For each radio show on Learn and Play with Mrs A, I take notes because I’m learning so much about kids and kindergarten readiness from fascinating guests who are experts in a variety of areas. Each of them is passionate about kids and loves the work, or maybe that’s play? Here’s a play-of-the-day suggested from our play-of-the-week conversations and a little information about these awesome guests.
While math is not magic, educator and speaker, Cathleen Alexander added “…but it is magical.” So was a conversation with her about kids and math! She reassured us that kids do not need to be born with a math gene; instead, they need to have lots of fun experiences with math. One activity that she suggested was ‘story problems on a plate. For these, you and your child can use cookies, cereal, crackers, etc. For example:
Put a few fishy crackers on a plate. Together you and your child can count them. Put some Cheerios in a small line. What happens if you each eat one, how many are left? One cookie and one cookie, and now there are how many cookies? Oops, how did there get to be none?
Here’s a link to the podcast with Cathleen Alexander on kids and math:
Cathleen Alexander/Learn and Play podcast