What better way to kick off your study of the New Testament than with a New Years Eve party? New Years Eve just happens to fall on Monday, so it makes a perfect family night activity. Just tweak your festivities a bit to include the New Testament and you are ready to go!
Testimony Time Capsule
Our favorite idea is to create a Testimony Time Capsule with your family. Have each member of your family write their testimony and/or their prior knowledge of the New Testament on a piece of paper. You can also have them write questions of things they want to learn about in the New Testament. Place the papers in a container- I used a shoebox we had laying around- and hide it away until the end of the year. At the end of the year have your family members rewrite their testimonies and/or what they now know about the New Testament. Pull out the time capsule and see how their learning has grown!
If you are crazy like us and *try* and stay up until midnight, add in some fun bible activities throughout the night. Make a paper chain countdown with favorite bible verses to read throughout the night. Put together a puzzle of the Savior. Watch little clips of bible videos while snacking on treats. Wear party hats while reading stories from the New Testament. After setting off confetti poppers talk about how God can make our hearts pop with love as we learn more about Him and follow His example.
Remember to make this a fun experience for your family! Anna at Ivory Bloom and I are both so excited to help your families be more converted to Christ. 🙂
What is Measurement & Data? For the younger grades it is the ability to measure and estimate length and width using standard units, represent and interpret data on a graph or chart, and understanding the concepts of time and money. Of course the degree of difficulty depends on the grade level of the students- with kindergarteners only being required to categorize data into groups and using terms more/less than to describe varying measurements.
When should I start teaching my child Measurement & Data? The terminology for this standard can be introduced to your child early on. They might not be able to count money or measure anything, but using terms such as “time, coins, taller, shorter, longer, bigger, and smaller” can set a good foundation.
What resources are available to help my child learn Measurement and Data? Of course there are a lot! Because this standard includes time and money this list could be very lengthy. Just know that this is a small sampling to whats available online.
Here is a list of Measurement and Data literature and teacher resources that you can read with your child. I apologize for the length- there were just so many titles that looked interesting! I will divide the books into four categories: measurement/data/time/and money. And don’t forget to click on the picture to learn more about each book!
Measurement:
Data (charts and graphs):
Money:
Time:
Here are some of our previous posts of Measurement & Data activities.
When Boo was just itty bitty we would play a coin learning game. I liked this because not only did she become familiar with money words, but it was a great fine motor activity. And it was as simple as taking down her piggy bank and sitting on the floor!
I made some free printables that you can download in our New Years Countdown Bags post and Our Disneyland Adventure post. These activities are both similar in that your child gets to open up a bag at a certain time. Can I just say we had a great time with our Disney Clock bags! I highly recommend making them for the long car trips.
Played with some of my old money manipulatives for the overhead projector (did I just age myself as a teacher) . You can read more about in our DIY Light Box post.
During our Lego Day we made rulers out of legos and ran around the house and measured things. Of course I didn’t take a picture of that activity. But adding with legos was fun too and it is math related 🙂
During our studies of mammals we made animal footprints and then categorized them by the number of feet they walk on. Keep in mind this was a preschool activity- you could always extend this by having students make different graphs and charts to represent their data.
Here are some other great posts on Measurement & Data from other bloggers.
Interaction Imagination posted a really fun and magical activity Creating Fairy Doors. Get your rulers out for this one- not only will your child make a cute door but they will learn a lot about measuring! She also posted some Forest Math activities which include measuring the size of trees and checking the depth and size of holes using sticks. So fun!
Kids Creative Chaos shares a St Patricks Day Game that will teach your kiddo to count money. She has included free printables for her game as well! I love to see math learning integrated with fun holiday stuff 🙂
I love Naturally Educationals post March Weather Bar Graph. This is a great example of math you can do at home with your little ones. She also has some ideas on how to incorporate this activity into a lesson for grade level kids. She also has a cute Candy Heart Graph. I especially love that she has her four year old label her graph… great way to incorporate writing! Plus I just love the look of child-made work.
I have tried to keep this post informative and yet not too long- which was hard to do with all the resources available to teach Measurement & Data! I am especially impressed with all the good math literature that is now available in helping our kiddos understand concepts that can sometimes be a little tricky or abstract.
This post is a continuation of yesterday’s post Numbers & Operations in Base 10. Fractions are a part of this number system- with every decimal place indicating a multiple of a negative power of 10.
What is included in the standard Numbers & Operations- Fractions? Simply put this is everything fractions- with the degree of difficulty being dependent on the grade level of the student. Some examples of these skills include performing operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) using fractions, comparing fractions, and understanding the decimal system.
When should I start teaching my child fractions? As early as possible (Although it is not part of the common core until third grade). I am a big advocate for communicating with your child using math terminology even at a young age. So your 2 year old might not understand equivalent fractions perfectly, but you can ask them if they want half a sandwich or a whole one. And then you can smile because you just had a mini math lesson during lunch. 🙂
What resources are available to help my child learn fractions? Just as in our previous posts, there are TONS of resources available! Of course in the interest of time I won’t share everything I have found, but this is a good start.
Here is a list of Numbers & Operations- Fractions literature that you can read with your child.
Here is a list of some teacher resources. Manipulatives are important in helping your child understand math concepts, including fractions. I didn’t include any in this list because you can use everyday items such as pizza, apples, straws, paper… anything you can cut in pieces! Using items your child is exposed to on a frequent basis will help them better relate to using fractions in the real world.
I have never written an entire post about activities I have done with my daughter using fractions. However, in our post 20 Activities With Sidewalk Chalk, I came up with the idea to draw several shapes and have your kiddo draw a line to cut the shapes in half/thirds/fourths/etc. Make sure you talk about fair shares (how each section should be the same size) when they are drawing the lines.
Here are some ideas that are from other mom bloggers:
Naturally Educational shares an idea using paper plates in her post Pizza Math. I love how she is having her little ones learn about the numerator and denominator as well as comparing fractions.
Peakle Pie combined frogs, crafts, and fractions in her post Fractions Fun with Origami Frogs. I have never thought of fractions this way before- it is so creative and I know my animal loving daughter could easily consider this math lesson as more of a game!
Of course there are TONS more resources available with fractions. I would love to hear about what you have done with your kiddos at home to help them understand this concept better!
Our math series continues today with a post on Numbers & Operations in Base 10. The past two days we have discussed Counting & Cardinality and Operations & Algebraic Thinking. We are making a lot of progress on our way to learn more about the Math Standards included in the Common Core. (Tomorrow’s post will be about Numbers & Operations with Fractions.)
What are Numbers & Operations in Base 10? There are two parts to this standard. The first is a basic understanding of the place value of numerals in any given number. We refer to this as base 10 because each number has 10 times more value than the digit to the right. For example, in the number 24, the 4 is also known as 4 ones while the 2 has 10 times the value consisting of 20 ones. I hope this makes sense! Understanding numbers in Base 10 also consists of skip counting and comparing two or three digit numbers using greater than, less than, and equals to while looking at the number in the tens or hundreds place.
The second part of this standard- “Operations in Base 10” has the objective that students will be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide while understanding the place value of each digit and how that affects the answer (hence the word “Operations” in base 10)
When should I start teaching my child Numbers & Operations in Base 10? I would start as soon as they can count to 10. I think the most common way I have seen this modeled in a classroom setting is with straws during calendar time. A teacher will put a straw in a bucket for every day they are in school. Once there are 10 straws, they get bundled together with a rubber band and placed in a separate 10s bucket.
What resources are available to help my child learn Numbers & Operations in Base 10? There are actually lots of resources to teach this concept to your kids. I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised- I was expecting this to be a shorter post due to lack of resources but I am wrong!
Here is a list of Numbers & Operations in Base 10 literature that I came up with!
Here is a list of teacher resources and manipulatives that can help you teach your child place value.
We have done a couple activities in the past that can be tweaked to include the math standard Numbers and Operations in Base 10.
Addition Towers with Unifix Cubes: At the time we were just working on very simple addition. To turn this activity into more of an educational place value experience, don’t make the towers with both addends. Take the loose unifix blocks and group them into “ten towers” while finding the sum.
DIY Montessori Number Beads: So this would need lots of tweaking. Choose one color for your beads. Make 10 bead sticks with pipe cleaners with 10 beads on each stick. Or you could spend a gazillion dollars and buy some awesome golden beads from a Montessori store. OK so they aren’t a gazillion dollars but when you can make something similar for free paying ANYTHING just doesn’t make sense.
Here are some activities and idea for Numbers & Operations in Base 10 from around the web!
Boy Mama Teacher Mama shared a fun Ten Frames game to do with your kiddos. She has a set you can purchase or you can download some seasonal ten frames. I am putting this activity on my list of things to do with my Boo!
Naturally Educational posted an activity using coins to skip count. Love the idea to use money!
I will be writing another Numbers & Operations post soon- but instead of being Base 10 stuff it will be all about fractions.
Alright- blog post is done which means the laundry must begin! Yay for me?
So far in our series about math standards we have discussed Counting & Cardinality. Today’s post is centered around Operations & Algebraic Thinking (one of the K-5 Common Core Math Standards). I am excited to share with you some of the resources I have found!
What are Operations & Algebraic Thinking? This is simply understanding and solving math problems using the 4 operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Of course Kinders will start out with gaining a basic understanding of just adding and subtracting while the older grades are required to not only use all 4 operations but to understand them enough to write numerical expressions and analyze patterns and relationships. This post will primarily focus on the younger grades, since this is where I will be teaching soon.
When should I start teaching my child Operations & Algebraic Thinking? You can model simple addition and subtraction problems with your kiddos as soon as you feel your child is ready. I think most preschool age children would benefit from modeling of very simple problems using objects that are important to them. For example: “You have 2 cookies, if I give you 1 more, how many would you have?”
What resources are available to help my child learn Operations & Algebraic Thinking? There are SO many wonderful activities and lessons available to help us teach our kids to understand this math standard. I have included apps, literature, activities from this blog, and links to other great ideas.
Here is a list of some of the great Operations & Algebraic Thinking literature. Just click on the pic to learn more about each book.
Addition and Subtraction:
Multiplication and Division:
Algebra:
Teacher resources:
Here are some of the activities that we have done in the past centered around Operations & Algebraic Thinking:
MISSION ADDITION When my daughter was 3 we spent a day saving all the animals in trouble via math skills. And while she didn’t walk away quoting math facts, she had a BLAST. There is nothing wrong with a little academic immersion through play! (Feel free to download our free Mission Addition PDF)
I posted a review about Bubbling Math– a math operation game for Kids. I like that this available for desktops as well!
I saw the idea of creating Towers with Unifix Blocks on Pinterest (thank you Home Grown Learners!!). This activity is easy to use, hands on, and gets kiddos familiar with the look of math problems.
And last but certainly not least is our trusty number scale. One idea is to have your child find the sum by placing two weights on one side of the scale (the math problem) and then on the other side of the scale put a weight on the sum. If their answer is correct the scale will balance!
Here are some other GREAT educational games from around the web.
Math Story’s Math Songs with videos and lyrics. Great resource!
Teachers Pay Teachers. This is a one stop shop with some of the CUTEST math curriculum I have ever seen! (Is it sad that the cuteness is a selling factor for me? haha I promise I enjoy the quality and educational aspects of their work as well!)
As always- I hope this list will be beneficial in helping your kids understand math more fully.
This week I will be centering all my posts on MATH- more specifically: counting & cardinality, operations & algebraic thinking, numbers and operations in base 10, measurement and data, and geometry. For those familiar with the Common Core Standards these should look very familiar! With my daughter in kindergarten this year, and with the possibility of me teaching school this fall, I thought it would be good for me to immerse myself in the current math curriculum. In this post I will share with you what I have learned about these different math standards and some activities that you can do at HOME with your kiddos! So let’s get started on our math adventure!
What is Counting & Cardinality? It is the ability to know, write, understand, group, count, and correctly use numbers. This is an important academic foundation for our little ones to completely master.
When should I start teaching my child counting & cardinality? As early as possible! Take every opportunity to use numbers- whether its counting how long it takes for your kiddo to put on their shoes or pointing out numbers in books, signs, and toys… math is everywhere!
What resources are available to help my child learn counting & cardinality? The resources are endless. Here are just a few!
Number Recognition Activities with our Education Cubes. One of the activities in our post include rolling one die and running around the table that many times (this activity is inspired and created for my little runner… remember to center your learning activities around your child’s interests!)
8 Learning Lessons You Can Use with a Number Scale. I love, love, love our number scale! My Boo (who was a toddler at the time) and I had a great time learning number sense with this fun, hands-on educational tool. One activity mentioned in our post was a “Count With Me” game. To play you give both you and your tot ten weights. Out loud, count from one to ten together while each of you place a weight on the appropriate side of the scale. This will help your tot to see the numbers while saying them… it’s a pretty simple activity!
Here are some other GREAT educational games from around the web.
Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy shared a wonderful way to have calendar time with her 2 year old! See it is never too early to get our kiddos involved in math!
Buggy and Buddy also has a WONDERFUL post about Finding Number Patterns Using a Hundreds Chart. She has included a free printable that I am going to print as soon as I am done typing this post!
Creative Connections for Kids has a great kinesthetic game where you use your body to count. I especially like that this is something you can do anywhere! For those teachers- great educational activity to do with your kids when you are waiting outside during a fire drill. 🙂
I hope this list is will be a great resource as your are teaching your kids about counting & cardinality. Remember: Math can be fun! And it doesn’t have to be hard or take a lot of time to teach these fundamental skills.
The time for advent calendars is here! Can you believe it? Where does the time go! I was getting our advent calendar ready with treats and had an idea to easily incorporate coin recognition over the 25 day advent calendar time period. The total cost for this activity? A mere 25 cents. Objective? To learn the coins: penny, nickel, dime, quarter.
Inside each little cubby in our advent calendar (and next to our little treat of course!) I will place a penny. If you don’t have an advent with cubbies, you can just give your child one penny every day in December until Christmas. The penny will be placed in a little canvas wallet that I will have my daughter decorate with fabric markers, but any wallet/purse/baggie will work to hold the coins. Every morning we will open the advent cubby, take out the penny, add it with any previous coins, and stamp how much money we have so far in the “My Christmas Money” book. (This book is just a stack of index cards connected with a book ring! Simple but efficient!!)
After we have counted and stamped our daily total, I will have my daughter write the number. This might take a bit since we have NEVER written numbers (and she can write just a handful of letters) but I know she will be OK. On day #5 we will introduce a nickel and she will be able to trade in her pennies for one nickel; Day #10 She will trade in five pennies for a nickel, and then the two nickels for a dime; etc. We will finish the activity by eating the advent treat. 🙂 I am hoping the treat will act as a little motivation for her money work!
Happy Teaching and COUNTING down to Christmas!
I am SO excited to teach my brainy little Boo about shapes this month! I have compiled a huge list of resources here that you can download (click on the round sun): In addition to this fabulous list generated from hours of Google searching, I will be using my Complete Resource Book for Toddlers and Twos to supplement my lesson plans. This is a wonderful book with lots of ideas from a variety of learning styles. Some suggestions from this book include:
Literature:
I See Circles by Mike Artell
So Many Circles, So Many Squares by Tana Hoban
What is Round? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Language Enrichment:
show how a round object can roll
use the word circle in a sentence
flannel board story about a round cookie (included in the book)
teach the child the ASL sign for the word circle
Physical Development:
play ring around the rosies
Cognitive Development:
cut sponges into circles and make sponge prints on a piece of paper. Ask the child if the circular designs look like anything.
have children put scrunchies and an empty paper towel tube while you discuss the circular shape of the scrunchies.
make a paper chain by gluing paper strips into circles
play with buttons and discuss their shape
cut out 4 different sizes of circles and have the child put them in order from largest to smallest
With so many fun activities centered just around CIRCLES, I am glad that I have planned a week on this shape. I will post throughout the upcoming week about some of our activities! And if my daughter picks it up day one- well, we will still have a lot of fun exploring with circles!
