Don't let that title scare you, FRN. I promise to keep the math to the minimum.
Melina and I go each week to the first grade to participate in math centers. She and I run a station for the kids, and we tackle one concept at a time with small groups. We've seen time, money, 2 digit addition, subtraction, and many other concepts come through since we started helping out in November of last year. Usually, Melina sits quietly and munches on her snack, or lies down on my knee with her animal in hand. Sometimes she comes dressed in costumes, i.e. Batman, Princess, Unicorn, so oftentimes I need to keep the first graders focused on the task at hand.
Well, this week, someone was looking out for us. Melina decided she wanted to be dressed as a chef, complete with chef hat. We had an apron, but no hat. No problem! We fashioned a mighty nice chef hat out of construction paper and a white plastic grocery bag. She entered the school, confident that she looked like a chef, and she did.
And then we made it to first grade classroom. The kids loved that Chef Melina was in the room, and by some stroke of luck, the math center we were conducting that day was Auntie Pasta's Build a Pizza! Melina was thrilled! She sat next to me and put together pieces of the pizza, as content as could be.
The whole point of the Build a Pizza was to introduce fractions to the kids. We had 1 whole pizza and pieces that represented 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 of the pizza. We used these pieces to build the pizzas. I always hope that Melina gets something from these journeys to the school, but fear that really, she just gets tired.
Imagine my surprise this morning when Melina wanted a slice of American cheese. "Can you make it into squares, mom, please?" she said. I obliged, and told her she now had four slices of cheese. "Each one is a part of the whole," I said. "These are called quarters." To which Melina replied, "Just like in Mrs. G's class! These are quarters of cheese!"
I have no intend to push fractions at such a young age, but I do think if we introduced them earlier and in such a fun way, perhaps kids wouldn't be so scared of them later on.
And pertaining to yesterday's post, I have no intention of mentioning this on FB. I wouldn't consider it bragging by any means; it isn't as though she added or multiplied or divided fractions by herself at just under 4 years of age. But still, since I don't care for the incessant my kid is better routine, I don't even want to go there.
Melina and I go each week to the first grade to participate in math centers. She and I run a station for the kids, and we tackle one concept at a time with small groups. We've seen time, money, 2 digit addition, subtraction, and many other concepts come through since we started helping out in November of last year. Usually, Melina sits quietly and munches on her snack, or lies down on my knee with her animal in hand. Sometimes she comes dressed in costumes, i.e. Batman, Princess, Unicorn, so oftentimes I need to keep the first graders focused on the task at hand.
Well, this week, someone was looking out for us. Melina decided she wanted to be dressed as a chef, complete with chef hat. We had an apron, but no hat. No problem! We fashioned a mighty nice chef hat out of construction paper and a white plastic grocery bag. She entered the school, confident that she looked like a chef, and she did.
And then we made it to first grade classroom. The kids loved that Chef Melina was in the room, and by some stroke of luck, the math center we were conducting that day was Auntie Pasta's Build a Pizza! Melina was thrilled! She sat next to me and put together pieces of the pizza, as content as could be.
The whole point of the Build a Pizza was to introduce fractions to the kids. We had 1 whole pizza and pieces that represented 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 of the pizza. We used these pieces to build the pizzas. I always hope that Melina gets something from these journeys to the school, but fear that really, she just gets tired.
Imagine my surprise this morning when Melina wanted a slice of American cheese. "Can you make it into squares, mom, please?" she said. I obliged, and told her she now had four slices of cheese. "Each one is a part of the whole," I said. "These are called quarters." To which Melina replied, "Just like in Mrs. G's class! These are quarters of cheese!"
I have no intend to push fractions at such a young age, but I do think if we introduced them earlier and in such a fun way, perhaps kids wouldn't be so scared of them later on.
And pertaining to yesterday's post, I have no intention of mentioning this on FB. I wouldn't consider it bragging by any means; it isn't as though she added or multiplied or divided fractions by herself at just under 4 years of age. But still, since I don't care for the incessant my kid is better routine, I don't even want to go there.
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