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Blog Archive

Puzzle Perfection!

Out of the corner of my eye, I am drawn to the persistence of three-year-old Saaliha. She is calmly and patiently working her way through a rainbow puzzle.  Her friends are busy in other parts of the classroom, but Saaliha is problem-solving her way to mastery. I sit down next to her to observe her […]

Lessons from the Block Shelves

  Earlier this month, we talked about the math explosion that took place during our block play. I shared the delight of capturing a play buzz to knock out early learning standards through play. To my astonishment, our play buzz continued all the way through our pickup activities and, let me just say, that never […]

Get a “Play Buzz” Going with Block Play!

  One extremely cold morning, PLUS one extremely curious three-year-old EQUALED an unexpected explosion of mathematical concepts being explored in our classroom. Jamison started the movement with a small ramp and a single car. The fever caught on and soon we had ramps and obstacles being set up all over the room by Jamison and his […]

Treasures To Be Found

What math treasures are hiding in your game closet?  If you’re like me, you have more games in that closet than children in your program. If and when you do play games, do you choose the same few games over and over again?   When I repurpose the pieces from our rarely used games, I often […]

Incorporating Math Into Your Cold-Weather Routines

It’s November and, here in Illinois, that means cooler temperatures and winter outerwear. Getting the children dressed for outdoor play is one more way that you can meet your math standards while engaging in everyday activities. Outdoor play in the winter months includes snow or rain pants, boots, coats, hats and mittens. Getting my young group […]

Invitation to Explore Shapes Through Clay

  A parent recently asked me if we had been working on shapes because her two-year-old was quite knowledgeable about the topic. I just smiled, because we work on shapes all day long, starting with breakfast. Would you like circles (Cheerios), squares (Chex) or hexagons (Crispix)? Math is embedded in many of your daily activities as […]