Tips From My Teacher Days

I have decided to start a new series on the blog to share the tips from my teacher days. Today I will share my tips on getting started with math.

It came to my attention today while talking with a dear friend of mine that I have knowledge that can be useful to other homeschool families, parents, caregivers and teachers. After 12 years in the classroom, countless hours of learning strategies and best practices, and connecting with other educators, I feel like I have tips that could be useful to others. I want this series to be simple, easy to follow, and adaptable to many ages.

This is a trial run, if you will. I am trying out format, concepts to cover and what to share. I am trying to simplify educational concepts to take the scariness out of trying new things and stepping away from a curriculum. I am hoping you will provide feedback with what you think.

Tip for Starting Anything New with Students

Starting something new can be scary, overwhelming and down-right frustrating. My goal is to bring you 1 tip per week to try. With Pinterest, Facebook, and so many wonderful blogs to read… It can get even more overwhelming. Before I begin, I want to say to give you one small tip.

Start Small

Try changing only one thing at a time.

Getting Started With Math

What do I need?

  • 1 Set of Small Objects (I am using gems)
  • 1 Divided Bowl (I am using an egg carton because it has so many spots)
  • 1 Large Bowl

Set-up

Put all of the small objects in the large bowl. Display the divided bowl and large bowl together.

What do I do?

Invite your children to explore the material. {tip: children need time to explore any material before being asked to “work” with that material}

Observe what your children do with the simple materials.Ask questions and guide further explorations.

What am I looking for?

Are your children sorting the objects?

How are they sorting them?

Are they counting them? How? Are they grouping?

What math vocabulary are they using?

What do I say? What Questions Can I ask?

What could you do with these materials?

Why did you do that?

How could you count these differently?

How could you sort these differently?

Can you find me …. number of the material?I noticed that you…

I wonder what would happen if you put ….. and …. together?

Which has more?

Which has less?

How many ways can you make ….. (#)?

 

{Remember these are only suggestions and only some ideas. I am trying to keep it simple}

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