What Have We Learned This Year?

As I complete weekly reports throughout the year, I ocassionally purposely slip in a little math, just for the record.  But really, this year, I had been feeling that we hadn't done a ton of math.  SpiderGirl never mastered the multiplication tables, worked much with area and volume, or advanced in fractions, all things that had been on her learning plan.  BatBoy has been exploring many mathematical concepts, but still, not much to go into a report.  So I thought.  When I began working on their final reports for our Distributed Learning school, I realized just how much they have learned this year.

Observing Number Explorations

SpiderGirl has always been a social learner.  With her, we talk, do things, play games.  Without the social engagement, she does not seem much interested in exploring numbers.  BatBoy, on the other hand, is very much more introverted in his learning style.  Unless he has specific questions, he just wants me to get out of his way and let him do his thing.  With BatBoy, I get to be an observer of his learning.

The Little Things

Most of what we do when it comes to learning math is not blog material. Not every task contains an 'ah-ha!' moment; not every activity is new or surprising. This post lays out some of the little things we do to support mathematical thinking and learning, and some things that we don't do yet, but are in the works.

9 Things I Love About The Abacus

Since they were babies, my kids have had an abacus that they could play with.  Last week, I showed SpiderGirl how we can use the abacus to add and subtract larger numbers.  Not until we worked with it together did I truly see the power of the abacus as a manipulative.

Top Things I Love About the Abacus

1. The abacus is both visual and kinesthetic.  Oh, it's auditory too.  We hear a satisfying clack! for every bead we count.

Understanding Large Numbers

Some of our math lessons come at the most unlikely times.  Our car ride to the Canada Day celebrations yesterday was one of those times.

Up until now, I have explained evening rush hour as the time when "everybody" is going home; that's why there are so many cars on the road.  SpiderGirl lately has questioned a couple of times, why are there still cars on the road when it's getting dark?  Why aren't they home?  And yesterday she asked (at 8:00 pm), "Is it still rush hour?"  In response, I asked, "Do you know how many people live in Greater Vancouver?"

Now, I remembered that there are 2 to 3 million people in Greater Vancouver.  (According to the 2006 census, the population of Metro Vancouver is 2.1 million.)  How many is 2 to 3 million?