Natural Discovery Learning - Natural Education Centre

Preface to multisensory Living and learning

Creativity is the gift of movement
Joy is the gift of love
Happiness is the gift of being present
Peace is the gift of calm contemplation
Gratitude is the gift of sharing
Devotion is the gift of life
Reverence is the gift of humility
Patience is the gift of time.

Only through the power of unconditional love can we hope to provide an abundance of creative opportunity for personal empowerment and self-directed learning.

Creativity and co-operative interaction are the foundations of multisensory learning. Multisensory integration creates depth and richness to our interaction with the world around us through the heart and soul-spirit. Thus when multi-sensory information is framed within areas of creative freedom and passionate interaction learning can be experienced as personal discovery within an infinite future potential for meaningful expansion into our fullest potential. What I have written is not presented as a curriculum as such. I have tried to illustrate how learning can be presented within a mind map that creates its own presentation of the human auspicious intelligence alongside a celebration of life experiences through aesthetic appreciation and natural enthusiasm.

As Robert Barron writes in his book ‘And Now I See’‘God is reliable in his love and delightfully unpredictable in the way that he demonstrates it.’

Creativity, multisensory learning, aesthetic appreciation and divergent thinking plus some heart magic, is born when ideas, feelings and experiences flow togerther like the water within a stream, where an infinite freedom is contanined within the boundaryies of the geographical terain and the earthly laws of physics.

The true master can successfully support others to discover for themselves: attention to small detail, authentic passion and genuine understanding. The apprentice thereby learns, over a period of time, to achieve what the master can already do with natural ease and uses these skills to develop his/her own natural field of excellence.

Multisensory scaffolding for Self-Directed Discovery Learning through:-

Creative activity
Authentic social and physical interaction,
Co-operative games
The organic development of experiential projects of enquiry.

Only through the power of unconditional love can we hope to provide an abundance of creative opportunity for personal empowerment and self-directed learning.

Scaffolding learning from a multisensory perspective comes from the heart and soul-spirit connection. From this sweet place activities and interaction embraces a natural balancing of mental and physical activity. A harmonious combination of both musical and structural aspects of creativity, organically integrate imagination with a tangible expression of creative interaction. This organically supports desires to gain conscious awareness and understand.

Whereby: The Keys to Empowerment are fully maintained and each individual’s learning potential is acknowledged as:-

All knowledge is subject to Personal Experience,

Choice is fundamental to every individual,

Authentic creativity is essential to natural play and learning,

Compassionate understanding comes from co-operative sharing.

Trust, gratitude and appreciation are. embraced within a positive attitude.

Multi-sensory activities embrace a wealth of sensory experience whereby motivation and focus are intrinsically directed by environmental scaffolding. An expansive relationship with an indefinable potential presents qualities of creative engagement and supports future development of awareness.

Multi-sensory activities do not necessarily have a predetermined goal or measure of achievement. Sensory integration may embrace a spectrum of intelligence that was previously unacknowledged by the participant and thus aspects of learning may not necessarily be attributed to specific interactive games or activities.

Knowledge and skills are secondary to the abstract qualities of enjoyment and pleasures of participation. Creative consequences extend like an over-flowing river into new domains beyond perceived normal boundaries. Each individual’s unique human design is nurtured as a tender gift.

When multisensory materials are carefully designed they can intrinsically meet different styles of learning, different levels of skill, and sensory perceptual differences. The teaching benefits offered by multisensory didactic materials can be helpful to a wide age range, and a broad spectrum of ability and interest.

Creativity and co-operative interaction are the foundations of multisensory learning. Multisensory integration creates depth and richness to our interaction with the world around us through the heart and soul-spirit. Thus when multi-sensory information is framed within areas of creative freedom and passionate interaction learning can be experienced as personal discovery within an infinite future potential of meaningful expansion into our full potential. Multi-sensory Living and Learning is not a curriculum as such, it is presented on this website as pedagogy illustrated through a compendium of games, creative activities and carefully designed learning materials. Learning can be presented within an auspicious mind map approach that facilitates its own presentation of our human intelligence alongside a celebration of life experiences through aesthetic appreciation and natural enthusiasm.

The true art of teaching is to creatively present multisensory information through an integrated spectrum of accurate conceptual communication.

New sciences and new levels of thinking can encourage and inspire higher levels of awareness through a nurturing of supportive scaffolding within the practicalities of our everyday living.

Working on small easy steps and simple steady improvements, can anchor our efforts to seed new growth within the harmony of Highest Good and our individual capacity to live, love and learn together.

Simple structures of communication can deeply nurture seeds of encouragement for meaningful experiences and the accompanying sweetness of personal empowerment. It is the very nature of this simple and successful scaffolding that wisely supports our evolution into higher realms of consciousness. Can we empower our children to develop their individuality and creativity beyond that of the limitations of our present day?

Where are we today

When multi-sensory information is framed within areas of creative freedom and passionate interaction learning can be experienced as personal discovery. This opens the learner to an infinite potential for meaningful expansion into a love of life and learning.

Multi-sensory Enrichment:

Presenting a wide spectrum of associated sensory information.
Supporting comprehensive understanding
Encouraging conceptual understanding
Stimulating feelings of aesthetic appreciation.
Participation is guided by personal choices and preferences.

: E.g. Finding a strawberry in a bowl of assorted different fruits.
Feeling the strawberry shape and texture .
Watching the development of a strawberry as it grows on a plant.
Make some strawberry jelly or jam
Smelling and eating a strawberry. Eating strawberry jelly and strawberry ice-cream.

Versus

Multi-sensory over-whelm

One high level of sensory experience dominates over other sensory perceptions.
Personal preferences have no influence;
A concoction of different sensory experience; so diverse that the mind experiences a sense of chaos.
Mental hyperactivity and/or hypersensitivity.

E.g. someone is playing loud heavy metal music in a communal space.
Boisterous young people having a party with loud music, dancing, shouting too each other because of the loud music, drinking, and eating.
Intense perfumes and body smells.
They have flashing lights on the disco dance floor.

The examples in the boxes above illustrate that multi-sensory in itself may not necessarily be desirable for successful living and learning. Multi-sensory at its best presents opportunities for enrichment, diversity and expansion; at its worst it can present opportunities for over stimulation and hyperactivity, wild chaotic activity and adrenaline based types of excitement, dramaand addiction.

Thus multi-sensory presentation may range from a man-made concoction of intense stimulation; to a broad spectrum of meaningful sensory scaffolding structured to support sensory integration and intellectual understanding. Overwhelming levels of unrelated stimulus and focus on illogical abstract sensory experience can create a sense of over-stimulation and chaos. Similarly multi-sensory may have a strong overwhelming influence that either entertains or disturbs our sense of reality; and thereby prevents new learning, foundations of understanding and development of appropriate skills.

Ideally multi-sensory scaffolding for learning incorporates subtle and primary sensory information, within a conceptually sound presentation that offers a wide spectrum of expansion into further learning, related interests, enquiry and potential for diversity. An example of expansion and diversity are presented in the diagram below that is centred upon learning to Knit:-

Beating a repeated rhythm on a drum, [establishing a physical awareness of rhythm and repetition.]
Plaiting a thick cord,[acquiring a sense of tension and control of a length of cord.]
Finger knitting, [making a chain of loops with one thread and seeing how it can be pulled ]
French knitting, [using an implement to move the thread over each pin.]
Traditional knitting using thick wool and chunky needles. [Then using thinner and shorter needles]

Extensions into associated skills for the above consecutive stages of learning could be any of the following activities:-

Threading buttons and beads first at random then as a sequenced pattern.

Weaving
Carpet making with a tool.
Spinning to make wool thread.
Tying a bow with shoe lace or ribbon.
Learning rope knots.
Learning to make a net of thin rope.
Needle felting.
Sewing on Binca material.
Crochet.
Embroidery.

Celebrating the mind – body – spirit potential through natural play and learning, art and design, creative expression, poetry and prose, sharing and caring.

Our materially rich world of object – bound entertainment holds ourselves and our children from natural creative occupation; no longer do we take time to spontaneously celebrate or authentically communicate or express genuine gratitude – these things cannot be bought as a prepack package of convenience. Our easy life of robots and machinery, our world of electric slaves and power struggles, distract us from playing with the flowers, listening to the birds and rolling on the grass. Without these freedoms and spontaneity, where does the inspirational flow of creativity find its source? When does the heart burst into songs of communication that overflows into a space of natural play and learning?

Through creative activity we can facilitate personal expression, social interaction, and spiritual growth. Creative games and activity by their very nature do not have a pre-determined measure of success.

Detailed and accurate sensory information is essential for learning through discovery and imitation. When sensory information illustrates detailed and associated structural information, within a conceptual context of communication, the learner can gain a broader and more detailed understanding.

Sensory information is paramount to all learning but the depth of human potential goes far beyond integration within the physical sensory system. Human potential embraces feelings, imaginative thoughts, conceptual understanding and multi-levels of consciousness. This gives our learning the added potential to go beyond that of imitation or simple copying.

‘In other words, you must see why everything that awakens intense interest in children also helps strengthen their memory. We must increase the power of memory through the feeling and will and not through simple intellectual memory exercises.’ (The Foundations of Human experience, Steiner 1996:page137)

Interactive games and creative activities motivate learning through social interaction and multisensory aesthetic experience. Thus individual and unique creative variations are held within the boundaries required for mastery of desired and required skills. Creative expression is directed as a unique moment by moment interaction. Many aspects of exploration that might otherwise be defined as failure become windows of learning and encouragement. The celebration is thus experienced in the doing and the sharing rather than competitive levels of academic achievement. Through creativity we embrace the universal love that sanctifies faith and units us within the grace of joy and peace.

Creativity is born from heart magic – when ideas, feelings and experiences flow togerther like the water in the stream; where an infinite freedom is contanined within the boundaryies of the geographical terain and the earthly laws of physics.

Multisensory learning is fundamental to the integration of creativity, aesthetic appreciation and divergent thinking. The deeper the understanding through open ended learning the more opportunity the learner has to transfer the learning appropriately into other situations.

The true art of teaching is to creatively present multisensory information through an integrated spectrum of accurate conceptual communication. The true master successfully supports others to discover for themselves what s/he can already do with natural ease, genuine understanding, authentic passion and notable attention to small detail.

Maria Montessori pioneered didactic (intending to teach) apparatus that promotes sensory-motor activities and develops skills of differentiation related to colour, 2D and 3D shape, sound and smell. Montessori methods place a particular emphasis upon the importance of training the child to isolate, refine, improve, and make sense of specified areas of sensory perception and discrimination.

Eastwood Education approaches learning through multi-sensory integration as a basis for discovery learning and conceptual understanding. Through our senses we recognise elements of our world that support inner assessment and judgement.

This approach to multi-sensory learning requires environmental scaffolding that inspires:-

a broad spectrum of creativity and aesthetic appreciation,
development and mastery of skills,
self-correction,
co-operative interaction and internal self-discipline.
‘….thus you can now comprehend judging as a living bodily process that arises because your senses present you with a world analysed into parts…..Here the act of judgement becomes an expression of your entire human being.’ (The Foundations of Human experience, Steiner 1996:page144-145)

When consciously looking at our reactions and interactions we can consider all aspects of our lifeas part of our way forward to higher levels of learning and consciousness. We can thereby acknowledge a sense of greater responsibility for what and how we experience what we bring towards ourselves, and what interaction we chose to follow.

Steiner presented that before the change of teeth the young child is ‘essentially an ensouled sense organ entirely given over in a bodily religious way to what comes towards it from the surrounding world’ and that sensory experience ‘permeates the child’s entire organism.’ He suggests that whatever is happening in the child’s environment is wholly and subconsciously received by his senses and thereby also affects his soul and spiritual development. [Steiner, R. The Child’s Changing Consciousness, Anthroposophic Press; New York, 1988: pages 40&75)]

Steiner presented that we have 12 senses incorporated within our inner sense of ‘life’ :-

The sense of hearing
The sense of speech
The sense of seeing
The sense of colour
The sense of taste
The sense of smell The sense of hearing
The sense of speech
The sense of seeing
The sense of colour
The sense of taste
The sense of smell
These twelve senses are experienced within our capacity to integrate the three states of thinking, feeling and willing.

The nature of everything that constitutes a human being is partly cognitive (thinking), partly feeling and partly willing. These three things ‘work together and are interwoven into a unity…..What is Cognitive is mainly Cognitive, but also has aspects of Feeling and Willing’ and this is the same with Feeling and Willing. (The Foundations of Human experience, Steiner 1996:page137)

Steiner described the twelve senses in three groups of four:-

The four lower physical senses of life, touch, movement and balance give us a sense of our physical being through the BODY. These senses are exercised through the will and subsequent movement of the limbs.
The four middle senses of smell, taste, warmth and sight (colour, shape, form and movement). These senses are associated with our perception of the surrounding environment. These senses establish an organic sense of organisation and rhythm which relates to our inner feelings and emanates from the original nature of the soul.
The four higher senses of hearing, language, thought and Ego are experienced through our relationship and interactions with others; our cognitive and conceptual senses that emanate from the spiritual qualities of our being.
Clean Heart

Clear Mind

Compassionate Disposition

The spiritual quality of our being is expressed through authentic interaction. The author presents that authenticity is an integration of the following three aspects of human interaction:-

Active Communication – An outward expression of our inner disposition; a reflective projection of inner thoughts, feelings and desires.

Compassionate Listening – perception of someone’s (or something’s) outward expression of communication.

Interactive Sharing – an intimate exchange that integrates external perceptions with compassionate listening and active communication.

‘Only through the power of unconditional love can we hope to provide an abundance of creative opportunity for personal empowerment and self-directed learning.’

This is the Day

This is the day that only I can live!
These are the steps that only I can take
This is the work that only I can do.
This is a moment I can share with you.

These are the visions that only I can see.
These are the sounds that only I can hear.
These are the hands that I use for play.
These are words that only I can say.

These are the thoughts that only I can think.
This is the moment only I can celebrate.
‘If’ is the only doubt that can deceive.
These are the blessings only I can receive.

This is the grief only I can forgive.This is the art only I can create
This is the love that only I can feel.
God’s blessings the only ones that heal.Now is the life that only I can live.
Still is the time that I know as mine.
This is the gift only I can send.
This is the day that will never end.
Helena
Multisensory Learning as the Foundation of Natural Play and Learning and Child-directed Creativity

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Eastwood Education is not presented as a curriculum as such. It illustrates how learning can be presented within a mind map that creates its own presentation of human intelligence through celebration of aesthetic appreciation and natural enthusiasm. Creativity and co-operative interaction are the foundations of multisensory learning. Multisensory integration, through the heart and soul-spirit, creates a depth and richness to our interaction with the world. Thus, when multi-sensory information is framed within creative freedom and passionate interaction, learning can be experienced as personal discovery and thereby provide an infinite future potential for meaningful expansion.

Creativity, multisensory learning, aesthetic appreciation and divergent thinking plus some heart magic, are born when ideas, feelings and experiences flow togerther like the water within a stream; where an infinite freedom is contanined within the boundaryies of the geographical terain and the earthly laws of physics.

The true art of teaching is to creatively present multisensory information through an integrated spectrum of accurate conceptual communication. The true master can successfully support others to discover for themselves: attention to small detail, authentic passion and genuine understanding. The apprentice thereby learns, over a period of time, to achieve what the master can already do with natural ease and uses these skills to develop his/her own natural field of excellence.

Scaffolding learning from a multisensory perspective comes from the heart. From this sweet place activities and feelings embrace a natural balance of mental and physical activity. A harmonious combination of both musical and structural aspects of creativity that organically integrates imagination with a tangible expression of creative interaction. This supports our natural desire to gain conscious awareness and understanding.

Adults can provide a harmonizing balance of care and encouragement in the form of:-

Personal interaction : Compassion Boundaries Authenticity
A safe physical environment with freedom to : Explore Experiment Creatively manipulate environmental resources
A socially interactive environment whereby free play, creativity and child-directed learning are positively supported through : –
Sharing and caring
Reflective and complimentary interaction
Independent and co-operative play.

Whereby: The Keys to Empowerment are fully maintained and each individual’s learning potential is acknowledged as:-

Knowledge – subject to Personal Experience,

Choice – as fundamental to every individual,

Authentic creativity – as essential to natural play and learning,

Compassionate understanding – felt through co-operative sharing.

Trust, gratitude and appreciation embraced within a positive attitude.

Working on small easy steps and simple steady improvements can anchor our efforts to seed new growth within the harmony of Highest Good and our individual capacity to live, love and learn together. Simple structures of communication can deeply nurture seeds of encouragement for meaningful experiences and accompany the sweetness of personal empowerment. It is the very nature of this simple and successful scaffolding that wisely supports new levels of thinking that can encourage and nurture supportive scaffolding within the practicalities of our everyday living. Can we empower our children to develop their individuality and creativity beyond that of the limitations of our present day? Our children are the future; their lives could take them far beyond where we are now. Their thoughts may create a different future for mankind. Their thoughts can pioneer new dimensions, fulfilling the maturity of mankind’s destiny into realms of expanded consciousness. These realms could leave the present knowledge and structures as an immature, infantile beginning, caught in the influence of sensory information. Hopefully our children will initiate steps towards new realms of thought and sincerity, and embrace positive energy powers far beyond infantile ignorance and childlike innocence. We do not need to teach our children anything, for all we know is possibly too limiting to be useful in their future. Their strength is in their ability to creatively go beyond our today and expand their thoughts across fields of enlightenment. They may powerfully support the establishment of true harmony within the earth planet’s future ecology. What we can offer is simply: loving shelter in their early development; heartfelt celebration of their undaunted creativity; and reverence for their higher levels of consciousness. We are their carers not their keepers, our endeavours and God’s mercy will guide them into their future.

As the carers of children of the future golden age, it is time to embrace a new form of education for all ages and all talents: Embracing a new approach based on natural play and multisensory learning.

Together we can
Aspire to go beyond what has been done before.
Make gratitude the most important part of your day.
Know that the natural world nurtures the secrets of life.
Embrace our soul-spirit as the source of wellbeing.
So Be It Love and light, Helena

Eastwood Education Celebrating beyond the conventional into an abundance of potential.

A Multisensory Approach to Learning Through Creative Expression Multi-Sensory Interaction and Self-Directed Discovery Learning

Creative foundations for Literacy and Numeracy:-

A rich multi-sensory resource of games, activities and creative incentives.
Didactic resources designed to facilitate ‘Discovery Learning’.
Scaffolding self-directed and self-correcting approaches to learning.
The rich sensory compendium of activities, games and interactive learning materials is designed to enhance: exploration and creative expression. The priority on creative expression encourages: reception and expression of aesthetic appreciation, self-directed focus and mastery of conceptual understanding.Eastwood Education uses creative activity, sensory integration and social interaction as natural catalysts to support authentic communication and enhanced participation.

Eastwood Education provides multi-sensory foundations for basic:-

Literacy skills: language enrichment, handwriting, spelling and creative writing.
Numeracy skills: number values, the base ten system and multiplication tables.
Geometry and algebra: expanding mathematical skills through investigation and conceptual understanding.
Art and design: basic 3d and 2D integration through a progressive curriculum of sensory exploration and spontaneous creative expression.

The resources are suitable for children [and adults] of all ages and ability (from seven years and over). Interactive participation can creatively accommodate spontaneous enthusiasm and erratic participation. Adult supervision can organically facilitate younger participants to join in appropriately at their own level of ability. Adults can also enjoy the games as a rewarding challenge for themselves while successfully accommodating younger, often more creative, participants.

[Helena offers interactive courses in all of the above areas of learning, private tutoring, educational assessments and consultancy. The courses include Computer Data for Teaching Materials that can be produced with the aid of a laminator and designs for the production of the 3D learning materials using commercially available wooden blocks and wooden letters.]

A famous composer once said, ‘If I don’t feel the music in my heart! The listeners won’t hear the music!’
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Didactic Multisensory Materials

The work of the psychologist Dr. Rachel Pinney illustrated that learning was more successful with positive interactions than corrective feedback. During her life Dr.Pinney cited many outstanding real life illustrations that supported this theory:-

For example one family had two sons with a large age difference. The eldest son was very keen on playing chess and his parents encouraged this skill with extra lessons from skilled chess players. This son regularly competed successfully in chess tournaments against much older contestants.
The younger son was keen to join in this family interest but he was so young that no-one bothered to teach him the complexities of the game; they just let him join in with his pretend play. The older brother used his younger brother’s enthusiastic random and often incorrect moves as a challenging opportunity to practice his advanced skills.

The family travelled extensively to meet the older brothers growing levels of competitive success. The young brother spent a great deal of free time hanging out at the tournaments; his interest and chess playing skills also developed progressively, but his parents were completely focused on the older brothers outstanding levels of competitive success.

The end of this real life story was that the younger brother began to match and sometimes win games with his older brother and his chess playing friends. The younger brother started to beat his older brother and others at the tournaments. Ultimately this young man became one of the youngest world class chess players. A chess master told his family, after competing with their youngest son, that he used strategies that the world champion had never seen or used in his own games. The youngest son went on to successfully competed in world class chess tournaments against champions from all over the world. Whether this young man ever had any chess lessons the author did not find out from Rachel who knew the family personally. Rachel also travelled all over the world teaching people how to facilitate Child-Directed Learning. Rachel also pioneered Special Time and Creative Listening techniques. On several occasions she was requested to mediate at important discussions related to world peace negotiations.

Didactic means that the materials are specifically designed to teach basic skills and foundations for successful learning.
The teaching benefits offered by multi sensory didactic materials can be helpful to a wide age range, a broad spectrum of ability and interest.
When multisensory materials are carefully designed they can intrinsically meet different styles of learning, different levels of skill, and sensory perceptual differences. The quality of independent child-directed learning supported by multisensory teaching materials may be influenced by an integration of the following factors:
1. A comprehensive integration of the human sensory spectrum
2. Physical movement and associated co-ordinated actions.
3. Supporting themes of associated conceptual understanding.
4. Incorporated strategies that help attention, reception and recall (memory skills and strategies).
5. A focus on personal motivation and participation.
6. Activity that promote meaningful challenges of enquiry, exploration and discovery.
7. A format that promotes a correct initial learning experience.
8. Intrinsic opportunities for correction of error.
9. Expansion into further associated creative activity.
If multisensory materials meet the points listed above then the learner could gain a more holistic experience that can be actively adapted to meet the individual’s needs and preferred style of learning. Scaffolding can meet the learner with a broad multisensory presentation and subsequently adult facilitators may be less held within their own dependence upon sensory strengths, personal learning style and interests. Thus, the learner can be less dependent upon adult support and the confinement of learning from another person’s sensory preferences and style of learning.
The following game designed by the author is an example of how the above can be related to a specific activity.
Materials – a set of picture cards that represent rhyming pairs of words e.g.
Cat-hat; mat – bat; sheet – feet; tree – three; bin – tin; red – bed; sock – clock; moon – spoon.
This game gives the option to visually match the letter pattern with the rhyming picture and thereby uses the rhyming association as a clue to reading the (picture-less) word cards. This enables a less skilled reader to discover what the word cards say. The missing letter on the second word can be discovered on the reverse of each picture. This initial letter can also help the player to identify the correct name for the picture.

The game above encourages the following interactive participation:-
1. Accurate recognition of artistic visual pictures representing real objects.
2. Auditory identification of visual pictures and rhyming words.
3. Kinaesthetic movements and pronunciation of rhyming words.
4. Identification of initial letter sounds and their respective letter shapes.
5. Search for specific vocabulary related to rhyming words, i.e. Mug not cup, to match rug not carpet.
6. Specified and logical strategies related to moving the cards into rhyming pairs and subsequent word building.
7. Visual picture and word matching needed for control of error using the answer cards.
Within this game the participant is challenged to meaningfully integrate discovery as an aid to memory and recall of spellings,utilising different areas of brain activity, coordinated fine motor control, identification of rhyming sounds and correct spelling for the rhyming words.

Establishing and enhancing Literacy Foundations through Multi-Sensory Discovery Learning

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A seagull sitting on a stone

A seagull sitting on a stone surrounded with shells.

A seagull, sitting on a stone surrounded with shells, saw a seal.

A seagull, sitting on a stone surrounded with shells, saw a seal swimming in the sea.

A seagull, sitting on a stone surrounded with shells, saw a seal swimming sideways in the salty summer sea.

Processing Multi-sensory Information

From a very early age we are receiving, processing and integrating a wealth of multisensory information. The way we relate to this information determines our intellectual development and associated performance. Learning happens when we apply our conscious will to the reception and integration of the sensory information we gain through our association with other beings, situations, objects and structural things present in our surrounding environment.

The literacy section is designed to support a combined range of age and ability with foundation literacy skills from a multi-sensory perspective that structures self-directed learning, fluency and confidence, through a broad spectrum of enriched understanding and encouragement.

Introduction to Foundations for Literacy

Multi-sensory letter foundations

Automated responses are learnt through active repetition whereas Rote learning is usually associated with correct verbal responses Rote learning can be associated with the predominance of early learning through active repetition motivated by a desire to imitate, as exactly as possible, another person’s activity. Multi-sensory learning could be considered to be more learner-directed than either automatic or imitative learning processes. Multisensory information may not in itself be easily understood for various reasons such as – inability to integrate a wide range of sensory information from one particular area of sensory perception. For example the sounds heard in one ear and the sound waves perceived in the left ear can vary according to the different position of each ear. In order to locate the cause of a sound our brain registers the vibrations received by each ear separately and then integrates this information in order to identify what sound is being made and form which direction. Similarly the brain interprets patterns of sound associated with speech and thereby learns to accommodate different accents and different tones of voice. E.g. consider the phrase ‘Yes dear!’. ‘Yes dear?’ could be a question of enquiry, or ‘Yes dear’ an offer of support or a special listening space; or ‘Yes dear’ it could be an explanation of agreement or confirmation. Simply hearing the spoken sounds and the intonation may be coordinated with visual information such as-

the speaker’s facial expression and body language;
the environmental geography in context of where, how, who and what elements related to the specific circumstance.
The integration of both auditory and visual information may also be associated with –
the listeners personal disposition and inner feelings;
the listeners conceptual understanding and comprehension skills;
Supportive kinaesthetic experience may include:-
the nature of eye contact and intimate physical contact;
kinaesthetic interaction with the environment;
the listener’s personal thoughts and inner motivation;
the listener’s recall of past experiences;
and the listeners own skills, talents and interest.

Thus multisensory integration of multisensory information may be anything from over whelming on one end of the spectrum, to richly informative and inspirational on the other end of the spectrum.

The questions of consideration discussed by the author are related to the early development of literacy and numeracy skills and invite adults to consider how well can we:-

co-ordinated multisensory information
scaffold learner directed learning with helpful sensory information
support sensory integration,
Facilitate discovery learning and self-correction.
Our base-ten system is fundamental to foundation numeracy (the four operations, add, subtract, multiplication and division). The phonetic structure within the English language supports foundation literacy (reading, writing and spelling ) skills. Our ability to discriminate auditory phonetic sounds within our spoken language is associated with visual letters and letter patterns. Thus our literacy skills are established as a specified extension of pre-reading and pre-writing auditory and visual perceptual skills.

Learning to read and write initially requires:

A shift from 3D visual skills related to a structural relationship with our environment to 2D visual skills that establish issues of orientation and linear left to right sequencing. .

Using our Kinaesthetic senses we can bridge the gap between our initial 3D sensory experiences and the later development of 2D symbolic forms of written intellectual presentation.

For example a child learning to count may learn to say the numbers in their correct numerical order before developing the ability to count objects. However, a young child who can count objects may not yet understand that nine objects remains nine objects no matter where they are placed, e.g. either in a row or as a collective bundle. In contrast to the understanding of the conservation of number the value of a written numbers changes according to orientation and sequential order: for example this is a 2 but this is and S and this is a 6 but this not a 6 when it is rotated into the position of a 9; the number 02 means nothing and two whereas 20 means twenty, similarly 63 is not the same number as 36. and the conceptual understanding any not Using creative activities initial learning can encourage awareness of Visual Orientation through Graphic design.

Letters that do not have a symmetrical shape must only be observed from the correct side and when working from a 3D perspective there needs to be a physical structure within the activity and structural design that inhibits observation from a reversed perspective. For example if one presents seven swans swimming along a stream the model must have a background that prevents observation from the reverse perspective which would present a backward S letter shape that looks like a number 2 rather than a letter S.

Similarly a lower case letter needs to be observed within a structure that clearly presents its position and height. This can easily be achieved if a recognised pictorial representation of position is standardised. For example:

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In the folder titled ‘Multi-sensory Alphabet Activities’ there are lists of ideas and creative activities that can enrich the association of visual letter shapes and phonic letter sounds through multi-sensory and kinaesthetic experience.
The following illustrates a selection of ideas for each of the individual letters of the alphabet in both lower case and a capital format.

a – Place an apple next to an arrow then using fine sewing pins, pin a thread or thin chain onto the apple and then up and down the arrow to illustrate the course that is required when we write a lower case letter a

The initial letter sounds apple and arrow also represent the phonic letter sound.

Cut an apple in half and print the round shape onto paper then cut out and stick or draw an arrow at the side of the apple going down wards. Finally draw with ones finger and/or a thick writing medium, the letter a over the printed picture following the correct cursive handwriting movement.
When the apple prints are repeated in a line then the handwriting task can be to produce a consecutive line of joined letters.
Using a large chain hold it up and then carefully lay it down in the same pattern of movement that would be used to write the cursive letter on paper. Laying the chain onto a level tray of sand is ideal and invites the participant to repeat this handwriting movement using a finger or a stick to then draw the letter in the sand.
A

Construct the capital letter shape using sticks, the old fashioned flat lolly sticks are ideal.
Use strips of coloured paper or sticky paper or coloured sellotape to produce the letter A on a suitable surface. (the author has a sticky tape of heart shapes to use for constructing the letter H. Coloured sticky tapes and tapes with other designs can also be useful; such as the Union Jack, Holly or Snowmen etc. sold for special occasions!
The full set of capital letter building shapes are presented in the Alphabet file called ‘Capital Letter Building’ with Layered shapes.
The shapes below are the ones used to build the capital letter A. The author has laminated the following shapes so that they can be placed one on top of the other in a specific order to create a capital letter A. When the shapes are given in a random order this puzzle can be notably challenging
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Using the white and orange triangles the challenge is to sequence and position the triangles in a way that will create the capital letter shape shown above.

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Unfortunately this capital A shape puzzle is one of the more difficult capital letter shapes to master, however, once this challenge is mastered the illustrated technique will inspire success with following letter puzzles. Some of the other capital letter shapes are also a little challenging but many of which are especially easy in comparison to this letter A.

This unique approach to constructing capital letters A through to Z are presented in full as a set of designs for printing and laminating in the literacy folder for Teaching Materials under the file name [Capital Letters- Layered Shape Puzzles A-Z]. Helena often uses this kit initially for the construction of just the first letter of a pupil’s name. This often gives the opportunity for the pupil to construct an easier letter as a first experience. It also reinforces the use of capital letters at the beginning of a name and can go on to constructing the pupils full set of Initials. For some pupils I have ventured into creating their first name in full as capital letters or when working with the lowercase cursive letter shape kit [presented in full in the file called for the construction of the other letters following the initial capital letter in their first name or even their first and surname in full.

Black, blue and brown buttons or broaches can be fixed on to a piece of material or placed onto sand or a rolled out pancake of clay to illustrate the lower case b and capital B. Also the consonant blends can be illustrated e.g. blue berries or blackberries on a plate illustrating
Outside a collection of brown play bricks or real bricks can be set out into the respective letter shapes.
A collection of bats and balls can also be used to create a picture of the letter shape. A length of string may then be glued onto the 3D picture to illustrate the written letter shape.
Black, blue and brown balloons of the appropriate round and long thin shapes can be used to illustrate the written b and/or B
Thread Black, blue and brown beads and use a long string of beads to illustrate the written b and/or B * illustration
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Make bread buns or butter biscuits in the shape of the letter.
Roll out a long length of blue, black and/or brown plastacine into the respective consonant blend.
Press dried butter beans or wooden beads onto a flat surface of clay or sand inorder to make the lowercase or capital letter B shapes.
C

Create an incomplete circular shape of candles and light in the same direction as one would write a capital letter C.
Place Copper coins or circles of carrot in sand or on a flat surface placing them one after the other in the same direction as one would write this letter.
D

Use sticky dots or make dots on a sand tray in the letter shape as it would be written.
E

Use eggs (hard boiled if necessary!) to illustrate the letter shape, placing them in/on sand.
Glue or staple a length of sewing elastic on to card.
Make up a chained length of elastic bands and glue onto card.
F

Use feathers or fur fabric.
G

Glue gold glitter for g and green glitter for gl onto paper or card.
H

Hearts
Punch holes with a hole punch into a piece of card or stiff paper the base card may need to be shaped like this:
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to be folded in order to gain access

to punching the holes across the centre.

Cut hazel sticks and make them into large freestanding h structures. Note that the lower case h must only be viewed from the correct side if it is to be illustrated in the correct left to right perspective therefore any lowercase h structures will need to be situated in front of a backing/background that prevents observation from the wrong side.
I

Paint this letter onto a plate some healthy ice-cream to eat afterwards.
J

Spoon or finger paint the letter shape with jam on to a suitable (preferably edible – bread or biscuit) surface.
K

Draw colourful kite shaped kites and mount onto a sky background in the formation of a letter K.
L

Peel a lemon and cut the peel into squares or strips then mount into L letter shapes.
Stick lilac lace on to card to make an L shape lilac lace letter.
M

Make your own mud from clay then draw M letters with the mud. Remember repeat and then read sentences could be:-Mucking about in the mud makes us messy! More mud makes more mess!
N

Use giant nails to lay out in the capital letter N shape. Nail a row of nails that have large easy to hit heads into a piece of soft wood or balsa wood.
O

Make a circle of thick glue on a piece of card and then sprinkle with oats to make an oat capital O. Use half an orange to make prints and then draw a bold line around the shape to represent an O. Be sure to start and finish the letter O from the top and then try making a line of prints and then use them to scaffold a row of joined cursive handwriting ftl-10

Press/push pink and/or purple pegs into deep sand so the letter shape is illustrated
Colour a picture of pretty Polly parrot or a princess in pretty pink and purple pyjamas onto a postcard and post it to someone whose name begins with P.
Using a piece of pipe for the straight line and half a potato make a 3D representation of the letter P shape, then, using a straight length of pipe and half of a potato make P shaped prints.
Q

Question marks or even a series of questions. A simple question game can be created by presenting a picture and then asking simple ‘What colour…….’? How many….? Simple questions that have either a yes or a no answer e.g. ‘Is the bucket black?’ place an added emphasis on the creation of a question rather than a focus upon how to present the answer. If questions are also a good option for example if Jane bought two apples and her brother also bought an apple how many apples did they buy. This example is easily presented with apples as props and thereby finding the right answer becomes a visual task of comprehension rather than a task of language recall and comprehension.
R

Use ruby red rose petals or red ribbon to construct the r/R letter shapes on a card base.
S

Glue silver sequins to illustrate the s letter shape.
Stamp/skip the s letter shape. (Ideally this would be done on a large flat sandpit or better still on a large sandy beach.
Draw/paint/model six silver snakes/swans
Make the consonant blend st letter shapes with stones or sticky backed stars.
T

Use turquoise tinsel to construct the lowercase t shape letter.
Use a collection of identical right-angle triangle shapes or sticky back paper triangles to construct a capital T shape.
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Use one or two upside down umbrella to construct the U letter shape. Cover or remove the handle so that the U letter shape is not disturbed.
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Colour the flag design presented on the British union jack flag.
Make a display of upside down objects.
Tell a fairy story about a unicorn.
V

Make up a collection of different shaped vases and match them to symbol shapes that present the overall shape of each individual vase. When you find a ‘v’ shaped vase outline the letter ‘V’ shape on the outside as a painted letter V. Create the v shaped letter on a card background using violet coloured velvet material.
Sew a V letter-shape with two strips of velcro onto thin card or material held flat in a frame or embroidery hoop. Then the top layer of the Velcro stripes can be pulled off and replaced as an active experience of the V letter shape.
W

Use white wool stuck on card or sewn onto card or material to make the W letter shape.
Use strips of card or Balsa wood to make the W shape. If each of the joins is pinned the W can be made to walk.
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X Sew crosses on to card or material held flat on an embroidery ring. Create a cross shape in cross stitch on Binca material.

Draw yellow y’s using the yoke of an egg.
Find the Y shape on sticks or twigs or living tree branches.
Z

Use a heavy zip (from a bag or an old tent) to construct a working zip that illustrates, when done up, the correct sequence of movements that will make the Z letter shape. I.e.ftl-14
Draw a z letter shape using zigzag on a sewing machine. Try to draw a Z letter shape using a zigzag line. Or draw straight zig zag lines and cut them out and then stick the on to paper as a Z letter shape.
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mae-1a for acorn.
When the letter G is in focus the acorns can return with the ‘listen – remember – read’ phrase: These acorns are green.

A as forangel mae-2
The lower case a is presented in red because in the Eastwood Colour Coded Phonic Alphabet the long vowel sounds are presented in red.

Hear the glass design expresses the angelic and delicate (fragile!) qualities associated with the gentle nature of an angel, all be it of heavenly or of fairy tale origin.

mae-3A as for apple

The lower case a is in pink because in the Eastwood Colour Coded Phonic Alphabet the short vowel sounds are presented in pink.

The earthy sense of a real apple is exaggerated by this apple’s wooden form and notable solid weight when held in the hand.

Here the clay pottery boot has a fascinating real quality. One almost feels a sense of frustration that it cannot be party to a real life ‘wellington’ country lifestyle. Indeed so real is its presentation that this boot may start as a mundane b for boot at the very beginning of the alphabet and then run along to the other end of the alphabet to take up its place as a w for wellington.

mae-4Aboot

Ablack boot

Abrown and black boot.

mae-5Branches
Barebranches.
Barebrokenbranches.
Brownbrokenbranches.

A bridge Abroad bridge. A blue broad bridge.

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Creating curly ‘c ’ letters with curved candy canes.

The dragon above is made of metal and lays across the entrance to the castle park. This and many of the following pictures have been taken to illustrate examples of local and notable multi-sensory experiences that offer a learner the initial letter sound of each letter.

The next example is d for dancing daffodils daffodils and dancing or diving dolphins.

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This is a consonant blend drfor dragon.

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mae-12This magnificent red dragon is a fine example of art and design and greatly deserves the attention he gets from both locals and holiday visitors. He can be seen outside the blacksmith’s workshop.

The three dimensional structure is constructed from a two dimensional design of flat cut out metal shapes. This sculpture provides an impressive experience not only from its size and shape, but also the effectiveness of its relatively simple design construction.

This design technique could be transferred to the earlier shape of an apple. And if this art apple activity goes well an angel may also be constructed from a simple set of shapes.

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The three gate pictures present a real experience of size and the use of curved line designs making the top two dimensional pattern in green and the curves of the three dimensional gold shapes.

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When the early learner goes on from g and reaches l this green and gold gate can return this time as A long green and gold gate.

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mae-16When the early learner goes on from g and reaches tthis green and gold gate can return as

Atall green and gold gate.

Green and gold beech.
Green and gold beech leaves.
Beautiful green and gold beech leaves.

This life size eagle is there for all to see, feel and admire. He guards the church pulpit.

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I really like the flying movement that accompanies this enchanting goose which presents the feeling of a real flying goose.

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mae-19A glass horse

The g and the h are presented in bold and underlined because they are in alphabetical order.

This glass horse certainly does not present the qualities of a real live horse – other than its strong, robust almost indestructable structure. The simplicity of its shape is quite recognisable as a horse, in the same way a child’s drawing of a horse may be simple and effective. This solid shape encourages us to see how even the simplest art presentations, can be both unmistakable and pleasing without needing to present accurate representation of detail.

The horse is associated with our journey through life, and for the young child the etheric quality of the clear glass could reflect their own etheric sense of being that Steiner presented as essential to the young child’s early love of natural beauty, imaginative play and artistic endevour. So we see that posibly this glass horse experience could hold many other appreciated qualities beyond that of the practical aspects of it’s strong almost unbreakable form.

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A stunning introduction to the letter J and a revision of the capital C & B. This machine was being used to put the roof rafters the A frames of a house being built locally. The JCB thereby inspired a focus on the reality of a house building project and an opportunity to follow the future improvements when travelling past on the road.

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mae-22The ash keys offer a wealth of sensory information. They hang like a bunch of keys on a key ring and they make a strange sound when moving.

The small picture of the ash keys can be seen as a part of the larger tree picture above. The visual task is to find out exactly where they can be seen y on the bigger picture shown from this smaller picture of the tree.

Where do these lazy ladybirds live?
I wonder how many local children know where these two over grown and very lazy ladybirds live.
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An old oak.

This old oak tree is not green.

This old oak tree is not green or gold.

(i.e. no green leaves and no autumn gold leaves)

The owl often flies into this old oak.

When the initial letter s is in focus the tree can return to illustrate the reading sentence

I can see the owl in the old oak tree

I can see the owl sitting in the old oak tree

When the initial letter t is in focus

theold oak may return asThisis a tall old oak tree.

This tall old oak tree cannot be green.

This tall old oak tree is too old to be green or gold.

The bare branches are brown

mae-26This golden Om offers an auditory-visual association through both its 3D form and its visual 2D symbol and its sound to be heard and sung with deep resonance.

mae-27Visiting an old church offers many multi-sensory experiences, however, hearing and playing a church organ is outstanding delight. Listening to music played on a pipe organ with in the acoustics of a church building, moves something within our senses and inner feelings. This pipe organ offers a musical experience of O for organ. The pipes on this organ can come into a special focus when moving on to the phonic sound of P for pipes.

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A pair of pears. A golden pear.

Here the word gold is in bold because it has been used before and should be visually familiar as a word that can be sight read, recognised as a whole word that says gold. The pair and pear words introduce the discovery of two words that sound exactly the same but have different meanings and different spellings.

Pretty Quail eggs are for sale at our local delicates . They offer a lot of sensory enjoyment not only because of their miniture almost unbelievably small size but they are also good to eat when cooked. Imagine eating a hard boiled quail egg or having fryed quail egg and chips.

mae-29R is for rose.

A red rose.

A ruby red rose

It is obviously better to have a bunch of ruby red roses, but this one is great for use in the alphabet games and this one is pretty indestructible and never dies!

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This is a yew tree. Where on the large picture can you see these three red berries. Draw a circle around the place where this picture is seen as part of the large picture below.

This is a visual perceptual task that requires the ability to note visual detail in the same way that words always contain letters but it is the exact order and position of the letters that tells us what the word says.

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The teaching benefits offered by multi-sensory didactic materials can be helpful to a wide age range, and a broad spectrum of ability and interest.

When multisensory materials are carefully designed they can intrinsically meet different styles of learning, different levels of skill, and sensory perceptual differences. The quality of independent child-directed learning supported by multisensory teaching materials may be influenced by the integration of the following 9 key factors:

A comprehensive integration of the human sensory spectrum
Physical movement and associated co-ordinated actions.
Supporting themes of associated conceptual understanding.
Incorporated strategies that help attention, reception and recall (memory skills and strategies).
A focus on personal motivation and participation.
Activity that promote meaningful challenges of enquiry, exploration and discovery.
A format that promotes a correct initial learning experience.
Intrinsic opportunities for correction of error.
Expansion into further associated creative activity and future intellectual development.
If multisensory materials meet the points listed above then the learner may gain a holistic experience that can be adapted to meet the individual needs and preferred style of learning. Scaffolding can meet the learner with a broad multisensory presentation and subsequently adult facilitation may be free from personal sensory strengths, learning preferences and interests. Thus, the learner can be less dependent upon adult support and the confinement of learning from another person’s perspective.

The quality of independent child-directed learning supported by multisensory teaching materials may be influenced by factors presented in the list presented 1-9 above. Failure to meet all the aspects described in the list could change the learning materials from helpful to confusing. Thus multi-sensory experience is not in itself going to improve the quality of learning. The quality of learning is directed by how the design meets all sensory and conceptual information as related to initial foundation learning and future extended learning. The above list presents nine key areas of consideration that need to be considered carefully when designing multi-sensory materials.

An important aspect of multi-sensory learning is facilitated by an initial period of free exploration of the materials. This opportunity for free play should also allow the explorer to engage in creative expression, social interaction, and physical skills. After an initial period of free exploration has been voluntarily completed, the explorer can be encouraged to begin a focused journey of activity towards an acknowledged conclusion.

Using colour to indicate information

In the Eastwood Education colour coded alphabet the colour of the letter indicates its phonic representation in the word. For example the grey letters are those that are present in words where they are silent and do not indicate any spoken (phonic) sound:-

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Multi-sensory learning materials can offer a broad and solid foundation for learning that may be especially supportive to additional areas of associated learning. Similarly well designed multi-sensory learning materials can also facilitate future expansion into further areas of new learning.

Problems found in unstructured multi-sensory and imaginative presentation

Unstructured multi-sensory or imaginative presentation can be very confusing. The level of potential for confusion and adverse learning experience is shown in the illustrations below taken from a children’s alphabet book: ‘ALPHABATICS’ by S. MacDonald. This book creatively presents acrobatic letter movements of up to 360 degrees rotation. The picture below shows the capital letter A turned upside down to form the picture and associated visual perceptual skills. The resulting picture then relates to the initial sound of ‘ar’ for ark rather than an initial vowel sound of the short vowel ‘a’ as in apple or the long vowel ‘a’ as in apron.

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The G has turned 90 degrees and then the perceptual skill is one of focusing on the enclosed yellow space instead of red letter G. Finally the initial letter sound is J rather than G.

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Here the lower case script is chosen rather than the capital and then it is turned upside down to produce the associated picture.

Even more interestingly !When this book reaches the letter ‘n’ the letter is turned upside in to a ‘u’ to create a picture of a nest and then the opposite happens when the ‘u’ is turned upside down into an umbrella.

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In contrast the same book addressed the letter ‘S’ as a swimming swan which works very well unless the orietationalactobatics presented in the book encourage a child to fail to address the conventional left – right direction and the letter s is drawn swimming in a right to left direction.

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This book presents very interesting and adventurous visual pictorial presentations that may provide interesting challenges to those that are competent with printed text, but to those who are at the initial learning stages this book could create future areas of confusion and lack of conceptual understanding. The early learner may not take on the importance of letter orientation when learning to read and write and be susceptible to reversals and other reading and spelling problems.

Successfully meeting a wide age range and a broad spectrum of ability and interest

The teaching benefits offered by multi-sensory didactic materials can be helpful to a wide age range, a broad spectrum of ability and interest. When multisensory materials are carefully designed they can intrinsically meet different styles of learning, different skill levels and a wide spectrum of sensory perceptual differences.

A wooden time teaching clock

The following example is a multi-sensory design for a wooden time teaching clock:-
A wooden clock supplied with different sets of 12 removable wooden disks: i.e. 1,2,3,…12; 1/13, 2/14, 3/15….12/24; written numbers – one, two etc…. Roman numerals – I to XII; dots indicating numerical value (1-12) organised in paired patterns for easy recognition.

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A large wooden cog system of movement could be a 12 cog gearing that correlated one cog for each five minute movement of the hour hand. The minutes could be illustrated with dots around the outside of the clock with a different coloured or shaped dot on the five minute intervals.[The design illustration below does not present the ideal proportional overall structure.]

A see through ring at the end of an appropriate length hour hand not only clearly indicates the hour time but also gives a sense of where the hour hand is as it travels from one o’clock time on to the next. The numbers appearing and disappearing as the hand moves around the clock adds interest and further sense of movement.

The wooden clock above offers all the teaching aspects presented on a traditional teaching clock; without the complexity of presenting all the information at the same time and with the added dimension of interactive participation and kinaesthetic sensory experience.

The teacher and/or pupil can address the learning experiences in simple step by step stages whereby one aspect of learning is organised in association with previous learning and experience. Answer charts similar to the clock face should be available for self-correction, as illustrated below.

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A more holistic learning experience

When learning materials meet the nine key points listed above then the learner can gain a more holistic learning experience that they can adapt to meet their individual needs and preferred style of learning. Successful multi-sensory learning experiences also make the learner less distracted by the personal sensory strengths, learning style and interests of others. Facilitators may also feel more confidence in their ability to creatively meet the learner’s preferred style of learning.

Games based on a specialised multi-sensory set of balls

The following game designed by the author is an example of how the above can be related to a specific activity.
Each ball has been chosen for its outstanding sensory qualities and together they provide a wide range of tactile and multisensory experience including those less notable senses that differentiate the balls through smell, weight or density.
Before engaging in the game described below the author would normally prepare players with an open opportunity to explore through free play with the tactile set of balls shown in the following picture.

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The free play gives the participants an opportunity to explore the kinaesthetic and visual qualities of each ball. Often the free play session becomes a spontaneous game of throw and catch. This increases the sensory experience by adding: co-ordination skills, fast moving balls, motivation to successfully catch (even when a ball is thrown unexpectedly from an obscure direction) and motivation to accurately throw the different shapes and weights so that they can be successfully caught.

After a session of free play the same group of players would be invited to play the conventional Kim’s game with the same set of balls as shown.In the Kim’s memory game one person secretly removes one of the balls and the other players have to identify and describe which ball has been removed.

Finally the balls could be used for a third and more advanced game.

This third game gives kinaesthetic and visual memory practice as well as encouragement to practise and develop vocabulary and expressive language skills.

To begin this third level of the game all the balls are placed on a tray in front of the players. [Optional introduction: Then the balls are passed around to all the players one at a time and each player holds each ball for a chosen length of time before passing it on to the next player.]

Description of third game:-

[Option: The number of different balls presented at the beginning of the game can be altered to meet different levels of ability, and increase when the participants have become familiar with a particular collection of balls.]

When everyone has become familiar with the balls in the game, the balls are taken away out of sight to a place where one player secretly puts one ball in a box and takes it to a seat facing the other players. This person can look in the box whenever s/he wishes while answering ‘Yes, No’ questions from the other participants who are trying to identify the chosen ball which is now hidden in the box. The players now ask questions to discover which ball is hidden in the box. If a question does not have a clearly correct yes of no answer the answer to the question should be ‘pass’. The ‘pass answer invites the players to rephrased or reconstruct the question and present it in the hope of getting a clear yes of no answer.

Another version of this game is possible when there is a set of photos to match the balls on the tray. Then player who chooses a ball can select a picture of their chosen ball and place the picture in the box. The picture can be refer to during the question timewhile the players still have all the balls in front of them.

More challenging versions of the games described above can be facilitated by sets of objects that present a similar concept or definition.E.g. the author had used: a collection of: similar coloured natural stones; crystal geometric shapes; different types of fir cones; and a collection of different grasses. [Some of the free play sessions may need to be restricted to each individual carefully holding one object at a time in their hand for a while.]

Further games can be played using two identical sets of picture cards. For example the author used identical pictures of vegetables from identical seed catalogues to make two sets of matching cards for the game ‘Guess My Vegetable’. When cards are used, one set is placed on the table and the other set is given to the person who secretly chooses one picture card and places it in his/her secret box. The game then continues as before until the other players have asked enough questions to discover which copy of the pictures on the table is hidden in the box.

Those asking the questions can turn over any cards that their questions appear to have eliminated as a possible match for the card hidden in the box. The game can be made very much more difficult when the questions cannot include words that define numbers or colours. The author has created sets of cards to facilitate different Guess My Card themes, such as: On the Sea Shore; Wild Animals; People’s Faces; Vegetables; Flags; Water Birds; Flowers and an extensive and popular set of Drawn Cartoon Dogs. When matching flags the colours do matter and more importantly the colours must be presented in the correct sequence. Therefore, when playing the Guess My Flag game colours are usually allowed because many flags have the same colours on them even though the design is different. The top right hand corner of these cards is rounded or a line is drawn to indicate a flag pole on the left hand side of the flag. This helps the players to place the flag pictures in their correct orientation and confusion due to miss matched orientation can be avoided.

Note : The elements of self-discovery in the ‘Guess What‘s on My Card’ game are very strong because the game is valid even when the questions and answers are not as accurate or as helpful as they might be! Some questions may need to be represented or rephrased in order to discover possible misleading questions and inaccurate answers.

A Rhyming Word Reading Activity

Materials – a set of picture cards that represent rhyming pairs of words e.g.

Cat-hat; mat – bat; sheet – feet; tree – three; bin – tin; red – bed; sock – clock.

These rhyming pictures are in two sets and the introduction to the materials could be to match sort the pictures into rhyming pairs ( using one picture form each set 1 and one from set 2 to make each rhyming pair. If the learner does not identify a picture correctly the facilitator can encouraged that the picture is given another name. For example if the learner calls the mug a cup. The facilitator could then say ‘Yes it could be called a cup but in this game that picture is not called a cup; can you think of another easy word to describe this picture? Other questions can also be used to give clues as to the word that this picture represents e.g. ‘What type of cup is it?’ Or ‘If someone wanted a large cup of coffee they might want to use a ……….?’
Then just the first set of pictures (one of each set of the 7 rhyming picture pairs are placed on a table as shown.2-4c-9
Then appropriate word cards are placed under each picture. This game gives the option to use initial letter sounds as a clue to finding the word card that matches each of the first set of pictures. The initial letters or the whole word can also be presented on the reverse of each picture card to provide (if required) a systems of self-correction. 2-4c-10
Then the second set of rhyming pictures are also appropriately placed on the table. 2-4c-11
Now a set of letter cards are presented one for each of the second rhyming pictures. The initial letter/s can also be presented on the reverse of each picture which can also help the player to identify the correct rhyming name for the picture.Using the initial sound of each picture card the learner now places the correct letter card under each of the rhyming pictures.2-4c-12
Now the player picks up the initial letter and places it on top of the first word to make it say the rhyming word and then moves the word card under the rhyming picture.The initial word tinbecomesbin. hat becomes mat; mug becomes jug etc2-4c-13

A summary of the multisensory aspects incorporated within this game is presented as follows:-

Accurate recognition of artistic visual pictures representing real objects.
Auditory identification of visual pictures and rhyming words.
Kinaesthetic movements and auditory reception associated with pronunciation of rhyming words
Search for specific vocabulary related to rhyming words, i.e. Mug not cup, to match rug not carpet.
Identification of initial letter sounds and their respective letter shapes.
Specified and logical strategies related to moving the cards into rhyming pairs and subsequent word building.
Visual picture and word matching needed for control of error using the answer cards.
Within this game the participant is challenged to meaningfully integrate discovery as an aid to: utilisation of different areas of brain activity; coordination of fine motor control; identification of rhyming sounds; correct spelling for the rhyming words; memory and recall of spellings.

Form drawing activities as an experiences of symmetry and rotation

From class one (6-7year olds) Steiner introduces children to 2D orientation through a progressive gradation of form drawing activities. The kinaesthetic experiences of symmetry and rotation and the visual perceptual skills associated with these lessons can be supportive to the children’s own free drawing and design and possibly create a foundation of awareness that may support their discernment of letter orientation.

Drawing patterns/design

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Five lines make this five pointed star. It can be drawn as one consecutive movement. A real celebration of five with the five points the five triangles and the five-sided shape in the middle to be discovered as the skill of production develops rather than shown by another already knowing
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Supporting future levels to learning

A further issue to consider within multisensory materials is whether the discovery learning is appropriate and helpfully supportive to future levels to learning and ability without imposing areas of unlearning.

The author has created an alternative set of number rods for addition and subtraction operations.

Number rods for addition and subtraction

These rods develop the concept that all number operations relate to number bonds to ten: 1+9=10; 2+8=10; 3+7=10; 4+6=10; 5+5=10. Although these rods relate to making units into tens; the conceptual principle is just as valid when working with tens, hundreds, thousands etc. and the associated learning related to place value and our base ten system.

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