Activities! Dancing, Racing & Treasure Mapping! And (yum, yum) a Picnic!
Every other Wednesday, we post selections from our vast and wonderful archive of Early Math & Early Childhood Ed activities.
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Hello!
It is still winter in Boston, where I live. B’rrrr! But that doesn’t mean I can’t daydream about summer picnics! Reading this week’s featured I See I Learn story, Freda Plans a Picnic / Freda organiza una merienda, has given me a lot of ideas! I wonder if Pickle, Emma’s green bulldog, will come if I send him an invitation? He made a bit of a mess at Freda’s, but he also helped with the clean up. I better stock up on puppy treats!
Our three featured MathStart books are:
Bug Dance (directions)
Racing Around (perimeter)
Treasure Map (mapping)
Do you think we should do the Bug Dance at my picnic? You are all invited! Start practicing!
Your dancing friend,
Stuart
Mathstart is a series of 63 storybooks organized into three levels for Pre-K through Grade 4. Each story teaches a different mathematical skill.
You can buy individual books, sets by level, or a complete library. Here is list of where to find MathStart books!
• Level 1, Pre-K/ Kindergarten:
Bug Dance (directions)
The bugs in Coach Caterpillar's gym class are learning a dance, but Centipede keeps tripping over his own feet! Two steps to the left, two steps to the right. One hop forward, one hop backward.Turn right! Wiggle left. Wiggle right. Do the Bug Dance every night!
In addition to learning basic directions, children gain a foundation in important mapping skills.
• Level 2, Kindergarten / Grade 1:
Racing Around (perimeter)
Mike loves riding his bicycle. This year he wants to ride in the annual 15-kilometer race around Perimeter Park, just like Justin and Marissa and all the other big kids. His practice ride around the athletic field was only 6 km, while the ride around the zoo was just 9 km. It's going to be a tough race. Good thing Bingo the dog is there to cheer him on.
Perimeter—the distance around a shape—is an important measurement concept for children to understand.
• Level 3, Grades 2 - 4:
Treasure Map (mapping)
Buried treasure! Matthew can't wait to tell his friends in the Elm Street Kids' Club about the cool map he found. It's over 50 years old and filled with clues that lead them to the new Wonderland Park. Petey the Parrot cheers them on as they try to make sense of dated directions. The clues don't always match—a dirt path has now become a paved sidewalk and there's the mystery of what happened to the big old tree. But they finally find the "X" that marks the spot and start digging.
It's a time capsule! The kids decide to add their own treasures to surprise the next group of friends that finds the map. Even Petey contributes a loose tail feather.
Map-reading uses several mathematical skills, including interpreting symbols and understanding scale and direction
BONUS!
Treasure Map, the Song, from The Main Street Kids Club: the Mathstart Musical!
I See I Learn is a series of 16 stories that follow the adventures of the children in Miss Cathy’s class at Ready, Set Pre-K in See-and-Learn City (see map).
Each story focuses on a different social, emotional, health & safety and cognitive skill important for success in school and in life. For Pre-K / Kindergarten.
Freda Plans a Picnic (sequencing)
Freda's mom says she can invite her friends to picnic. There is so much to do, from packing the picnic basket to cleaning up. All the steps add up to a fun-filled time!
The ability to recall events in proper order–what happens first, what comes next, and what occurs last is important for story comprehension, mathematics, following directions, planning, and other life skills.
Freda organiza una merienda (secuencia)
La mamá de Freda le dice que puede invitar a sus amigos a una merienda. Hay tantas cosas que hacer, desde empacar la cesta con la comida hasta recoger y limpiar. ¡Todo es parte de la diversión!
La habilidad de recordar los pasos en orden - que pasa primero, lo siguiente, y lo que pasa al final - es muy importante para la comprensión de cuentos, matemáticas, seguir las instrucciones, organizar, y otras destrezas de la vida.
Do you have a story or a question? Please send me an email!