Easter Egg Addition

Apr. 17, 2014

We're currently working on cementing Seth's addition and subtraction facts. I try to throw in a bunch of different games to keep things interesting. Since it was a few days away from Easter, I thought I'd try having him match Easter Egg equations.

I wrote one equation on the top half of an egg and another (different equation, same sum) on the bottom half. For example: 5+5=? on the top and 7+3=? on the bottom. Then I separated all the pieces and had him match up the correct equations.

He actually caught two eggs that I somehow messed up (they didn't have matches--not sure what I did).  And yes, he enjoyed this activity about as much as it appears in this picture. Eggs or not, he still knows "work" when he sees it!

Addition & Subtraction Games

Dec. 3-9, 2013

Just  few things we did to practice adding and subtracting (small numbers: 1-6). First was a simple dice game. I grabbed two standard dice (well, we used one Seth made himself--the yellow one pictured--but it was still a standard die) and made a third that had three addition signs and three subtraction signs on it.

Seth would roll all three dice and then figure out the answer. Simple and more fun than a worksheet!

(Only tricky part is subtraction--make sure you always subtract the smaller number from the bigger unless you feel like trying to explain negative numbers to your kindergartner). 

I also made sure he had some manipulatives to help when he got stuck on a problem:

Another fun game: Roll A Snowman!

I came up with a list of 11 attributes that could be drawn on a snowman (one for each the numbers that could be rolled with two dice: 2-12):

Seth would roll two dice, then add the numbers together. Whatever he rolled, he got to draw. Once he had rolled that number, I would erase it so we didn't end up with a three-headed snowman. He loved this game, although I did let him quit once we got down to one or two numbers left that didn't get rolled after several attempts. 

The final product:

Bead & Magnet Writing, and Math Games

November 14-21st, 2013

We tried this game called "Outside, Inside" for math, but it wasn't as big of a hit as I was hoping. Maybe next time I can make it more dramatic with a drop from a higher height. Either way, Seth got some practice with addition and writing equations. 

We also reviewed what we've learned about money and played another store game. This time instead of using amounts that directly corresponded to a coin (.01 for a penny), I used different amounts so Seth would have to add different coins together. He was confused at first but quickly caught on and even surprised me with his ability to break the amounts down into different coin amounts. 

We also had some fun doing some writing with magnets. Seth wrote this all by himself. It says, "I can go to gymnastics." 

This one says "The ball bounced."

(stupid sideways Blogger again)

"Gab lix to play with me"= "Gabe likes to play with me"

I love seeing Seth figure things out for himself!

Turkey Math

November 12th, 2013

I made this super easy number line to help Seth recognize what addition and subtraction looks like. He had a great time playing with it and mastered the concept quickly. I let him use the number line to do the problems I made for him in this turkey math game: 

Each turkey has a number written on it. Seth had to do the equations on the feathers and then match them to the correct turkey. He actually had a lot of fun doing this! 

Can't leave the toddler out, of course! Once Seth was done Catherine had her turn--she sorted the turkeys and feathers into piles by color (and did a most excellent job, too). 

Halloween School Activities

October 28-30th, 2013

We finally got some use out of our number magnets and used them to make subtraction equations! We used some of the candy we got from our trunk-or-treat as manipulatives. "Seth got eight pieces of candy and ate five. How many were left?"

I also got brave and let the kids help make Halloween sugar cookies. They had a great time cutting them out and decorating them later with their friends.

We also had a lot of fun at our co-op Halloween party! We decorated cookies, sang songs, and wrapped each other up like mummies!

Co-op Sick Day

October 28th, 2013

Our kids came down with a mild case of Hand, Foot & Mouth which we decided not to share with our co-op. Since we were missing a day of learning about plants, we headed outside for a nature scavenger hunt.

We saw lots of great plants, leaves, rocks and bugs, but this was the highlight: we now have TWO Catherine the Wooley Bear Caterpillars. One for each hunter. 

For Halloween I changed up the "Roll a Pumpkin Game" we played last year. Instead of one die, we used two. Seth would have to add the two dice together to find out what to draw. Great addition practice and fun watching Seth's pumpkin get covered with all kids of crazy things. 

I decided to use the white board to help Seth practice reading some of his sight words in context. He's really good at reading them off a list but tends to stumble over a few of them when they're in a sentence. I tried to make it fun for him, but he still doesn't really enjoy reading for school. I'm learning to kind of back off and just give him lots of chances to pick things up on his own. Comic books are great for that (we love Tiny Titans), and we also love the Fly Guy books. 

Lego Math

October 23rd, 2013

More equation practice! This time we used Legos to demonstrate the equations for Seth to write. We did addition and subtraction with towers of Legos.  

Equations and Ghosts

October 15th, 2013

I started introducing Seth to written equations. We would take turns: first, I would tell a story problem using his cars ("There were 5 cars driving and 2 cars crashed. How many cars are left?") and he would write the equation and solve the problem. Then he'd tell me a story and I'd write the equation. He had a lot of fun crashing the cars and got a very basic understanding of how equations work.

And, for a fun Halloween craft we decided to make ghost windsocks out of styrofoam cups and tissue paper.