Outside the room, B showed me this poster.

B explained how they learned “odd” and “even”.  The teacher asked them to count using their fingers.  For “1” you put up your pointer finger on one hand, and for “2” you put up your pointer finger from the other hand. If both fingers are up, then they are partners and you put them together.  Every number that has a partner (2, 4, 6) is “even” and every number that is alone is odd (1, 3, 5). You continue that way, middle fingers, ring fingers, and pinkies.  In the picture below, the number 5 is represented by the ring finger that does not have a partner.  Therefore, it is odd.

I know that these children are a bit older than many of yours and most of them already have a strong number sense, but I still like the idea of this even for younger children. First, I appreciate that the age board is a departure from the typical Birthday Boards that I usually see and second, the counting system is interesting as it reinforces one-to-one correspondence, is easy to do and can be expanded as children get older.

B explained to me that she was “odd” because she was 5.  I asked her what would happen next week when she celebrates her 6th birthday.  She looked at me like I was a simpleton and said, “I will be six and move to the other side of the board.”

Duh.

Age is an interesting concept for children because it is not concrete, it can’t be seen, and there are few rules to determine it. Do you remember thinking that your teacher was really old, only to find out many years later that she had only been out of school a couple of years which made her about 24?

Children as young as 2 can tell you how old they are.  This is because it is constantly being reinforced at home.  But just because they can tell you that they are “3” or “4”, doesn’t mean that they have a real understanding of what that number means.  Exploring the ages of family members is a way of exploring number and introducing the concept of age.   You could use the photographs of the families to ask the children how old they think everyone is.  You can then chart their answers in order to have a discussion about age.

It will continue to be more interesting to the children to talk about their own ages, as they are the most interesting topic to themselves.  Be sure to include their ages in the charts.

It tells the story of a boy who grows into a man and then into an old man; while having a friendship with a tree.  The tree gives him what he needs throughout his life even though at times he is greedy and unappreciative.  When he most needs the tree, the tree is there.  It is a beautiful story and a beautiful allegory for life.

For children, the book can be a vehicle to study the life cycle of a tree.  They can talk about how the tree produces apples (remember September?) and then how the leaves come off. Later the branches are used, and then the trunk.  Everything is gone until the tree becomes a stump.  Every part of the tree has a purpose and the tree loves giving to the boy.

We watch the boy age.  Let the children guess how old the boy is at different parts of the book.  You can ask questions like, “How old is the boy?” and “How old do you have to be to be a man?”  “How old is the old man?”  You may be surprised how hard this is for young children.  Age is an abstract concept for them and guessing at age is really hard.

This would also be a really great book to turn into a felt board story.  It wouldn’t be that hard, as I would simply make the tree parts and then remove each part as it happens in the book.  Here is a set of directions to create your own felt board story of The Giving Tree.

Some people see this book as sad, and perhaps one-sided as the boy doesn’t seem to reciprocate the love for the tree until the end.  I see it as a selfless tale.  One of pure friendship.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.