Justification
It may sound cliché, but geometry is all around us in our everyday lives. That is why early childhood programs teach children about shapes early on in the year (Church, n.d.). “Geometry is the science of the space that surrounds us. It enables us to study spatial relationships between objects” (Prusak, Hershkowitz, & Schwarz, 2013, p. 269). Children are exposed to all different shapes from very early ages, but unfortunately this does not correlate with a sound knowledge about these shapes. Reys et al. (2012) cited Kloosterman et al. (2004) as saying “too often, we only have students recognise and name shapes. It is not difficult to see why our students do not do well in advanced geometry classes” (p. 376). What this is saying is that shapes are quite literally the building blocks to an understanding of geometry, and without this sound knowledge of the salient features of shapes from a young age, it is difficult for children to progress.
There are several reasons for the inclusion of geometry in the primary years according to Reys et al,
There are several reasons for the inclusion of geometry in the primary years according to Reys et al,
including geometry being a mathematics topic that engages children differently both in performance and persistence. It is a natural site for including other skills, such as following directions and reasoning about shapes and their properties. Children can make and verify conjectures about geometric figures…It is also a topic that will help you teach many other mathematical topics. For example, many representations are geometric in nature – models for fractions, area models for multiplication and patterns that lead to algebraic expressions (2012, p.374).
- May (1994) agrees that getting children to engage in "shape watching" is best when they are at that young age of learning names and properties of basic shapes. Not only are they learning mathematically, but they will likely become more attuned to the plethora of shapes situated in their everyday lives.
"Geometry, together with measurement is one of the 3 essential content strands of the Australian Curriculum" (Reys et al., 2012, p.374). Below are the guidelines for Geometry-Shape in the early years (Foundation-Level 2) as stipulated by AusVELS (2015):
Foundation
Shape:
Shape:
Shape:
Foundation
Shape:
- Sort, describe and name familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects in the environment.
Shape:
- Recognise and classify familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects using obvious features.
Shape:
- Describe and draw two-dimensional shapes, with and without digital technologies.
- Describe the features of three-dimensional objects.