It's Not Fair!

I have two children, both of whom at this point in their lives are fairly competitive.  Even when it comes to getting their teeth brushed, each wants their teeth brushed first!  So, my husband flips a coin to decide.  It's a fair way, right?

Well, after several days of losing the coin toss, SpiderGirl had a meltdown.  "It's not fair!" she declared.  "I ALWAYS lose!"

Timed Drills and Flashcards

Yesterday, a friend called me asking about supporting her son through timed addition drills in his first grade class. Now, I have been a longtime proponent of timed drills, but the idea of this particular situation didn't sit well with me and I could not figure out why. My friend was exceedingly patient as I rambled on exploring the reasons behind my intuition long after I had answered her question. Still, it bugged me. Despite a nagging feeling that my inner protest comes partially from a dislike of this teacher's overall style, I believe that there are some solid reasons I would not drill a six year old in addition facts.

Jumping Number Line

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine introduced me to an iPad/iPhone app called Motion Math Zoom.  This game is a highly visual, intuitive exploration of the number line.  With help from cute animal pictures, the player gets a good sense of scale when looking at pieces of the line, marked off by ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, thousandths, hundredths, and tenths.  The scale can be changed with a simple finger pinch.

I was impressed with this game, and a little sad that it didn't include fractions in fraction form. So one day, needing the kids to have something to do while I cooked dinner, I used masking tape to mark off a number line along the tiles on our kitchen/dining room floor.

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.

Structural Geometry

For SpiderGirl's learning plan this year, she expressed an interest in learning about building and architecture.  In addition to looking at some of the fabulous designs around the world and photographing archtectural details around town, we have explored the shapes used to hold these structures up.

Finally Multiplication

For a few weeks (Or is it months?  This summer has gone by so fast!), SpiderGirl has been doing repeated addition of small numbers.  I hadn't yet given her the multiplication vocabulary yet, as I didn't really have much opportunity, and at this point, I don't see her as being ready to benefit from memorizing a whole bunch of facts.

Fractions Manipulatives

Although I have always used paper cut-outs for exploring fractions, there is something to be said for having something that is a bit more durable in a manipulative.  One of my friends suggested cutting out foam sheets from a dollar store.  I was very happy with the results.

More Math in the Car

A few years ago, I picked up a book called Carschooling, by Diane Flynn Keith.  So far, I love it.  It's full of fun ideas that can keep our family enjoying a long car ride without falling into arguments due to anticipation or boredom.

On a recent car trip, I dug it out to look for some new math activities.  A song that we enjoyed for at least a few verses was a variation of "99 Bottles of Beer On the Wall."  I substituted 'beer' with 'juice.'  The lyrics went something like this:

Integers Before Subtraction?

The learning consultant to whom I report SpiderGirl's learning activities seemed rather impressed that she was learning about integers in Kindergarten.  It's understandable, I suppose, given that integers usually aren't broached until middle school here.  After all, I haven't told anyone else, lest they think I am "pushing" her.

I offered the concept upon request for something new in math to explore.  We had already introduced simple fractions.  This seemed to be the next logical concept to introduce.  Yet, SpiderGirl hadn't yet mastered subtraction or time or grouping.  What would make me think of such a thing?

Was there method to my madness?

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?

New Toys

We picked up some secondhand cuisinaire rods this week.  Although we probably could have done without them, at $5, they were just too much of a steal to pass up.  Personally, I've been wondering what the fuss is over these manipulatives anyway. 

Adding Online

A few weeks ago, we came across the Googol Learning website.    It has some fun games, varying in difficulty from counting and numbers to advanced math.

This morning, BatBoy came wanted me to help him get onto the computer.  He wanted to play Addition Pinball.

Recounting the First Half of the Year

These are a few math activities that have happened in January through April, taken from reporting to Self-Design distance learning program:

Why I Unschool Math

There are people that insist that math can't be unschooled.  Everything else can, but math must follow a curriculum.  I don't agree.  I have seen the math curriculum here in B.C. change so often that teachers begin to suspect it's simply a way of making more work for them.  The curriculum setters move topics around, up and down the grade levels, splitting them up, mashing them together.  Yeah, the curriculum is pretty fluid.

Then there are people who say that math is everywhere and, left alone, children can't help but learn math.  I don't totally agree with that either.  We need to support math learning in the same way we support language learning.  Children need to see math being used on a daily basis; they need to share math with a loved one; they need the opportunity to practice, make mistakes, and get feedback.

A Little Background

When I first left school, I had great ideals of changing the world -- or at least changing the way high school math was taught.  I was energetic; I was enthusiastic; I was creative.  I worked in the school system for seven years.