Mastering Sorting, Ordering, and Comparing for Kids

What is sorting, ordering, comparing and seriation?

Sorting: The ability to sort objects based on characteristics, such as colour, size, weight, etc.

Ordering: Arranging objects based on a certain sequence, such as shortest to longest, of lightest to heaviest.

Comparing: The ability to recognise differences in objects, such as size, weight, colour, etc.

Seriation: This is the ability to arrange or sort objects by multiple characteristics, such as placing all the blue cars into one pile, and the blue trains into another.

What are some common errors children encounter learning sorting, ordering, comparing and seriation?

It is common for children first learning these skills to have difficulty recognising specifically relevant attributes of objects they are arranging, they can often become inconsistent in sorting and face some confusion with the ordering and sequencing steps, these difficulties can be further exemplified during multi sorting. A good countermeasure is to encourage your child to slowly approach the task, and revisit any tasks where errors were made. 

What is the benefit of Sorting, Ordering, Comparing and Seriation?

These skills help children build their foundation for complex numeracy and mathematics in the future, along with their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

How to teach your child at home?

Colored resources such as building blocks or shapes can help children develop these areas, as they can sort based on shape or colour, compare the differences, order based, and order based on size.

The outdoors can be an excellent place to engage in these activities by exploring nature and collecting natural objects like leaves, rocks, or shells. Then sorting those objects based on different attributes e.g. size or colour.