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.

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.

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.

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.