Matching skills are an essential pre-academic skill that helps early learners develop their cognitive abilities, language skills, and problem-solving skills. It is a fundamental skill that helps children recognize similarities and differences, classify objects, and make connections between objects, words, and ideas. Matching skills are important for children of all ages and can be scaffolded to help children learn and master more complex concepts. I must admit, I never understood the importance of the skills until I learned about the Assessment of Basic Language & Learner Skills (ABLLS)! Check out below on how to scaffold matching skills up to complex and the importance of this pre-academic skill.
Matching skills involve identifying and recognizing similarities and differences between objects, pictures, or words. It is the ability to pair or group objects that are alike in some way. Matching skills can be visual, auditory, or both. For example, matching skills can involve matching colors, shapes, sizes, patterns, or sounds.
Matching skills are an essential pre-academic skill that helps children learn and develop many other skills. These skills include:
Matching skills can be scaffolded to help children learn and master more complex concepts. Scaffolding is the process of breaking down complex skills into smaller, more manageable steps. Here are some ways to scaffold matching skills in early learners:
Complex matching skills like the examples see here are a type of cognitive skill that require the ability to recognize abstract or subtle similarities and differences between objects, pictures, or words. This skill is assessed using the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS), which measures a range of pre-academic and academic skills in learners with developmental delays or disabilities. Complex matching skills involve identifying relationships between items, grouping items based on categories or attributes, and making comparisons between different objects or concepts. When I introduce a new skill like complex matching, I will take one picture at a time and model comparing it to the choices available. I celebrate quite obviously when I find the correct match! You can find these complex matching activities HERE. Happy matching!
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