Homeschool Resources We Love - Pattern Blocks

Another resource that is well loved in the Mobley home is this set of pattern blocks.  Just like the teddy bear counters, this set came with the Saxon  K-3 manipulatives kit.  It includes 250 1 cm thick plastic shapes in six colors:

• yellow hexagon
• blue parallelogram
• green triangle
• orange square
• red trapezoid
• tan rhombus

This set is a very tangible way to teach your children their shapes. I have found it to be far more meaningful for my children to actually hold and explore a triangle with their hands than to just look at a triangle drawn on a piece of paper.  You could achieve the same effect by cutting out different shapes with construction or card stock paper (the important thing is having something tangible).  In our house, though, even the laminated pretend money for the cash register gets bent pretty easily and can be nightmarish to clean up.  These pattern blocks, on the other hand, are easy for little hands to pick up.  This is yet another manipulative that Maggie plays with while I am working with Mary on her math lesson. 

Beyond just a basic understanding of the different shapes, the Saxon Math program uses these pattern blocks to teach children patterns.  For example, you ask the child to place a stuffed animal on the floor.  Then, you make a fence out of two different pattern blocks to teach an AB pattern.  From that starting point, you can proceed to teach more complicated patterns.  Similar to with the Mighty Mind shapes you can also teach the beginnings of geometry by having children cover designs with these pattern blocks.  As children become more proficient, you can challenge them to cover a design with as few shapes as possible or to cover one design in two or three different ways.  Just exploring these on her own, Maggie has learned that she can make a hexagon with two trapezoids.  She doesn't necessarily know that a hexagon is a hexagon or a trapezoid is a trapezoid, but she is beginning to learn that two equal parts make up a whole.  (And in adorable fashion, she can identify a "parawelogwam.")  As you can see from the picture, the girls also enjoy making their own designs: faces, kitty cats, trees, houses, cookies!  I love their imagination!