Practice with Place Value

I made this new math game for Hunter, which he calls the "sliding game". I got the idea after reading this really awesome Montessori book and introduced it to Hunter a few days ago.

You would think I was giving the kid candy. Seriously.

I don't think he has ever been this enthused about a math game before. And that is saying a lot.

He keeps bringing it down a couple times a day and playing it on his own. I'm not sure if it's the whole "sliding" aspect that he finds so interesting, or whatever fascination about the numeration of it all, or what, but he really likes it.

Basically I just made a bunch of cards with the numerals for ones (1-9), tens (10-90), and hundreds (100-900). In each numeral card, the ones are green, tens are blue, and hundreds are red (so a 100 card would have a red 1, then a blue 0, then a green 0). These colors correspond to the manipulatives we have.

He lays out the cards (pictured) and then picks a quantity (the manipulatives) and matching numerals. So if he chose eight hundreds, three tens, and five ones, he would get the card that matched each of those and lay it next to the quantity (800, 30, and 5).

Then the magic part? Slide them all together. And viola! You have 835.

(It's funny the things that amuse kids, isn't it?)

Then he reads the creation he just made, and writes it down.

There are also a number of other ways to play this game. The reverse is a basic one, of choosing a numeral and then getting the matching quantity. Or using it for arithmetic and the concept of carrying over, etc. (when you get ten tens, you trade it in for one hundred, for example). It is also a great reinforcer of the concepts of place value and zero as a place holder, which are the main reasons I intended it for.

But, he likes it and is having fun, and we're both excited about that.

"It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together." 

Exodus 28:7

Hunter is 4 years, 8 months old

Cutting Strips

Hunter has found a few of his cutting strips and has been doing them for fun. I made them quite a while ago after getting the idea from a Montessori site, and I happened to throw some of them in the suitcase when we moved.

He never really had all that much of an interest in them before, but he suddenly decided to carefully cut out a great many of them. There are a variety of designs (produced with simple Microsoft Word autoshapes and lines) including zig-zags, triangles, pentagons, swirls, and simpler ones like plain lines for younger kids.

I have continually been pleasantly surprised with how his small motor skills have developed in the past year. It's funny how kids will surprise you by learning something on their own, when they discover the need or desire.

"And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires..." 

Exodus 39:3

Hunter is 4 years, 7 months old

Welcome to our Room, Part 2

(This is part 2 of the series. For part 1 click here.)

-The doorway / entrance area is also home to many learning posters. Right now it holds our monthly calendar, our  days of the week calendar, a variety of foreign language alphabet posters that I made, some "types of clouds" posters, and a picture of the American and Christian flag (for pledges).

-To the right of the door is a bulletin board, which I have attempted to use for a variety of purposes, including simply displaying Hunter's art work and projects, to posting daily schedules (in big letters so Hunter could easily read them), to even posting all the categories of bits and other subjects we would be using during the week. Right now it has a few random crafts as well as a daily schedule on the side.

-Below the bulletin board is Hunter's clock (which at the moment has no hands on it. Really useful, I know) and to the right is a bunch of empty wall where I have been intending to hang some amazing bookshelves for, er, I think it's in the years category now.

Here are some close-ups of the other components of this wall:

-Hunter's toy shelves, which I absolutely love. We have had these for years and they not only hold a lot of toys in not very much space, but they're also accessible, make clean-up easy, and are a very attractive display (although this picture doesn't exactly say much, considering all the dust visible on the floor and the half-filled bins). Right now they hold: -Wooden blocks, alphabet blocks, train set, tinker toys, misc. musical instruments, builders and benders, misc. cars, and some other stuff (like kids meal toys and nun chucks).

-This is a fairly new addition, and in the spirit of "Montessori" style accessible shelves. On the bottom shelves are a variety of board books and a great deal of wooden peg puzzles. On the middle shelf is a basket full of baby toys, alphabet stacking / nesting blocks, a pound and roll toy [link is newer version], and a pound-a-peg toy. In case you couldn't tell, these shelves were mostly intended for my nephews and the kids I babysit sometimes, although Hunter still plays with these toys every once in a while!

-The top shelf contains some lacing and tracing cards, lacing beads, (also for younger kids), a jar of telling time matching pawns that I got at a thrift store, a jar of magnetic numerals, a jar of magnetic alphabet letters (99 cents a pack at Wal-mart), a Rubik's cube, some brain teaser puzzles, and a balance / scale [link is newer version].

-On top of the shelf is a mini globe of the world, a table-top easel (found at a thrift store), a 100-bead abacus, a telling time clock [again, link is new version], and a (fake) little plant.

Next stop: piano. This little corner holds our keyboard, a First Act guitar, a National Geographic telescope, and a magazine holder full of music books. Above the piano are some headphones, a sticker chart for music lessons, a little light, a guitar tuner, and some music terms and musical notation flashcards.

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"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good..." 

Micah 6:8

Hunter is 4 years, 5 months old

Color Grading

Almost a year ago (right after hearing about Doman) I made this really neat activity for Hunter about color grading. I got the idea from Montessori materials and decided to make my own but for much cheaper.

I used free paint samples from the store, cut off the words and glued them from darkest to lightest on a piece of card stock. I then outlined blank spots where the matching pieces should go (I got two of each paint sample).

In the meantime I showed them to my mom, and she said that he would get pick up on it really quick if I first showed him a more obvious color difference (like one dark blue, one medium blue, and one light blue). I intended to do this and put away my finished project, waiting till I had more time to work on it.

Nonetheless it had been almost a year since I made the activity and never managed to create a simpler one. It's been sitting under Hunter's desk and under the bottom of my priority list for many months now. But today I saw it and got it out. "Look Hunter!" I said excitedly. "Look what Mommy's doing... you wanna see?"

He watched as I matched the first two pairs. "Hmm..." I said thinking and demonstrating out loud. I scanned one of the cards across the colors until I found the one that was the same, then went back and forth again between the two that looked nearly the same to let him see me observing the subtle differences. I matched two pairs and then offered if he would like to try matching some. He eagerly took the little paint sample cards and matched them exactly to the correct colors, without much effort or forethought. I was impressed! There's not that much of a difference between some of the colors (especially the light ones), but he passed with "flying colors".

I only did one, and then put them away. Remember the cardinal rule of teaching - always stop before the child wants to stop.

I'm going to have to say that this activity was just a little too easy for him though. Maybe I waited too long, and he's too "old". Or maybe he's just already learned to notice subtle differences, so it came naturally for him. Like learning the difference between the vertebrae C3 and C4, the difference between a enneadecagon and an icosagon (a 19- and 20-sided polygon), the difference between the shapes of Arizona and New Mexico, the difference between the sound of C and C sharp, or the difference between the brush strokes of Renoir and Monet.

That might have something to do with it.

Either way, it was a fun, almost-free, interesting little activity, that even if he didn't have trouble with it, still probably emphasized the artsy-lesson of color shades, the terms light and dark in color, and, um, yeah, that's all I can think of at the moment.

"Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place."

2 Chronicles 7:15

Hunter is 3 years, 5 months old