Manipulatives or teaching aids has been one of the teacher's tools in effectively teaching any subject. Manipulatives comes in many shapes and sizes and it will also depend on the subject and the lesson that you are trying to teach.
Teaching English as second language to kids can be hard. However, with the use of manipulatives, expaining words to it's simpliest terms will be easy. For example, how will you teach and present the alphabet? You start of course with the Letter A and it's classic example of A is for Apple. For this, you can use, flash cards with the letter A printed on it as well as a picture of an apple plus the word Apple. Then your student will immediately understand and know what Letter A is.
Manipulatives are called as such because it helps teachers manipulate the student to learn easily and retain the information in their minds beacuse they can see it. Manipulatives are very effective tools especially if your students are young learners. Young learners tend to be visual learners and so they learn and retain what they see. The more colorful your manipulatives, the better for young learners. It will keep their attention thus giving you ample time to teach and make sure that they get what you mean. Manipulatives makes teaching a whole lot easier because once your students see what you are holding, say a flash card of the Letter A with a picture of an apple and the word "apple" written on it, you don't have to explain further. They will know immediately what you want to teach them.
Manupulatives need not be expensive. You can make your own because teaching aids are personalized according to your teaching style and the subject that you are going to teach. Yes, there are many flash cards and such that you can buy from educational stores but where's the fun in that. Let you creative juices run while you are making your manipulatives. You can picture out doing the class using them and so can really make your manupulatives more personal and special.
Bye for now and see you in my next class!