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Blog Archive

Early Math in Projects: Part #1

As a preschool teacher, I’ve always had a bit of difficulty teaching math or using a lot of math language in the classroom. This slowly changed as a result of attending math professional development cohorts and changing my teaching practices to use math language when children were using specific materials such as magna-tiles, blocks, Legos […]

Observing Water Table Play

This week I thought we could look at two videos.  The first is less than a minute and it focuses on 4 children, all under three years of age, playing at the water table.  The table is set up with some interesting materials and the children are pretty engaged.  Pay special attention to the ways […]

Observing a Child Playing with Ramps

Last week I wrote about the importance of impartial and accurate observations of children.  Teachers of young children need to systematically use observation as a part of their daily practice in order to plan for appropriate and engaging learning opportunities, to set up the environment so it is both challenging and safe, to collaborate with […]

Supporting Teachers as They Support Children Using Video Clips

For the past 6 years, I have been involved in one way or another in the Early Math Counts Project; initially as the primary blogger, later as the designer and one of the authors of the professional development series …. and most recently as the coordinator of the Guest Bloggers.  Each of these roles has […]

Creative Activities Go Outside

In preparation for Summer,  Leslie Layman, coordinator of the Truman College Child Development Program, will discuss her favorite ideas for taking Math and and other STEAM ideas outside. Parents often bring their young children into our professional care because they want better for their child in future. They hope for their child to become more […]

Real Outdoor Free Play

In preparation for Summer, Leslie Layman, coordinator of the Truman College Child Development Program, will discuss her favorite ideas for taking Math and and other STEAM ideas outside. “When I think of these experiences and interactions, I wonder why we, as teachers, feel the need to intervene and explain so often.” –Nora Thompson I love […]

Outdoor Scientific Inquiry in Urban Spaces

In preparation for Summer, Leslie Layman, coordinator of the Truman College Child Development Program, will discuss her favorite ideas for taking Math and and other STEAM ideas outside.               When thinking about using a scientific inquiry approach with young children, I often refer back to one of the guiding principles of the Reggio Emilia […]

Taking Tech Outside

In preparation for Summer in this series, Leslie Layman, coordinator of the Truman College Child Development Program, will discuss her favorite ideas for taking Math and and other STEAM ideas outside. http://lapisdemae.com/7-formas-de-mostrar-as-criancas-sobre-a-criacao-de-deus/ When I teach Truman College’s Science and Math for Young Children course, I have the students break into groups, do research about, and […]

Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead

posted by Chris Kruger So far, we’ve seen what it takes to prepare an exploration, a graphing progression, and a discussion about what kind of questions can be centered around an exploration. To wrap up our month, I’m going to extrapolate from a specific example to a general framework for explorations. A General Framework for […]