History of the Program
The Gymathstics® Program is a new innovative and a developing concept. The Gymathstics® program was developed by a qualified educator. The classes began as a conventional math’s tuition with four learners. Through these classes the educator observed that the learners were aware of the steps involved in mathematics but experienced difficulty with mental math’s concepts.
To help these learners the educator began using brain stimulating exercises to help them make connection between movements and remembering their mental mathematics. Within a week she saw an improvement and within a month she saw an unbelievable improvement. This amazing achievement sparked an ambition in the educator to want to share this amazing process with every child. This is what led her to developing the Gymathstics® program. During her final year at the University of Pretoria the programme was developed.
The educator then designed the unique Clip Counter Kit and began with what she calls interval learning which is similar to interval training. Where we do physical movements to learn and then higher level activities with the clip counter kit. Research has found that learners learn best when they are given a variety of opportunities to learn the same concept in different ways.
Over 900 learners have experienced the Gymathstics® Program with success and are confident and independent learners in mathematics. They have developed a love for mathematics and being able to understand how mathematics can be used in real-life situations. Read our testimonial page for more information.
Theoratical Background of Gymathstics® Programme
The philosophical foundation of the Gymathstics program is based on the work of Jean Piaget.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher know for his studies with children and his theory of cognitive development.Piaget placed great importance on the education of children.
A child’s cognitive development is about a child developing or constructing a mental model of the world.
Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience, or to plan future actions.
Jean Piaget was interested both in how children learn and in how they thought.
Piaget studied children from infancy to adolescence, and carried out many of his own investigations using his three children. He used the following research methods:
Piaget made careful, detailed naturalistic observations of children. These were mainly his own children and the children of friends. From these he wrote diary descriptions charting their development.
He also used clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to understand questions and hold conversations.
Piaget believed that children think differently than adults and stated they go through 4 universal stages of cognitive development. Development is therefore biologically based and changes as the child matures. Cognition therefore develops in all children in the same sequence of stages.
Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out – although some individuals may never attain the later stages. There are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through stages.
Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age – although descriptions of the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average child would reach each stage.
Piaget (1952) believed that these stages are universal – i.e. that the same sequence of development occurs in children all over the world, whatever their culture.
According to Piaget, children construct their own knowledge by interacting with the environment. They continually make sense of their world through everything they encounter.
Piaget divides knowledge into three areas:
- Physical Knowledge: learning about objects/shapes in the environment through observation.
- Logico-Mathematical Knowledge: refers to relationships a child constructs to make sense of his surrounding and thereby organize and catagorise information.
- Social knowledge: develops through group learning and interaction.
Physical and logico-mathematical knowledge depend on each other, and develop simultaneously in a social learning setting.
These areas of knowledge are integrated into the Gymathstics program in the following ways:
Physical knowledge is learned through the 3D resources and multi-sensory experiences during Gymathstics sessions.
Logico-mathematical knowledge is gained with the use of the clip counter kits. The children link their experiences with the 3D resources to the clip counters. They learn concepts of more and less, number classification, sorting, colour and shape, addition, subtraction, data handling, patterning, logical thinking and problem solving to name a few.
Social knowledge is gained through the Gymathstics® group setting as well as through the challenging games and practical activities which learners experience.
According to Piaget, autonomy (independence) is the aim of education. Intellectual autonomy develops in an atmosphere where children feel secure in their relationships with adults, where they have opportunities to share ideas with other children, and where they are encouraged to be alert, curious and come up with interesting ideas, problems and question. Children use their initiative in finding the answers to problems and have confidence in their ability to figure out things for themselves and speak their minds with confidence. Children need to be presented with problems to be solved through games and other activities. They must work with concrete materials and real problems.
It is our aim to ensure that the Gymathstics® program creates a secure atmosphere where children can explore, interact and build confidence to be able to become problem solvers, logical thinkers and challenge themselves to new heights.
Join us on this journey of learning and discovery. To get involved click here (link to the contact us page)
References
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1945). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. London: Heinemann.
Piaget, J. (1957). Construction of reality in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. AMC, 10, 12.
Piaget, J., & Cook, M. T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children.Siegler, R. S., DeLoache, J. S., & Eisenberg, N. (2003). How children develop. Macmillan.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
