Math Explorations

Research has shown that a developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children should include hands-on experiences and problem solving situations. If you peered into our classroom on Friday morning, you could have seen these principles in practice. The room was buzzing. Children were working together (problem solving) to see what they could build using 20 blocks. The variety of outcomes were as diverse as the children who developed them.





At another table the children were calling out their discoveries about capacity, “Elaine, it took 1 cup and 2 tablespoon of rice to fill this container to capacity!” (The week before in math, we had learned that the word capacity was not a cap on a city or a city on a cap, but referred to how much something could hold. They had experimented with how much water containers could hold. This week we used rice.)

At a third table, (no pictures, sorry) children were playing with clocks and reading books about time. One child says, “In this book they go to bed at 7:00.” He changes the clock to read 8:00 and says, “This is the time I go to bed”. Another child discovers the 5 minute intervals indicated on the clock, “Look, 5, 10, 15, 20…”

Learning and discoveries abound.

What is a Myth?

To start our December unit on Myths, I wrote the word myth on the board and asked if anyone knew what it meant.
“It’s something from ancient times”
“It’s a tale”
“It’s tale like a fairytale but it’s not a fairytale.”

And thus, we start.




During the next couple weeks, we will be reading myths from various parts of the world.
We will read a few Greek, Norse, and Russian myths. If time allows we will explore some Chinese and Amazonian myths.

A myth side note:
The children have also been reading myths with Imogen. Last month, in Latin class, they learned about Daodalus and Icarus. You can view the wings they made in conjunction with this story, the wings are hanging in the hallway.,