4 years old and under

It’s never too early to talk math with kids. Use number words, play with shapes, make patterns, and pay attention to their astonishing logic.

Selfie. From left to right: Me, the 16 year-old, and [locally famous Radio Gal] on a sunny summer evening.
Same Idea or Different?

Same Idea or Different?

I am currently writing the teacher guide for my next book, How Did You Count? (See a couple of teaser photos at the end of this post!) A section of a chapter of that teacher guide has the heading Seek to Understand and to Be Understood. Those who know my teaching...

What makes a sandwich

What makes a sandwich

The 3-year old daughter of fellow Minnesotan, fellow math teacher and friend Megan Schmidt made the following proclamation a couple weeks back. It takes three things to make a sandwich #Tmwyk— Megan Schmidt (@Veganmathbeagle) May 23, 2014 This simple...

Units of measurement

Units of measurement

This post is edited and remixed from a post on my other blog last summer. Loyal reader Jim Doherty wrote in to report the following conversation with his 4-year old daughter Mo. They are on a long drive to a hotel. Mo (4 years old): How far are we?Jim: We are 20...

Peeps

Peeps

This is one of my favorite tasks in recent years. The idea is that we will compare two sets of Peeps. Are there more of one color or the other? There is so much fun to be had counting Peeps. Now that Valentine's Day is past, Peeps (a common Easter candy) are back...