Okay, that was fun! I handed my group of kindergartners and first graders tape measures (the non-metal kind) and told them they could measure whatever they wanted. What a hit! On so many levels. First, I showed them how they could measure how far they jumped. After being stuck inside all day due to rain, this was the perfect way to get them to move around a bit and still sneak in some great math. Once I showed them how…
caption id=”attachment_1503″ align=”alignleft” width=”300″ caption=”First Graders practice writing equations”][/caption]Without a doubt, my absolute favorite teaching tool is the individual white board. Way back when the earth was still cooling and I had just started my teaching career, I laminated white poster board and cut them apart to make my own super cheap version. Today I have a little more money, so I have my own commercial set of 30. And they get used A LOT. Why do I like white…
Part of figuring out how to help kids grow up comfortable with math, is to understand what math is. If you ask a group of first graders to describe math, the responses are very similar. Math is adding and taking away. Older elementary students will add multiplying and dividing. When prodded to include more, there are often long pauses followed by kids giving the same answer but in a different way. Rarely does anyone describe math as shapes or patterns…
The best way to teach kids financial literacy is in the context of their everyday lives. Here’s this month’s teachable moment: The season for gift buying and giving is behind us and we’ve headed into the season of returns and exchanges. Admittedly, not as exciting as shopping for great deals on presents, the mundane tasks that are required in order to effectively manage money need to be addressed for a solid financial foundation to be built. Enter receipt management. The…
Ryan just sent me this text message: “Do you think the people I gave money to this morning scammed me?” Ryan went on an early 8-mile run with a group of people this morning. On his way home, he stopped for gas. While filling up, he was approached by two very distraught females saying they had run out of gas. They asked if he had any money they could use to buy some gas. Ryan gave him all the change…