Plotting Coordinates

This is one of Annaliese's new favorite activities. She really got the hang of figuring out the grid coordinates and plotting them by coloring them the correct color. She especially likes the surprise picture she ends up with after it's completed.

Busy week already!

Look at what Annie has been learning this week in math!

She's been reviewing tally marks.


She's been using the geoboard to make different quadrilaterals.


She's been learning about aba, abba, aabb patterns using colored tiles.


She's been keeping herself busy with a little numbers game I printed off for her. She counts the bats and puts a clothespin on the correct number of bats. A cute Halloween activity! We also taped it up high so Maggie can't get to it. Annie just pulls her little stool up to the door when she's doing the activity.

Teaching Through Cooking

Last week we decided to take our math lessons out of our classroom and into the kitchen. Annie is learning how to properly use the measuring spoons and cups to cook/bake her favorite treats. She is doing most of it on her own now with my supervision. She even "doubled" a recipe all be herself! She was making pudding and wanted to make a little extra, so she figured out how to add the numbers together to get her recipe doubled.

Teaching cooking concepts incorporates all five senses into an awesome learning experience. I've said it before, but Annaliese is a very hands-on learner and it definitely helps to make the lessons/concepts more real to her if I teach her in a way that incorporates the use of her five senses. It is not always a neat process, but making tasty treats is a fun way to get lots of important concepts taught! :)

Working with clay.....

As a child, I remember playing behind our house barefoot in muddy clay. I loved the feeling of it squishing between my toes, or molding little characters with it. One of Annaliese's all-time favorite activities is working with the pottery wheel. From my own experience as a mom and a teacher, I believe that few art mediums kindle growth and skills in children in the way that clay does. Clay seems to have a unique therapeutic quality that I have seen calm and settle children, especially my own.

I love watching Annie sit at the potter's wheel and place her tiny wet hands on the spinning clay. Clay is familiar to children, and it begs to be touched and formed, twisted and rolled. There are so many sensory experiences going on within them. I love this form of art because it requires an understanding of the three-dimensional world. Children begin to understand shape, form, and perspective when they get their hands dirty with clay. It's a great first lesson in geometry.

I love the look on Annie's face as she creates her pottery. I appreciate the look of her clothes and hands when she's done...so messy and artsy. She always beams with pride with any artwork she does, but there is something special about her pottery work.