A little over two years ago I started writing this post. And then the pandemic hit and everything changed. And although we’re not quite back to where we used to be – and may never be – I thought now would be a good time to finish that post. I had just hosted a fabulous Gellin’ with Geometry Family Math Night event at a local elementary school. It was an in-person event which would have been a weird way to describe it…
Family Math Nights are usually done at school but I created one that families can do at home. This comprehensive resource includes video tutorials, check lists, materials lists, and activity sheets for four home-friendly activities for grades K-5. I’m including the video below.
My goal was to design the Family Math Night/Day to be different than simply doing a math activity at the kitchen table. It’s their own personal event and I walk them through how to do it step-by-step. Watch the video below for tips on making it a special event.
Here is the link so you can access all the activity PDFs:
https://familymathnight.com/resources/mathathome.php
Here is the link so you can access the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GknJtgZ47KQ
Skills:
K-2: counting, subitizing, geometric shapes
3-5: skip counting, repeated addition, multiplication, beginning algebra
Although there are no numbers represented, this What Do You Notice? poster is filled with number concepts. Young students should be able to quickly recognize that there are 4 circles on each square (subitizing). From there, they can decide how they want to count circles. Maybe they want to count just the circles on the pink squares or blue squares. Or maybe they want to count all the circles to arrive at the total number. Others may notice the squares and decide to count how many squares there are all together.
Older students can use repeated addition to determine the total number of squares (4 + 4 + 4 or 3 + 3 + 3 + 3) or they can multiply 3 x 4 or 4 x 3.
There are a variety of ways these students can determine the total number of circles: skip counting by fours; determining the total number of circles in a row and multiplying that by 3; multiplying the total number of squares by 4, multiplying 6 circles x 8 circles, etc.
We know how important it is to help families continue the learning at home. That’s why we created our Family Math Night Take-Home kits. These kits include games that reinforce important skills in a way that’s fun and engaging. And now I’m excited to share that we’ve just released our Play-N-Take 2 Take-Home kit. Based on our popular Play-N-Take kit, Play-N-Take 2 includes a whole new set of skills-based games.
Skills:
K-2: number recognition, counting, pattern, addition, geometry
3-5: addition, even numbers, geometry
The idea to do something with a target came to me when I was watching the World Curling Championships. Although the sport of curling doesn’t use number values for each of the rings, it reminded me of archery targets which do have number values, although not necessarily indicated on the target itself.