… We started one with a simple page that consisted of gluing down the shapes he had cut out, then tracing over the names of the shapes. I made up a bit more elaborate version and am attaching it at the end here to share with anyone who would like it. … Read more…
The dreaded B word (BORED) has begun to surface in our house – the kind of bored where the boys throw every couch cushion and pillow on the floor, jump on them like little hooligans, then flop down and complain that there’s nothing to do. Read more…
Whenever I hear people talk about how much they hate math or how they just aren’t good at it or how their kids are crying every night doing math homework and the whole system of Mathematics is tearing kids down and families apart, it makes me terribly sad. I wish I could jump into every one of those homes and show them how math is really not so scary and even quite lovely if you look at it the right way; I want to help students build a solid framework of understanding by working through authentic, relevant, and interesting learning activities so that they truly own the knowledge they gain. I believe students should be given the opportunity to work through concepts to the point of mastery (not to the point of complete and utter boredom because they’re swallowing a one-size-fits-all prescription) and see math not as some painful adolescent ritual but as the language of the universe — the description of all the patterns and phenomena we see at play in nature and in art and architecture and engineering … and computer coding and aviation and seafaring and gambling … to name only a very few aspects of a universe written in the beautifully patterned and predictable* language of math.
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While all the other kids were busy building forts and playing in water tables, J wandered over to this rock with a divot that had collected water. Someone (probably a staff member) had left out an old paintbrush and J picked it up and started dipping it in the puddle and “water painting” on another rock. Ha! Why had I never thought of that?! No prep work needed, almost no supplies, no mess to clean up, and endless directions to pursue — use a paintbrush, sponges, roll toy cars through water, make water paint footprints and handprints, practice calligraphy, draw Anything you can think of, even do math on the sidewalk! … etc. Here’s an activity we could do at home any day for FREE (1 point!) that’s clean (2 points!) and fun (3 points!). (Points are nonredeemable but fun to collect.) Read more…
On the ride back home we talked about how if he throws one rock down the mountain it might knock loose two more rocks, which isn’t really a problem — except that each of those rocks might knock two more rocks (to keep the math simple) and each of those rocks might knock two more rocks each, and pretty quickly all the rocks are falling down the mountain. N looked properly terrified.
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In the complex world of twenty-first century parenting, Screen Time can be the subject of much debate and anxiety.
Every family has different ideas and expectations about this subject. I certainly do not have it figured out. Also, my personal philosophy is in flux regarding the advantages and pitfalls of screen-bound entertainment and education. But …
we have managed to curate a list of several kid’s shows that both I and the kids like. We’ll try out new shows on Netflix every once in a while, but we have our go-to list of shows that (fortunately!) the boys don’t mind watching on repeat. Read more…
… Since I’ll be focusing on fundamental math topics rather than any certain textbook, the lesson packs will be designed to supplement any curriculum. They can be used with younger students to help solidify their understanding of math and, hopefully, get them excited about math and confident in their own ability to understand the subject, or they can be used for remediation purposes to help students who may struggle with a certain topic and need a new experience with the ideas. I’m designing them with a view towards easy implementation for parents/tutors/teachers with clear explanations of how to teach concepts in ways that help lead the student to discover how and why things work the way they do. … Read more…
… Then I brought out the craft supplies and cut out a circle, square, and rectangle from construction paper. He helped me trace each one several times to see what the pattern would look like. I asked him what was different about the repeating circles and the repeating squares/rectangles designs. He had a lot of random thoughts on the topic, but eventually mentioned that there are empty spaces between the circles but not between the squares and rectangles. He got it! 🙂 … Read more…
My 4 year old son and I sat down to brainstorm some more silly words (rhyming words or alliteration phrases or just plain silly sounds) and we (ok, mostly I) came up with this story. It’s fun to get him involved in the creative writing process so he can see how to get ideas flowing onto paper, then mash them all up and jumble them back together until they fall into place and you get a silly story. 🙂 That’s our official process at the moment. Read more…
Things (numbers, variables, expressions) on either side of an equal sign are the same. If kids can really understand this idea, they won’t stumble when they get to Algebra and have to start solving for x. If they can grasp the big ideas behind simple concepts like Equality, they’ll be much more fluent with higher level math concepts.
I wanted to practice introducing these ideas to my (then) 3 year old. I found some things we had at home and made up a very simplistic balance beam. Using egg carton pieces, a paper clip flattened out, and a toilet paper tube shaped into a triangular prism, I asked N to try to make it balance (stay level) using different amounts of cotton balls on each side. Read more…
