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so that with time a chi Id could be asked to
give me two big red beads from a collection
of beads mixed for size colour and shape
Rather more complex discriminations also
included those where the child had to match
some object he was given with an identical one
when the choice included similar objects of
different sizes
Other activities which involved more complex
discriminations were gradually introduced also
For example it was possible to teach the
children to copy simple constructions using
small wooden blocks of various lengths and
widths - a three cube chair a bed a table
When this could be done with ease the con
struct ions were drawn on the blackboard and
the children were required to match the model
to the drawing At a later stage they would be
shown only the drawing and required to con
struct a model to match it thus being provided
with a bridge from the three-dimensional to
the two-dimensional (or from actual objects to
symbolic representations of them) Becuase
language is itself a symbolic process activities
which helped children to appreciate the use of
symbols in other ways received much attention
and linked also with the aim of sharpening the
children s ideas of their own bodies in relation
to the space around them and of the parts to
each other Apart from learning to name the body
and face parts on themselves and on each other
(hair eyes nose eyebrows ears mouth, hands
feet etc ) the chi Idren learned also to copy
with their own bodies movements that were made
with a jointed manikin i e kneeling arms
raised one leg raised clapping etc Other more
schematic manikins made of cardboard or felt
could be taken to pieces and put together again,
while the teacher talked about the different parts
as they were assembled (trunk, thighs calves,
feet arms hands etc ) A felt face of removable
parts was also used This could then be drawn
by the teacher first of all later if wished by
the children Spatial type activities of other
kinds were also frequent not involving the chi Id s
whole body but strengthening his observation
of the spatial relationships of things outside
himself to each other For example by using
two peg boards and a double set of coloured
pegs. a teacher would be able to help a chi Id
to copy on his own peg board a simple pattern
made initially on the teacher s board At first
this would be merely a line of pegs of different
colours, the child being helped to reproduce
the correct colour sequence Later the line of pegs
might be a simple alteration of say red and blue
pegs Later still some children were able given an
examDle of a simple alteration of this kind to
continue it for themselves Other exercises also
were devised to give the children simple models of
sequencing activities using beads or coloured paper
shapes and sound sequences were an integral part
of some counting games Some of the children had
such poor eye motor co ordination when using a
pencil or crayon that they had difficulty in doing
very simple tasks such as joining two little pictures
with a line or making and keeDing a line between
two guiding lines or colouring in a simple shape and
remaining within the boundaries The Frostig remedial
programme on eye-motor control was particularly
helpful for these children as well as the use of the
wall blackboard (at child level) for larger movements
Children with more confident pencil control could
work on rather more difficult exercises from the
Frostig worksheets outlining in different colours
overlapping simple pictures which had obvious
elements missing (model for comparison provided)
To sum up then a large number of activities
were devised and carried out during the five weeks
of the summer school under different headings but
with a common purpose underlying the variety and
many links between the different activities With
the help of Mr Norman chief dental officer and
Mr Walker of the architects deoartment it was
possible to make a videocording of the various aspects
of one morning s activities and this has been shown
to groups of teachers especially, both in the borough
and in Inner London and in Liverpool as a means of
demonstrating how the techniques can be used and
developed
The results of this experimental Summer School
were so encouraging that it was felt that it would be
a pity to allow the project to lapse altogether, and
therefore a Friday morning class for some of the
children was started in my room at the hearing cl'nic
later a similar class was started in the speech
therapy room at Busch Corner Clinic An account of
these two classes and their progress wi II be given
in next year's annual report
References
(1) Teaching Disadvantaged Children in the Preschool
1966
Carl Bereiter-Siegfried Engelmann
Englewood Cliffs N J Prentice Hall Inc
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