On the weekend I went to a used curriculum sale at the Calgary Education Fair, an annual event. I got lots of goodies: more Math-U-See blocks, several board games, a few DVDs, lots of books, etc. I also found several ‘hands-on’ math activities, like this book of animal tangrams (50 cents): and a set of [...]
Today the I introduced the boys to their new geometry sets, which contained items like protractors, compasses, and rulers. They played around a bit—measuring lengths and angles, drawing circles—and then we spent some time investigating triangles, based on an idea found in the “Triangle Angles” activity in Lynette Long’s Groovy Geometry (Canada) (US). I began [...]
Just a quick post tonight about something Daegan did over the weekend, using the same 3 pieces of Duplo. Jim chimed in that he used to build similar things out of Lego-type toys as a kid. Here’s the sea serpent: The snake: And the inchworm:
Today for math the boys and I investigated a question: what connection do odd numbers have with square numbers? I began by addressing the math terminology: what is an odd number? Both boys (ages 6 and 8 ) could rattle off the first few odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9…and I had them build [...]
Did you celebrate Pi Day today? We did a few things. We began the day with an elaborate breakfast, in which we tried a new curried cauliflower frittata pie, along with “watermelon pie” (I just but the pieces and arranged on a plate like a pie) and “pancake pie” (we cut our pancakes in pie [...]
The other day the boys and I read On Beyond a Million (Canada)(US), one of the many ‘million-related’ math books by David M. Schwartz—How Much is a Million? is probably the best-known title. In On Beyond a Million, kids learn from Professor X a really fast way to count, faster than counting by 2s, or [...]
Yesterday the boys and I watched an engaging documentary about origami on Netflix, called Between the Folds (Canada) (US). (Note: this was off Netflix.ca, the Canadian version of Netflix, but my US friends tell me the video is available there on Netflix as well.) You can read more about the movie and see a sample [...]
Last week I wrote here about the multiplication (and addition) practice game Fingers!, which my boys quite enjoyed. Daegan and I recently tried another game, based on the Shout It Out! game of Lynette Long’s Marvelous Multiplication (Canada)(US), and this one proved just as popular. To play, you need a deck of cards with face [...]
The other day when I picked the boys up from their art class, I saw that they had created colour wheels and there were notes on the board about primary and secondary colours. The boys excitedly told me that the primary colours were called primary because they could be used to create all the other [...]
Yesterday after a morning filled with Valentine’s crafting, the boys and I played a quick game to get some math in. The game is called Fingers!, and I adapted the idea from a game of the same name in Lynette Long’s Marvelous Multiplication: Games and Activities that Make Math Easy and Fun (Canada)(US). (You may recall [...]