We have old friends who taught us a lot about parenting. When their children were really little (3 and under) they would go into their bedrooms, the basement,or the playroom, and find toys that they never played with or forgot about and rewrapped them so they had something to open on their birthdays or holidays. […]
Last week I wrote about traditional Nesting Dolls as a great math manipulative, so today I thought we could explore Nesting Blocks as an extension that post. Nesting blocks provide all of the good fun of sequencing as the dolls do, but they have the added benefit of being square with flat sides. This means that […]
I am sure that most of the Early Math Counts readers are already involved with or are at least aware of the National Association for Family Child Care. This organization works on behalf of home child care providers primarily in the areas of advocacy, education, and networking. They also publish a bi-weekly newsletter that provides […]
Did you know that the original Russian nesting dolls always depicted a Russian woman with a big ol’ skirt hiding lots of children underneath? The children were always sized as if she had given birth to one child per year for 10 years! Can you imagine? The littlest one was always her baby. Now there […]
Even proponents of the Common Core are concerned about the increased time spent preparing for and taking the associated standardized assessments that are a natural result of a new curriculum. This article, from the Boston Globe, describes many additional worries that are plaguing early childhood teachers who are now faced with the Core in kindergarten. […]
If you had to list three qualities of this manipulative that makes it a great tool for math exploration, what would they be? I like them because…. 1. They are long. Children can attach lots of these together to create a “super straw” that spans the length of a room, or at least the length of […]
This article, entitled the Science of Resilience, comes from the Harvard Graduation School of Education and looks at the growing body of research around resilience and why some children overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. In brief, children who have caregivers that provide consistent responsive and supportive interactions, can build capacities that allow them to successfully manage the […]
I know it is short notice, but I received this flyer in my mailbox this week and it looks like it might be of interest to many of our Early Math Counts readers. On Saturday June 20th the University of Illinois Chicago is hosting the Early Childhood Entrepreneurship Expo. It costs $40 to attend, but […]
Stacking Cups are one of those great manipulatives that grow with children. Even the youngest babies like to hold these and chew on them, throw them around, pile them up and knock them over. This is a great way to explore “cause and effect” and they can explore the shape of the cups through their […]
I was looking through a bunch of old photographs the other day when I happened upon a shot of Noah running his own lemonade stand. I remember that day so clearly. It was really hot outside and the boys wanted something to do. Noah found a large piece of old cardboard and wrote “Lemonade 25 […]