Activities! Monsters! Magical Elevators! Jumping Kangaroos! The Rub-a-Dub Song! MathStart in China! And Back-to-School Tips!
The Stuart J. Murphy Activities Newsletter comes out every other Wednesday, filled with selections from a vast and wonderful archive of Early Math & Early Childhood Ed activities.
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Hello, Everybody!
There is a lot to cover in this newsletter!
Let’s begin with Carlos, the expert in making mud pies. Look the expression on Crab’s face! It’s a good thing this week’s featured I See I Learn book is Scrubba Dub, Carlos, which includes the Scrubba Dub song. Be sure to watch the video and download the free PDF poster!
Washing hands is a very important skill, not only for children who love to make mud pies, but for everyone. Cases of Covid are again on the rise, so hygiene is especially important, not only in the classroom but also at home. And it’s fun to sing the song…
Speaking of classrooms, can you believe it is time to get ready to go back to school? I thought I would share this very useful article I recently read from the KQED Mind Shift newsroom, “10 Ways to Calm Your Kid’s Back-to-School Jitters” Here are two of my favorites:
Adjust your child’s summer sleep schedule to a school schedule. At least one or two weeks before school starts, move bedtime and wake-up time up by 15-minute increments every few days until the desired schedule is reached. —Dr. Nilong Vyas, pediatrician and sleep consultant
Make up a special goodbye ritual together. Morning goodbyes can be challenging. But you can create daily memories your child will cherish for years to come. Say, “See you later, alligator! In a while, crocodile!”, do a special handshake or enjoy an extra-long hug…—Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop
This week’s featured MathStart books are:
Monster Musical Chairs (subtracting one) Musical Chairs is even more fun with monsters!
Elevator Magic (subtracting) Is there an elevator where you live? Is it magical?
Jump, Kangaroo, Jump! (fractions) How do you think Kangaroo will do in the long jump?
Your friend, setting his alarm clock to “School Day!” and working on secret handshakes,
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:
Monster Musical Chairs (subtracting one)
When six monsters get together to play musical chairs, you'd better watch out! "Stomp, stomp, SNORT. Shake, shimmy, SHOUT! When the music stops, one monster is OUT!," sings the leader of the monster band. One by one the players are tagged out until there's only one left: The winner!
Knowing how many objects are left when one is taken away from a group is a first step in understanding the concept of subtraction.
• Level 2, Kindergarten / Grade 1:
Elevator Magic (subtracting)
Who knew that riding an elevator could be such an adventure? Ben meets his Mom at her office on the 10th floor, then together they make several stops on their way down. They find cows and chickens at "Farm Bank and Trust" on the 8th floor, and a traffic jam at "Speedway Delivery" three floors below. As for the "Hard Rock Candy Store," you've got to see it to believe it. Learning how to subtract using a simplified "number line" helps children understand the concept of subtraction.
• Level 3, Grades 2 - 4:
Jump, Kangaroo, Jump! (fractions)
It's Field Day at camp. The 12 campers—a kookaburra, an emu, two platypuses, three koalas, four dingoes and Kangaroo—can't wait for the games to start. The group divides into halves, then thirds and finally fourths to make equal-sized teams (6, 4 and 3 each) for the big competitions. But it's each camper for himself in the long jump, which is Kangaroo's personal favorite.
Seeing the relationship between division and fractions is an important step in understanding fractions.
Isn’t this amazing? I look at the covers of these books that I know so well and they are in Chinese! Math truly is a universal language.
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.
20% off on book sets on the I See I Learn store!
Scrubba Dub, Carlos! (washing hands)
Carlos gets mess when he draws with chalk, builds with clay, and plays in the mud. He doesn’t like to wash his hands. See how Carlos’ friends show him that washing up can be easy and fun!
It is especially important for children to wash their hands after coughing, sneezing and using the bathroom; and before and after eating, too.
Scrubba dub! Get those hands squeaky clean!
FREE PDF POSTER
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