Tips on how to use this exercise at home and at school.
Early maths concepts
In this exercise, the child looks at a set of 3 pictures and determines the correct order of the pictures according to the action in the pictures. The child needs to understand the situation, to understand which of the pictures represents the beginning, the progression and the end of the action, according to how they relate to each other in time.
Some sets of pictures are more challenging because the child does not encounter the situations often, and some sets depict situations from everyday life. In this way, the child connects his/her experiences and knowledge, analyses, makes connections, and becomes aware of the sequence of activities as well as the cause and effect of different events.
The set of 5 pictures is already more challenging to express the storyline.
Why is this exercise important?
It helps to understand natural numbers, which can represent quantity or order. The child gradually arrives at that and forms an idea of order and sequence. An example is the understanding that a given situation is a consequence of the previous one (before the first leaf of a plant appeared, it had been a seed) and at the same time itself has a successor (a flower in bloom), just like the natural numbers. However, the child must first understand the arrangement linguistically.
Children in natural situations gradually understand the arrangement in both directions, ascending and descending.
Who is the exercise suitable for?
Mainly for preschoolers and kids in early school days. It helps with developing logical ideas and language skills.
Methodological recommendations
Either read aloud the instructions to the child, play them from the app or let the child read them by themselves.
The child looks at the pictures and tells what they see. Encourage the child to describe what happened using the pictures. Then, let the pupil start dragging them, ideally in the correct order, and placing them in the empty windows while commenting on why they made this decision. The exercise requires an excellent understanding of the sequence, but also concentration, knowledge and in some cases resisting an impulsive reaction where the picture may confuse. A verbal description will enable the child to work thoughtfully and not hastily.
Tips for similar activities outside the app
The picture sets depicting fairy tales can be of great use here.
Unfold the pictures, let the child tell the fairy tale and build its plot sequentially from the pictures (e.g. Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.).
You can also create a diagram of the day: a set of pictures or photos that describe the child's daily activities. Talk about what you did or will do that day and put the pictures or photos in the right order. Ask: which picture precedes this one? Which picture comes after this one?
You can also practise common activities where the sequence of steps is important. Examples might be cooking, shopping, building a tower from the blocks, etc.
