I am very lucky to have many friends and colleagues who forward me great tidbits to add to this blog. Yesterday, Dr. Kathleen Sheridan (co-creator of Early Math Counts) sent me this link to the Academic Minute, a radio program from the northeast corner of the US, in which academics from around the country present a […]
Last week, I wrote about egg cartons as a tool that is easy-to-find, free, and versatile. You can’t imagine my excitement when I find these eggs at our local Costco. I immediately started imagining all of the ways I would use this empty carton in my classroom, if I still had one. As a sorting […]
A friend of ours forwarded me this picture over the weekend. A friend of hers saw it and sent it along because she thought it was so great. I, too, think it is great because it is relevant. I don’t know how meaningful this old rap is to young children, and I don’t really know very much […]
There’s a lot of money rolling into the State of Illinois because of the Race to the Top initiatives, and a nice big chunk of that has been set aside for early learning. One of the products of this work is the Illinois Early Learning Project, which includes a website where you can find “evidence-based, reliable […]
I am not sure if I should wish us a “Happy Birthday” or a “Happy Anniversary” but it surely is a Happy Day for all of us at Early Math Counts. 2 years ago today, we launched the Early Math Counts website and I began this blog. Since that time, there have been tens of thousands […]
Many years ago I went to visit one of my students at her center and it was one of those days when everything I saw seemed new and exciting. Sometimes, when you have been in the business of child care and education for as long as I have, you begin to think you have “seen […]
Last night I had the distinct pleasure of attending a celebration honoring the 7th cohort of students to achieve state certification in ECE at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The university honored 11 students which brought the total number of students who have successfully completed this program to 91. This number is an extraordinary accomplishment by those […]
One of the best ways I know to incorporate the “Tinkering Philosophy” into an early childhood program is through a really nice woodworking area. Woodworking is one of those practices that many teachers feel very uncomfortable with. I see this when I visit programs. Rarely, do I see a woodworking table open and available for the […]
Last week, I wrote about the Sesame Street Project called “Math is Everywhere.” That site has all sorts of information about early math for parents of young children and educators of young children. After exploring the site for quite some time, I started thinking about television and learning, and whether or not there is real value […]
This 20 minute video appeared in my search engine this morning. I thought I would share it with you since it follows up our conversation about communicating the message about the importance of math to the parents we serve. It is called “Math is Everywhere” and it takes the viewer through several scenarios that parents […]