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…
I’m excited to share with you that we just released our latest family engagement product – Dealin’ Digits. Dealin’ Digits are fun and engaging card games that focus on reinforcing important number skills in the elementary grades. According to research by LeFevre et al*, children’s mathematical skills in Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade were shown to be correlated with the frequency in which they were involved in home activities such as cooking, and playing board and card games. The nice thing about card…
We’ve finished! And the result is an amazing virtual event for your families where they can safely engage in an unforgettable and fun math learning experience…together. How did we do it? We created a virtual classroom that serves as the meeting place for your families. Once your families enter the classroom, they’ll be able to sign in and view the Guest Book to see who’s attending. They’ll then decide which of the 5 stations they want to explore. Maybe it’s the Estimation Station where…
Skills:
K-2: number recognition, counting, geometry
3-5: addition/subtraction, patterns, odd numbers
This is a fun puzzle where the main objective is to figure out where the three missing numbers of the “spokes” are placed. Since the numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are visible, the missing numbers would be 3, 4, and 10 (assuming we are using the consecutive numbers 1 – 10. There is an alternate solution for the missing numbers 0, 3, and 4 which is described below).
Younger students may notice a circle, a square, and (10) “triangular” pie pieces. They will probably notice that some of the spokes are missing numbers. Starting at 1 and counting on, they may discover the three missing numbers: 3, 4, and 10. It would be interesting to ask them where they think the numbers go on the wheel and why they chose those specific spokes.
Older students will quickly notice three missing numbers. With a little bit of guidance, they should be able to notice some patterns that can help them determine where the missing numbers should be placed.
We know that parent involvement in their child’s education can have a significant impact on academic success. Our current situation has helped reinforce the role parents and caregivers have as active participants in the education of their children.
But there have been a lot of changes in mathematics curriculum and pedagogy in recent years and a lot of parents don’t feel as prepared as they’d like to be when it comes to helping their child in math. That’s why we created our Power Pack: Building Number Sense series, a set of dice games that families can play to reinforce important number skills.
The power of these Power Packs comes in the integration of strategies and tools that parents use as they play the games with their children. Helping parents understand these tools and strategies has become even more important to better facilitate remote learning. With that in mind, I created short instructional videos of each of the tools and strategies included in the Power Packs because it’s important that parents understand why we are teaching the way we are. These videos help underscore the importance of focusing on number sense when children are learning mathematics.