I came upon this as I walked around.
A girl was carefully sorting her handful of crayons into groups of like colors. Sometimes she would make a mark on her paper to test the color and then put it in the correct place. (I think she even sorted within the same color, too.)
As I watched her work, I thought about my kindergartners. Some kids just have a need to categorize and sort.
No matter what they are doing, this need makes itself known. One boy I know always sorts what he's using as he plays.
Sometimes he creates careful representations of different groups.
Sometimes he just lines things up in a particular order.
If he finds only one of a thing, he groups it with whatever seems to be the nearest to the lone item. ("Purple is kind of like blue. White is kind of like yellow.)
I'm thankful for these kids. One day they will become the organizers and planners. One day they can make sure that apps get written or accounting books get done. Maybe they'll become bankers or mathematicians.
They may become scientists - using similarities and differences to categorize and classify. They may become inventors, seeing how things are like other things. (For example, Velcro is like burrs.)
I'm glad I can foster that kind of thinking. Even when I don't plan to do so. (But it's better if I make sure to have something that can be sorted...if the kids choose to do so.)
What do you give your kids to sort? What have you seen your kids sort?
