posted by Debbie Lee So far I have written about patterns that involved objects you can pick up and manipulate. Those are usually what we think of first when we think of patterns. Patterns, however, are so much more than that! The old children’s song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” is a pattern. You and […]
posted by Debbie Lee Last week I wrote about patterns and using everyday household items to make them. Did you think of some items around your house you could use? I also wrote about simple ABAB patterns in a row formed by having two different elements (fork/spoon or red/green) that alternate. There are other ways […]
posted by Debbie Lee From birth, the human brain is wired to recognize patterns. It is how infants are able to figure out the world around them. Because of this, young children can recognize patterns from an early age. We get excited when a child says “foots” even though, in English, that is incorrect. It […]
posted by Diann Gano I am block crazy. I love blocks, particularly wooden blocks. Block play is so important in the early years to help children understand important concepts in measurement, spatial reasoning, comparison, estimation, symmetry, and balance. It fosters creativity and reasoning skills. Our home runneth over with blocks and we very often […]
posted by Diann Gano Have you ever seen a child with a tape measure? They are in all their glory! We have small tape measures that sometimes make it on our walks around the neighborhood. We like to measure seedpods, sticks, each other, our shadows, you name it. Did you find a worm? We are […]
posted by Diann Gano As I look around me I see busy, happy children. Avery, Linnea and Anderson are busy seeing how high they can stack their rocks. Maya and Noa are near the sandbox creating a tea party for fairies, while Rowan and Parker are creating homes and meals for the squirrels over in […]
posted by Lindsay Maldonado Despite being an urban metropolis, Chicago is surprisingly a great city for nature lovers. We are lucky enough to have access to some incredible natural spaces, both inside and outdoors. Two of my go-to nature spots in the winter are the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the Garfield Park Conservatory. It’s […]
posted by Lindsay Maldonado Today I visited the Field Museum of Natural History. Another one of my favorite Chicago museums. The Field Museum houses thousands of artifacts from dinosaur bones to pottery and clothing from ancient civilizations. Again you may be thinking, math? Isn’t this a natural history museum? With thousands of artifacts on display, […]
posted by Lindsay Maldonado By day, I’m a researcher at Shedd Aquarium. I study people though, not animals – but, at Shedd, there are also a lot of people who do study animals. Some of these people are conservation research scientists or aquarists, who use math, and science, to help them learn more about the […]
posted by Lindsay Maldonado Museums are likely the most common setting for informal learning. Unlike formal learning (i.e., traditional classroom learning), informal learning is voluntary, unstructured, and learner-led. These settings provide a variety of learning experiences for a diverse group of learners. Museums offer opportunities to be hands-on with objects and even live animals. Museum […]