Experience in Math, and a Counting Book

 We read a book called 10 Black Dots by Donald Crews, and then counted out our own black dots and created pages for a new book. Counting and creating gave the children an opportunity to choose a number, check their count, and then create a picture with that number of dots. The pages were very creative!

 We spend time with math manipulatives every day, choosing activities and exploring the materials in free play.

We've added a new activity to our classroom, the Counting Jar. The children count out how many cubes are in the jar, and then create their own set of buttons to illustrate that number. We check their bags of buttons to see if the child is counting with one to one correspondence, if they are adding choices like matching colors or sizes, and if they have followed through with an activity independently. 

Kindergarten Math is all about hands on experiences in learning. As the year progresses, our play will become more formalized and their might be rules and cooperative activities that need to be completed.

Until Next Time,
Michele

Here We Go Again!

We have started to meet for Kindergarten Math, and it's very exciting and new to us. We have a schedule to follow: circle (take attendance), choices (materials at tables) and reflect (meet up again). We are exploring materials in free choice time to begin with, and this will continue each time a new topic is introduced. The Kindergartners are learning to cooperate with each other, make choices, use their time wisely, and they are also becoming familiar with the materials that they will use in learning games in the future.

Until Next Time,
Michele

We're Ready to Move On!

We've spent the last few weeks reviewing our knowledge of numbers, writing numbers, and completing dot to dots (special requests!). The kindergarten mathematicians used their knowledge of numbers to 20 to create towers for each number, and then we counted up ALL of the towers we made and found out that we used 210 unifix cubes!

Writing the number 210 was the best part. We revisited our "kindergarten math dreams" as well, and discovered that we are very skilled in math. We learned what we had set out to learn, and even more.

Until Next Time,
Michele

Making and Playing Games

We spent time inventing our own games and then we tried them out. The game players figured out how their games worked, and tried them out with each other. The children told stories while they were playing their games and had fun teaching each other how to play their board games. There were a lot of skills involved in inventing games, including taking turns, following rules, figuring out how to make the pieces move, telling stories, and persistence!

Until Next Time,
Michele

Surveys

This week we collected our own data. The children needed to write a "yes or no" question, and then decide how they were going to tally the data that they received. After gathering data from first graders, the preschoolers, and the office staff, we reported on our findings and wondered about surprises. One child was surprised that EVERYONE liked movies!

 "Do you like movies?" and "Do you like the Y?"

tallying and reporting on our data!

Until Next Time,
Michele

Serious Number Work

 We continue to explore our numbers, and practice with combining numbers, counting, and solving story problems. The kindergartners are focused, able to complete a page of work, and independent in their thinking. As they solve problems, they can show each step with pictures or sound spelling or writing their numbers.  Exciting times in kindergarten!

Until Next Time,
Michele

Counting is More Than 1,2,3!

This week we looked at designs of numbers of tiles that followed rules, such as "whole sides touching." The children created their own designs, and then we worked to group and count the tiles together. We started an inventory unit, as well, in which we count groups of things and combine them to make a whole number.

Until Next Time,
Michele