ABSTRACT
We use comparisons in order to make choices – but it is also true that we learn about making comparisons through making choices. Choosing is an important form of thinking and it often revolves around judgements of size and quantity. Pioneers of early years education like Froebel and Montessori recognised that children's ideas about size develop through playful physical experiences. Using physical manipulation as a process of observation is beneficial to all our pupils, but it is particularly important for children at sensory levels. Physical skills like reaching, handling, banging and placing things are all forms of action thinking, and as they become more intentional, they open up opportunities for choice making and making concrete comparisons. Teachers of special children must accentuate modelling to enable children to appreciate the functions of words that describe size.
