Product Review: Easyshapes 3D Geometric Shapes (Grades: K-8)
Didax comes from the Greek didaktikos, meaning “to teach”. We can’t think of any more important activity.
I was a little shocked in 1999 when at 19 my nationally well-respected History of Economics professor told me during class (as the only female in his 300 level course) that ‘women don’t do well in the field of Economics’. I had not really thought about being the only female in my upper-level Economics courses until that point and I had looked forward to (and had been enjoying) taking this course from this leader in ‘our’ field. Women don’t do well in the field of Economics? Really? What did that even mean? I completed my Bachelors degree in Economics in June of 2000 before I could legally drink and secretly hoped I had not made a big mistake. My career path has since taken many directions with twists and turns and has not always been easy or relevant (oh, do I have stories!) but I still love to analyze and I love economic theory. I do hope my daughter finds math and economics exciting and it makes me smile when I see that my old department has seven female staff members as opposed to the one lone female professor when I graduated more than 12 years ago. Females make up less than 30% of the department and I personally think we have a long way to go before we are equally respected in many fields in the workforce in the United States, I hope that this increase represents a positive trend correlation within our nation in the field of math and related studies for women. So for the parents reading this, bust out the shapes because I am talking about incorporating some geometry in to our little ones lives!
Geometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with shapes and their properties and is thought to have begun as a formal science around 6th century B.C. One excellent way for young children to start learning about geometric figures is through manipulating solid figures. Your child probably started exploring 3D shapes through shape sorting toys and the fact that geometry is very visual makes it a wonderful early introduction to math. In the United States, identification of common geometric shapes usually begins in our public school curriculum in kindergarten with a development of a more advanced knowledge of formulas for surface area and volume in middle and high school. The Easyshapes 3D Geometric Shapes set includes 12 soft foam 3D shapes, 2-3 inches in height that are perfect for quiet explorations of geometric solid figures. The shapes are durable and easy to handle even for small hands. I want all little ones to enjoy math and I especially think it is important to note that numbers are not limited based on gender!
About Didax: This Rowley, Massachusetts based company has offered educational products for over 30 years. You may be familiar by their popular Unifix cubes which are math manipulative products. They also offer educational products in the areas of Language Arts and Character Education as well as many additional math products. Check out the Unifix Ten Frame Trains for another fun math product for grade K-2 that teaches the concepts of ten and patterning. Didax also offers a geometric building model product called Geofix for older children grade 3 and above. Love it!
Easyshapes 3D Geometric Shapes
List Price: $14.95
Momma's Bacon 