Math!

I want the snails to be mathematical geniuses. You know that mom who pushes her kids into some activity because she was never good at it (i.e. cheerleading, pageants, sports, whatever...)? Well, that is me with math. I should get a sticker for my car that says, "Math Mom." I struggled at math instruction because of dyscalculia. So I am using my negative math experiences to fuel our family's passion towards learning math. We are currently using a Living Math approach. [Yes, mom, we count cans at the grocery store!] A couple of years ago, I had the advantage of participating in a training for math teachers by Marilyn Burns. I highly recommend her book,



I have just purchased the Singapore Math Early Bird Kindergarten Books 1A and 1B. I will share our work with Singapore in a couple of weeks. I also just discovered the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Instruction which has a ton of free math instruction resources. We will also be trying Math on the Level. Math on the Level fits with my educational beliefs because it is maturation based, family-centered, uses a balanced living math approach, and is based on the child's individual needs. I have read great things about Math U See, but haven't delved into that program yet. I am interested in it because it is manipulative based. My beliefs and methods in mathematical instruction are guided by The National Council of Teachers in Mathematics.

We have been playing a few math games this week. Big Snail's new favorites are:

We like to make up our own rules when playing Triominos. This lets the snails explore numbers and numerals on their own terms and lets mathematical discoveries happen naturally. Big Snail is interested in zeros lately and as you can see in this picture, he was trying to find and connect all of the "0's." We like to play the "Zero Hide and Seek Game" by seeing how many things of zero we can find. For example, "How many elephants are eating pudding at the kitchen table?" The snails run to the kitchen to count. "Zero!"