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Little “R” had a really good go at this puzzle. She turned the pieces around and tried to connect them. She does not yet seem to recognise how when two pieces are put together they make a picture.. She sees them as separate pieces and it appears that she only sees them as shapes fitting together. I explained to her that we needed to find pieces that had the same colour on and that we could try and put those ones together.

Little “I” seems to have an understanding of the “Bigger picture”. She looks for pieces that look similar to another piece and twists and turns them until they slot together. She names the pieces that she is looking for. Telling me that she is looking for a piece of dog, rabbit or fish.

When she got stuck, Little “X” stepped in to help. In a moment he can see where each piece needs to be and what way up it goes. I have to remind him to step back and let Little “I” continue after after he helps her with a piece she is finding tricky.
“It goes here, look, I do it for you” as he takes it from her hand and puts it in the correct place. Then he takes another piece.
Little “I” steps back and tells me she can’t do it and Little “X” continues placing the pieces in for her.

He can see by sight where most pieces fit but every now and then he moves a piece around the board, holding it next to other pieces and turning it around until he sees how it can fit together.

The girls work on the transport puzzle together, They talk about where they think the pieces should go. They point out colours that match and parts of the same vehicle as they work out where each bit fits. Little “R” seems to be understanding the concept of “Bigger picture” a bit better and is enjoying working it out with the help of a friend.

After a while she runs to the playroom and brings in a slot in puzzle. She tells me she is going to do her numbers.

She starts to point to the objects under each number and counts how many of each there are. Then she looks for the number that fits in the hole. Some of them she recognises, others she has to guess at. Unlike the other puzzle, she can by sight, see where each number fits. She can recognise the shape of the hole and match the inset piece.

Little “I” watched with interest and waited patiently for her turn. Then she counted the items using her finger to keep track as she did so. She also recognised some number shapes but others she went by shape rather than number recognition. This is a good toy for joining the counting with the number recognition. It is self corrective. The correct number will only fit in the correct hole so once you have counted the objects you can only put the corresponding number over the top of them.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE LEARNING: