Large colorful lacing beads are a wonderful tool to work on sequencing and patterns. Many children will approach this manipulative with a certain amount of trepidation as “lacing” is hard and requires fairly developed fine motor skills and strong hand-eye coordination. Many children work for a long time simply trying to get one bead on […]
If you are ever stuck for a good, creative idea for a math activity, this website has a lot of really nice ones. Many of them include materials you already have in your program, while others may require you to create something. Browse through pages and pages of ideas and let us know what you try. […]
We were taking some pictures of math manipulatives for online professional development program we are creating, and we got to talking about “bought” materials vs. “found” materials. Over the past couple of years, I have written a lot about both; from expensive hand-made, wooden puzzles to recycled egg cartons. They all have their place in […]
Before children begin studying geometry the way we understand it, they explore the world of “topology.” Topology is the study of space and shapes; their properties and their relationships. They consider their own place in space, where they are, and how far they are from their others. They think about the relationships between objects and the […]
I read this article this morning as I thought about what to write this week. I decided that every time I read an article that supports teachers who support a play-based curriculum, I would repost it here. Please read. Let the Kids Learn Through Play
This article outlines three important areas in early math educational support for parents of young children; activities in the home, working with your child’s teacher, and projects for parental involvement. Although the references are a bit dated, the information is still good. Check it out here.
Some of you might have seen this posted this week, but I couldn’t resist sharing it with you again here. This article describes a new video game that teaches algebra – even if the designer says it doesn’t. It’s an app called “Dragon Box” and it sounds very interesting. Check out the article here, Check […]
Turning an ordinary activity like “Find a Shape” into a game like “Shape Scavenger Hunt” is pretty easy to do, and much more fun for children to engage in. Frequently, while visiting centers, I hear teachers ask the children, “Who can find something in our room that is a circle?” or “Who can find something […]
Tomorrow commemorates “Cinco de Mayo,” the day the Mexican Army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. This is a day of great celebration for Mexico and Mexican people living outside of their home country. Tomorrow, celebrations will be taking place all around the Chicagoland area as we honor our […]
Yesterday, I wrote about subtraction and how it is harder for children than addition since counting backward is not as common as counting forward. I found this interesting lesson on this interesting website called Illuminations which is a website dedicated to teaching mathematics. Everything on the site connects to the Common Core, the NCTM Standards, and […]