Early Math Counts

Someone posted this the other day on my Facebook page and I couldn’t wait to share it.                                       Some of these ideas are clearly for older children, but the intent is awesome.  The only thing I would change […]

This article, from KQED News, written by Deborah Farmer Kris reiterates what we have been talking about at Early Math Counts for years;  Spatial Reasoning is an extremely important competency that can be taught and supported very early in life.  She provides ideas for activities that encourage spatial thinking and describes why using spatial vocabulary […]

I’ll never forget the time when my three-year-old was sitting in the back of the car looking out the window and contemplating the world.  I arrived at a stop sign just before another car arrived at the adjacent stop sign.  The other car sped forward to get in front of me and I threw my […]

I imagine that many of you are getting ready for a long weekend; the one that traditionally marks the beginning of summer and gives us permission to wear white pants.  Memorial Day this Monday is a day set aside each year when we honor those who died in service of our country. That concept is not […]

Why do children need to cross the midline?  The midline is an imaginary line that goes directly down the center of the body from the top of the head and between the eyes and down through the belly button.  This creates the right side of the body and the left side of the body.  Crossing […]

This past winter I was asked to be on the Advisory Board of the Chicago Children’s Museum, located downtown at Navy Pier.  I had been serving on the Tinkering Board of the museum for the three years previous, so this was new to me.  Yesterday, we had our board meeting and lo and behold, I […]

I wish I wrote this article.  I feel like I say these exact words every semester to every group of students I encounter.  But still, I go out into the field and see the same arts and crafts activities time and again.  Where does it end? Many summers ago, some friends and I spent the summer […]

By now, everyone knows I love dominoes.  I have blogged about them here and here and they have come up in several other posts about classroom manipulatives.  Last week, one of our readers, Ivan (Thank you Ivan) was perusing the blog and landed on my post about the Really BIG Dominoes from the Chicago Children’s Museum. […]

I am always looking for winning combinations…Peanut butter plus jelly equals gooey deliciousness.  A sunny day plus a half day of work equals a good long walk with my dogs.  These are win-win situations that make me very happy.  Me happy plus anything, equals a better day for everyone! I like to think of parents […]

Young children begin thinking spatially as early as the first time they play “dropsy” and their caregiver retrieves the fallen object and declares, “Oh, did you drop your _______?” What fun it is for the child to drop the same item again and again, exploring the depths of her caregiver’s patience.  Exploring the concepts of […]