze En, Nicholas, ChengWei and Nicole could differentiate the sounds, whereas the rest of the class had trouble with it. For these children, I added more bottles after each round till all the 5 pairs of bottles were used.
I realised that the children found it easier when the bottles were placed in front of them, and they were looking at it. Some kept saying that each bottle sounded the same, so I told the children that they had to listen carefully and choose the bottles that sounded the same as they could not be 3 bottles that had the same sounds as the one of different colour. I purposely chose contrasting sounds so that the exercise would be much more easier for the children.
Even Seguin, with his Physiological Method says that deaf people have been able to refine their hearing initially through use of contrasting degrees in the exercise, and slowly extend the difficulty of the exercise until their senses are heightened or refined. Although the children are not deaf, it is the best time to refine their hearing senses as the children are in their sensitive period for refinement of senses, thus the Sound Boxes are an excellent exercise primer to refine their hearing sense at this period of time before going into more complicated exercises.
Children who didn't participate: ShanShan, Eugene, Joyce, Celina (absent), SeenYan (absent)
Couldn't get it: Ai Lin, Guo Xuan (3 years), Jasper (3 years), Angel.
After the two games were played, the 4 years class went in, (at about 9.45am). They didn't seem very tired out although I think Lilian and I was already!! After drinking from their bottles and settled down for a while, I started on their "Sound Boxes" lesson with them.
I was informed that there'll be two new children enrolling after the 2nd semester starts.
****************************************************************************************
Activity: Sound Boxes ( 5 pairs of Sound Bottles orange and yellow bottles per pair).
Implementation: The children were seated in a group around the mat. I told the children that for this lesson, they had to keep silent and watch as I presented. Then I showed them how to hold the bottles (using the pincer grip).
After that, I had the children individually do the activity.
Evaluation: The children had much difficulty for this exercise. There were 5 pairs of sound bottles in the box, so I had to take one pair and make it to 4 pairs. As I tried out the activity with the children, I realised that even 4 pairs of bottles were too many, so in the end it was 3 pairs of bottles with contrasting sounds ( loud- pasta, soft-salt, rice-loud).
I presented the lesson according to the way I was taught during the Montessori course, but then I realised it didn't work as the children had trouble following the instructions of doing it by themselves as I had presented.
In the end, I just took one orange bottle and 3 yellow bottles. I took the 4 bottles and placed it in front of the child, and as I shook each bottle, I asked the child to answer me either "same" or "not the same" or to point out the matching sound bottles.
Only Tze En, Nicholas, ChengWei and Nicole could differentiate the sounds, whereas the rest of the class had trouble with it. For these children, I added more bottles after each round till all the 5 pairs of bottles were used.
I realised that the children found it easier when the bottles were placed in front of them, and they were looking at it. Some kept saying that each bottle sounded the same, so I told the children that they had to listen carefully and choose the bottles that sounded the same as they could not be 3 bottles that had the same sounds as the one of different colour. I purposely chose contrasting sounds so that the exercise would be much more easier for the children.
Even Seguin, with his Physiological Method says that deaf people have been able to refine their hearing initially through use of contrasting degrees in the exercise, and slowly extend the difficulty of the exercise until their senses are heightened or refined. Although the children are not deaf, it is the best time to refine their hearing senses as the children are in their sensitive period for refinement of senses, thus the Sound Boxes are an excellent exercise primer to refine their hearing sense at this period of time before going into more complicated exercises.
Children who didn't participate: ShanShan, Eugene, Joyce, Celina (absent), SeenYan (absent)
Couldn't get it: Ai Lin, Guo Xuan (3 years), Jasper (3 years), Angel.
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