Puzzles help students prep for school

It’s Fun to Learn

Wed., Aug. 13, 2008

Metrocreative

Puzzles Educational through the Years

• Early Education: Even if a child isn’t going “back” to school but rather just beginning their life as a student, puzzles can be a great way to give a child a head start. Toddlers will learn to recognize shapes and solve problems by matching puzzle pieces to complete beautiful illustrations on a broad range of subjects in which they are interested, like pirates, baseball, fairies, puppies, butterflies, frogs and many others. As a child ages, brain teaser puzzles will help strengthen logic skills.

• Elementary School: Elementary school children are often exposed to puzzles depending on their course of study. For example, word puzzles are used to boost vocabulary, while logic puzzles are often used to foster arithmetic skills.

• Upper Grades: Middle and secondary school math and science teachers often use puzzles to challenge their students’ skills. Science experiments and mechanical puzzles that emphasize building and design help to foster a student’s knowledge of physics and geometry. Other puzzles can stimulate different learning skills and may even offer trivia tidbits.

• Continuing Education: Getting back in the swing of things can be tough for students after a few months, but adults returning to school may find it even more challenging after being removed from the school scene for several years. As teachers across the country have learned, puzzles can be a productive activity for students of all ages.

Perhaps no sound in the world is more musical to a kid’s ears than the final recess bell on the last day of school. Summer vacation has long been a time for kids and educators to relax, and for parents to spend more time with their children.

But as the saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” As summer vacation nears its inevitable end, re-acclimating students to a more academic mindset is something with which parents and teachers alike often struggle.

Largely gone are the days of required summer reading lists, which were used to keep kids minds’ sharp and ease their transition into the next grade level. What’s left is a collective group of parents and educators who work to find ways for kids to continue to have fun during their summer vacations but also stay sharp so they can excel when it’s time to go back to school.

“Back-to-school is a good time to ‘take stock’ and do an inventory of what children are playing with, what is not used and what they need next in their development,” says Dr. Stevanne Auerbach (a.k.a. “Dr. Toy”), a childhood development specialist and expert in play, toys, children’s products, and education.

Barb Metroff, a junior high math teacher in Illinois, says she has found something that provides both entertainment and educational value that can help kids stay sharp through the summer months without feeling as though they’re doing schoolwork.

“I have been collecting challenging puzzles for my students to work on during free time,” says Metroff.

Dr. Auerbach has determined the entertaining nature of the puzzles keeps kids engrossed enough that they hardly realize the fun they’re having is also of great educational value.

“Puzzle play teaches patience, perseverance, fine motor skills and critical thinking skills and helps maintain mental agility while providing stimulating entertainment as a either a solitaire game or a cooperative activity.”

As Auerbach notes, puzzles can stimulate the brain in a number of ways, which is beneficial for youngsters heading off to school for the first time or even adults who are returning to the classroom after a long layoff from academia.

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