ABSTRACT
The quotation that begins this chapter might be seen as an overstatement, but we would argue that it is only marginally so. From life in the womb and on through infancy, children learn about their world specifi cally through their physical interaction with it. With entry into preschool, physicality remains critical to learning, even when such things as symbol systems for reading and mathematics are fi rst introduced. The primary grades are a time when children are moving into what Piaget termed “concrete operations,” a more sophisticated time of development. Yet, the very concreteness that is essential for real understanding of the world indicates a need for children to be physically interactive with their learning materials.
