More Learning Coins In The Classroom

I havent met the child who isnt interested in money

. Although I havent read any scholarly papers indicating it, I admit to thinking children instinctively know coins feed piggy banks and coins have value. Since they know coins have value, they have interest. They have little or no concept of how parents get these coins. One child I knew asked her mother, Why doesnt he (the homeless street person) just get some money from the ATM? She thought money was made and dispensed at the ATM, free, not only for everyones convenience but also for their on-demand consumption.

As educators, we are always conscious to developmental issues and how we can use our knowledge of a childs development to develop our classroom curriculum. We know that children are born with vision. We must provide them with time and opportunities to learn how to see. This developmental work begins almost at birth. During the first two years of a childs life visual acuity and the ability to distinguish details in the visual field improve significantly. The child moves from attending to the contrasting borders of a parents face to being able to distinguish the parents face from other objects. He begins to follow movement and learns to physically coordinate eye movements so that the visual stimulation hes taking in can be mentally organized.

In early preschool education we place value on helping the child learn to become part of a group, take turns, and follow instructions. We want to prepare the child for formal training in reading and math so we plan our curriculum to develop skills necessary for the child to become successful. We plan the practice so necessary for the development.

There is considerable learning to be had from incorporating numismatic events into the classroom. All the activities can help children learn and practice focusing and sustaining their attention on printed matter. And, numismatic activities offer the possibility of working in a group or working individually.

Some of the lessons coins can offer in the classroom are:

1. Sorting Skills: Children can sort money by size, color, shape, or design. Having the ability to pick up this 3-D object and study it is quite different than trying to focus on printed matter on a flat piece of paper. While depth perception development begins somewhere between the 3-5th months of life it requires a lot of practice before a child is prepared to effectively taken on printed matter.

2. Classification Skills: Children can learn to categorize and distinguish coins from non-coins according to predetermined characteristics. Developing a criteria, children can use the dates, mint marks, numerals, letters and artwork on the coins (or non-coins) to classify each object. This mini-focusing allows for a time to focus and a time to relax the eyes.

3. Sequencing Skills: Learning how to organize words, numerals, or events in a coherent and meaning way are an important pre-reading and pre-math skill. Placing coins in sequence according to value or size helps the child make decisions. And, its always fun to solve math problems using the coins. Deciding how many different coins can be used to equal the value of a dime or quarter is a concrete way for the early learner to understand math.

The goal is to provide an opportunity for young children, many of whom find it difficult to sit still, to practice eye-hand coordination, eye movement and visual acuity. Using familiar 3-D objects, such as coins, can really pep up a learning opportunity. Even children who are not yet developmentally able to sit for a reading lesson may find these short bursts of focusing on details and attending to a task are do-able

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