I want a jigsaw puzzle curriculum

[Rosie_0801]

I do. I want something incremental, with the smallest increments possible, actually. My daughter can't do the small four piece puzzle she has reliably, because she has virtually no techniques, but had me sitting down doing two different 28 piece puzzles in a row.

 

What a painful experience.

 

Rosie

[Caitilin]

You're a better mom than I am, Gunga Din. :D I hate puzzles, and do them only under duress. Consequently, my dc don't do them either. Oh, well. We all have our deficiencies, right? ~sigh~;)

[Amber in AUS]

:) I think you just need to talk them through your own thought process. Get them looking at the pieces, seeing which colours match which are smooth edges etc. The best way is to coach them along. Some kids just don't have the patience for it when they are young and some will sit for hours.

 

I like peg board puzzles as a first step, then framed ones. Big pieces are much easier for little hands to manage. I also like ones that have the picture right behind in the frame, it makes it more a matching game that a true puzzle but you still need to manipulate all of the pieces to get them to fit in.

[Rosie_0801]

That's fine for you to say, Missy with the advanced kiddos. :tongue_smilie:

 

This one can't even handle "try it up the other way" when she knows exactly what "try it up the other way" means. Matching colours etc is way beyond her! I have a hot tip that there's a shop at the other end of town with 10 piece puzzles. That's got to be less painful than 28, huh?

 

Rosie

[Amber in AUS]

Maybe Miss Independent just needs some time to work out that turning it around it the only option :p

 

Maybe she will like Miquon, sounds like she needs to 'discover' it on her own :)

 

And you are right 10 pce is certainly less painful that 28. We have some 12 pce trays we picked up at Woolworths cheap a few years back, they are still a hit.

[Osaubi]

I second the poster that recommended the picture behind the puzzle piece.

 

My dd loves to do puzzles, but the more she did (the same puzzle) the more she could do it on her own next time. I laughed at your try it up the other way!:lol:

 

I remember getting frustrated at saying that over and over. I would take the piece in her hand and flip it to the correct way and have her put the piece in. I would explain to her how I figured it went that way (shape/picture/color).

 

You could print out a simple picture from the computer and cut it into 4 pieces. Here is one of my favorites for homemade puzzles. I love the graphics! http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/kids_jigsaws_to_print.htm

 

If you want you can cut the same picture out only increase the pieces to make it harder.

 

HTH

[Rosie_0801]

I second the poster that recommended the picture behind the puzzle piece.

 

 

She pays no attention to the pictures behind the puzzle pieces!

 

I think I'm just going to have to wait this one out! Which is why I'd love to be able to click a button and fill in my credit card number to get the Ultimate Homeschooling Jigsaw Puzzle Curriculum delivered to my door.

 

Ah well. She's only three, she can't flunk jigsaw puzzles yet, can she? :lol:

 

Rosie

[ChrissySC]

I taught puzzles. :)

 

This is how I did it too.

 

I found a very large picture out of one of the big coloring books. We colored, actually several pictures over the week, but that is neither here nor there. So, after coloring these pages, I pasted them on cardboard from a packing box. It was thick and sturdy enough. I took my utility knife and went outside. I cut these into 5 to 10 pieces. Each one progressively more different or more pieces. :) Lastly, on a posterboard, I labeled each piece and the posterboard on the back with sharpie - just to keep things straight and organized. I put the puzzle together on the posterboard. I outlined the assembled piece. I removed a piece at a time tracing the outlines as I went. Finally, the posterboard serves as a shape template.

 

Lastly, I find that shape recognition is the most needed. Make sure dc has shape knowledge, circle, triangle, etc. I also would draw shapes together with a bit of a circle and half of a triangle and have dc guess which shapes would make up the drawing.

 

I explained how to put a puzzle together:

 

1. Spread all the pieces out with the picture side up.

2. Look for the four corners.

3. Look at the edges for recognizable shapes.

4. Look at the recognizable shapes for color matching. (Yes, dc must know colors too!)

 

For more complex, say 100-piece puzzles, we complete the outline and assemble inward with color and shape recognition.

 

All done. :)

 

(Forgot to mention: We did this somewhere end of 3 to 4 years of age.)

Edited May 21, 2010 by ChrissySC

[vonfirmath]

Is she very good at putting pieces in peg puzzles? Get peg puzzles that the shapes only fit in one way -- and work on it until she is turning the piece around in her hand to fit.

 

I've got a son on the other extreme -- he loves puzzles more than I do and I'm always trying to keep up with him with challenging puzzles. (Oh and although he is now doing 25 piece puzzles, he will NOT do it my way -- find the corner pieces, then fill in the outlines, then fill in the inside. He starts at one piece and then builds outward in all directions, matching colors and such)

 

The first challenge was turning a piece around to make it fit a spot.

 

The second challenge was fitting pieces together -- I found it worked better here to have puzzles that were NOT the typical jigsaw (like this Schylling Train puzzle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ELV4BE/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ASE7U2YAKJ0X2). instead, I found those with slanted lines and curves. You could cut up coloring book covers to make puzzles here.

 

The third challenge is to start looking at what is on the piece to match it to the details on other pieces -- my son used a floor puzzle to start realizing that what the colors/details on the piece were ACTUALLY mattered when placing it!

 

I guess the 4th challenge is recognizing that some pieces have a straight side that needs to be lined up with the straight side on other pieces. But my son has not gotten there yet.

 

Knowing the shapes is important. My son is fascinated by shapes and constantly telling me "Circle" and "Square" and "Rectangle" You might use something like Melissa and Doug's Beginning Pattern Blocks to reinforce this: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Beginner-Pattern-Blocks/dp/B00005O63Q/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1274448127&sr=8-21

 

 

 

--Mama to DS1 8/3/2007

[celticmom]

I believe that there is set of puzzles from Kumon that is gradually advances in difficulty but I am not sure where to buy them or if they are available in this country yet. This is what I did find: http://www.kumonbooks.com/catalog/catalog_coming06.aspx