inspiring children, parents, and educators to apply a growth mindset to learning mathematics
Like many, I have done a lot of learning (and unlearning) over the past several weeks. The world was already in a state of panic and vulnerability due to the Covid-19 pandemic when the murder of George Floyd, broadcast across social media, brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the forefront of our minds more than ever before.
Finding the math in the world around us is one of my favourite things. I love pointing out math topics that can be discussed from objects that seemingly don’t hold any math in them. I especially love when math is combined with other subject areas. Math and music go together beautifully, and math and art are a stunning combination.
Last week, the seven-year-old was learning about money – specifically adding and subtracting money amounts using coins. One of the activities had her earning money and then using it to purchase food at a concession stand for a movie night. All initial money amounts were under $1.00. …
Gamification is a newer term being used in education to describe turning difficult or boring tasks into activities that contain features of traditional games. Although the term may be new, the concept is definitely not, and I think teachers and parents have been doing this for a long time to help reluctant learners. …
As an educator myself, I can say confidently that we are working harder than ever before. This new world of online-emergency-remote-learning – or whatever else you want to call it – is not normal to any of us. Then, add the possible additional pressures of home-life chaos, children of your own you must teach at home, financial struggles, and mental health decline due to isolation and you have a stressful scenario most of us have never dealt with before. …
While most of the world is in some form of distancing, we have been trying to maintain some routines for our two children who are confused and sad to be away from their normal school days. Our math focus has been on open-ended thinking problems so that both children can make an attempt and learn something new. …
There is no more relevant way to bring mathematics into the “real world” than through food. We all consume it, prepare it, talk about it, and some really enjoy doing all these things, too! If food is such a big part of our lives, why not use it as a constant opportunity to talk about math with our children? …
I hear the same message from frustrated parents year after year, “I was never good at math, so I’m not expecting [my child] to be great at it.” If your child has been hearing this message since they were young, I think they would begin to believe it eventually. …
North America has become a society of people who think it’s cool – even trendy – to hate math. I have heard the words, “I am not a math person,” or similar so many times that I now cringe at the statement. I find myself urging people to give math another chance as an adult because we are all capable of learning math. …
A few nights ago, we were having dinner and my daughter said, “You know what’s weird? We learn about shapes in JK/SK [Junior and Senior Kindergarten], and then we learn about them again in grade one, and now I’m still learning about them in grade two!” …
This week I am featuring five board games/card games and describing how they contribute to your child’s math skills. The details listed can be applied to most other games with similar game play. The important thing to remember is to bring out any mathematical concept that arises during play and seize the opportunity to delve into it further! …
Everyone Can Learn Math is a children’s picture book about applying a growth mindset to learning math. Amy is a girl who thinks she is “not a math person,” but she learns through advice from her friends and teachers that she needs to work hard and struggle through math problems to get better at math. And that is O K A Y and N O R M A L. ..
We celebrate Christmas in our home and we’ve been incorporating math into all of our traditions this season. I’ve shared several ideas on my social media over the last few weeks and I’d like to collate a few ideas in today’s post. …
A little over three years ago, when my daughter was just three years old, we picked her up from school and she cried in the backseat, “No one in my class has curly hair except for me.” That was the last day I straightened my hair. …
I often encounter well-intentioned parents who want to expose their children to math, but they just don’t know how. I think this is because we think of math as the computations or algebra we learn in later years in school when, really, mathematical concepts begin much earlier. …
This may be a surprise, but my first memory of learning about an array is from when I learned to code when I was in university. As a mathematics major, we had to take two coding classes, but I ended up with a minor in computer science (as well as English) so I guess I liked it! …
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