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.