Tag: Kate Crowder

  • Geometry and Fractions for Breakfast

    Geometry and Fractions for Breakfast

    Be the hero parent! Make geometric spider toast for breakfast! #math #geometry

    When Kate asked me this morning for “Spider Toast” I was stunned. What was I going to do with that request?

    I pulled out some geometry and was able to convert a square into an eight legged spider!

    It’s a great exercise for older kids to do for younger kids. It reinforces geometry and fractions, and everyone gets to have fun.

    Start with a square — a piece of toast.

    Unfortunately, bread doesn’t come in a variety of shapes. But with a knife, your’re armed to be creative with the geometry!

    Toast your bread and spread cream cheese or peanut butter on it.

    Use the steps below to cut out and assemble the Spider Toast.

    Notice the geometry while making Spider Toast.

    1. First, mentally divide the toast into thirds. Don’t cut anything yet.

    MathFourSpiderToast1

    2. Next, divide the toast into sevenths and cut out the shaded portions in the picture below.

    MathFourSpiderToast2

    In this step, you’re multiplying fractions. First we divided the bread into three pieces. Then we divided each of those into seven pieces to get 21 pieces. Each little rectangle is 1/21 of the bread.

    This is a graphic representation of 1/3×1/7 = 1/21.

    Make your Spider Toast face!

    3. Assemble the cut-outs to be the face. If you center them just right, you’ll have 1/6 of the width of the bread left on both sides!

    MathFourSpiderToast3

    4. Smooth out the face so you can’t see the seams. Use blueberries for eyes and cut a crescent of cheese for the smile.

    MathFourSpiderToast4

    Go for it!

    Make this morning nutritional, fun and educational! Add a glass of milk and a brief discussion of arachnids, and award yourself “Super Parent of the Day.”

    And don’t forget to share how it went in the comments!

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x. And don’t forget to pin this on Pinterest!

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  • Beloved — Be Loved? Twice Loved? Opposite of Loved?

    Beloved — Be Loved? Twice Loved? Opposite of Loved?

    This is part of the Five Minute Friday series.

    What DOES beloved mean? Is that "be" like a 2 or a negative in front of "loved"?

    Beloved.

    When I think of the word, I think of two things — the way the word is constructed. And the way people feel about their kids (or each other).

    Although I might have the “feelings” definition a little wrong.

    Let’s stick with the math.

    When you take something (a number or a word) and put a prefix on it, it changes the meaning.

    Take the cute little magical number 3… Slap a negative sign on the front… And voila! He becomes the opposite.

    A simple variable like x can get a 2 on the front, and all of a sudden, he’s twice the man he used to be.

    And the wonderful word “loved” can get the “be” and… well… change too.

    I’m not sure what it means.

    I know about the “beloved” that they use in the movies. And I’m pretty sure it doesn’t mean the negative of love. Nor does it mean twice the love.

    Or maybe it does.

    Perhaps I should brush up on my English vocabulary and figure out a way to use this fun little word as a math tool.

    I’ll make that my job!

    Thanks for riding along with me in this Five Minute Friday journey!

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x. And don’t forget to pin this on Pinterest!

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  • Logic Skills — Ornery Kids Develop them Naturally!

    Logic Skills — Ornery Kids Develop them Naturally!

    I got to see a natural use of logic yesterday — but it was disguised as an ornery kid!

    Parenting experts (and magazines) suggest that giving options to kids is a great idea — but only if they’re real. You’re not supposed to ask your little one if he wants to take a bath when you intend to give him a bath anyway.

    Instead, ask him which bathtub he wants to use. Or which towel he prefers when he gets out of the tub. Or even if he wants to take a bath alone or with a sibling.

    It’s a clever way of saying, “It’s time for your bath, but you get some autonomy in the activity.”

    Kids like this.

    And it’s formal math!

    Yup — in formal logic terms it looks like this: p∪q, where p and q are the options. And that little ∪ means “or.”

    For instance, I give K8 the choice of taking a bath alone or with me. So it looks like this:

    p = Take a bath alone.

    q = Take a bath with me.

    So p∪q = Take a bath alone or take a bath with me.

    But she’s more clever than I thought!

    Yesterday I gave her this option. She responded:

    I don’t want to take a bath alone and I don’t want to take a bath with you.

    Ornery little thing she is!

    But in our formal math lingo, this is

    ¬p∩¬q

    (Those little thingies in front of p and q are the “not” part. And the ∩ is the “and.”)

    If you look it up (or know formal logic) you can find out that ¬p∩¬q is exactly the same as ¬(p∪q).

    She was clearly saying to us that she does not want to take a bath at all!

    Math is built in.

    I’ve claimed before that we all have a built in ability to do math. Now it looks like that’s not just with numbers — it’s also with logical processing.

    She doesn’t get that she’s doing formal logic, but she understands in her gut that saying, “I don’t want to take a bath alone and I don’t want to take a bath with you” is negating the “take a bath” statement.

    Encourage it!

    I know it seems like she’s being a snot. And as she gets older it’ll get worse. I’ve seen my niece do it with my sister — play these logical games that feel like back-talk.

    But logic is the foundation of learning math. So instead of admonishing children, discuss it with them. Talk about a way to phrase your statements or rules so that there’s no logical loopholes.

    Allow them to argue with you on these little things — they’re building skills that will make them into super math thinkers!

    Your turn…

    What do you think? Has your child shown natural logic skills? How do you handle it?

    And how do I get K8 into the bath now!?

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x.

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  • Seeing Rectangles in Rapunzel's Hair

    Seeing Rectangles in Rapunzel's Hair

    Part of Wordless Wednesday…

    I was walking out of her room when K8 shrieked, “A rectangle!”

    I looked and she was pointing directly at her Rapunzel bag. It took me a second, but I saw it when she said, “Her hair is a rectangle!”

    Amazing!

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x.

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  • Parent Influence is Powerful

    Parent Influence is Powerful

    It’s hard to understand how parent influence really works. But your words and actions have a serious impact on your children.

    Even saying, “I haven’t done math in 15 years,” sends a decisive message to your kids: “I don’t need math as a grownup, and neither will you.”

    Kids want to do what you do.

    Here’s how powerful parent influence can be…

    K8 and I were getting ready for bed yesterday. I started taking off my eye makeup. She wanted to do it too.

    So I got out a cotton round for her and put a little makeup remover on it. She wiped her eye and was immediately annoyed.

    “I want brown!” she whined.

    My cotton round was full of removed makeup. Hers was white. She wanted to be like me.

    So I put a dab of liquid eyeliner on each of her lids. When she wiped it off, she had some “brown” on her cotton round too.

    Parent Influence is crazy powerful.

    How nuts that she wanted to have dirty eyes so she could clean them. It makes no logical sense.

    And that’s why your positive math talk is so important. Parent influence is the first and most impactful influence in your child’s life.

    As early as three years old (as K8 showed), they want to do everything exactly like you are doing. Exactly!

    So if you say you’re not good at math, they want to be not good at math too.

    So turn it around — be positive.

    Since parent influence has that kind of impact, make sure to keep it positive. Learn how to quit saying negative things about math.

    Have questions or suggestions on doing it? Leave them in the comments. And share this on twitter too!

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  • Review of ThinkFun’s Roll & Play Toddler Game

    Review of ThinkFun’s Roll & Play Toddler Game

    This post originally appeared on The HSBA Post on September 14, 2012.

    How does a kid go from from having the attention span of a distracted gnat to an active game player? Baby steps!

    ThinkFun has created Roll & Play, a “my first game” to start your little one out to becoming a regular part of family game night.

    Roll the die!

    The die in the Roll & Play game is a large plush cube. Each side is a different color. Players roll the die and then draw a card of the same color.

    This seems lame to older kids and grownups. But consider what you have to know in order for the die rolling to work.

    When the die stops, there are five sides showing and one hidden. You have to know that you’re focus is on the side that is face up. Rolling the big die teaches little ones that the top of the die is the indicator – not one of the sides facing him or her.

    Read the card!

    Each card has an activity on it. The pictures are sufficient for little ones to know what to do.

    When they “read” the card, they get to do the activity. To keep them engaged, you can have them read the cards to the other players.

    And then they get to pass the turn to the next person – another important game playing skill.

    Play, do, and change the rules at will!

    When you play Roll & Play, you’ll be hopping around, dancing, making animal noises, and having a great time. And if you want, you can adjust the rules to fit your little one.

    We started out by skipping some of the cards. They just weren’t as engaging as the others. We’ll work around to getting to all of them.

    Your turn!

    How have you integrated your little ones into game play? Would your toddler do well with ThinkFun’s Roll & Play?

    Share your thoughts in the comments and tweet this out!

    P.S. I got the Roll & Play game for free on accident. ThinkFun meant to send me another game and accidentally shipped this one. I refused to return it, promising instead to enjoy it and write about it.

  • Fibonacci Birthday Party!

    Fibonacci Birthday Party!

    I’ve been preparing for months to have K8’s Fibonacci Birthday party. Last Saturday it happened.

    We did a lot of preparation.

    Here is Judson creating the Fibonacci squares and spiral on our tile floor:

    Here is the birthday “cake” I made. It’s a Fibonacci Squares brownie cake!

    I ordered these math picture books from Kaplan for the party favors. I put a sweet “thank you for coming to my party” sticker on the inside from K8:

    The set up was intricate.

    The spread included descriptions of how each thing was related to Fibonacci.

    Someone said, “I’ve never been to a grownup’s three year old birthday party before.” Indeed, there were lots of informational pieces.

    We even had the Furry Fibonacci Bunnies out!

    And there were activities too!

    My mom carved potato stamps with all the digits and I had apples cut open so the kids could stamp with them. There were also sea shells to glue on!

    We had glue and squares out for kids (and parents) to make their own Fibonacci Squares and Fibonacci Spiral.

    Even the grownups had a “craft” to do!

    Grownups AND kids had a great time!

    I refrained from pointing out the pseudo Cartesian Coordinate plane created by my new grass.

    Here’s Wil explaining the Fibonacci Squares to my three moms.

    Math presents!

    How fun that K8 got some really neat math presents — like this animal pattern blocks from Melissa & Doug.

    And we were both excited about the UmiZoomi Preschool Math Kit!

    Even the “Thank You” notes use math!

    I pulled out the stamps we ordered for K8’s announcements three years ago. Of course postage has gone up since then so we needed to add one!

    Do the activities with your kids!

    Here are some free downloadable printouts. Use them to play and learn more about Fibonacci.

    Share your thoughts in the comments or on twitter/x.

    Non-disclaimer: We paid for everything at this party. Kaplan gave me a nice discount for the books, though. Thanks, y’all!
    Bad-girl confession: Many of the images on the document stands were stolen from various online sources. Since I was using them for personal use, I neglected to give anyone credit. The downloadable documents shared above have legal images, though.

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  • Birthday Party Fibonacci Style!

    Birthday Party Fibonacci Style!

    This year K8 is turning 3, a Fibonacci number. So we’re having a Fibonacci Birthday Party!

    Her birthday parties the previous two years have been non-math. And I’m fairly certain at some point she’ll want to choose her own birthday party theme. So this might be my last chance to do a Fibonacci birthday party.

    Fibonacci Birthday Party Decorations

    Spiral streamers, pinecones, whole pineapples and sunflowers will adorn the house.

    We’ll have blue painter’s tape outlining the spiral on the tiles of the floor. And we’ll each wear a fun Fibonacci t-shirt!

    Birthday Party Foods

    We’ll have bananas, apples and pineapples as healthy snacks for the kids. And I’ll likely do an arrangement of Cheez-its glued down with peanut butter. Of course there’ll be plenty of free floating Cheez-its too!

    For the grownups, we’ll have broccoli and cauliflower along with cucumbers.

    If we serve a meal, we’ll do lasagna with Fibonacci rectangles outlined in spinach fettuccine noodles!

    Party Favors

    I’ll buy a bunch of Fibonacci paperback children’s books, including Rabbits Rabbits Everywhere and Wild Fibonacci. I’ll print some fun stickers to put on them that read

    And those will be the party favors!

    Fibonacci Birthday Party Gimmicks

    We’ll play some games, including Fibonacci Hopscotch (as suggested by @mathhombre). The adults can play, “What is My Fibonacci Number?” based on the popular party game, Who Am I?

    And the best part – we’ll have live rabbits for the kids to pet!

    What do you think?

    Have you ever given a Fibonacci Birthday Party? or a math party? Do you have any other ideas to make this awesome?

    Please share via twitter or in the comments!

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  • Flash Cards and Marshmallows: Teaching One-to-One Correspondence

    Flash Cards and Marshmallows: Teaching One-to-One Correspondence

    My mom is a big fan of flash cards. So when she figured out how to use my School Zone Numbers 0-25 Flash Cards with MATH, she was so excited.

    We’ve been doing MATH a lot – but she says we can only do it once a day. I love doing it because I get to eat the MATH after we’re done.

    No fair that we can only do it once each day.

    So here’s what it is…

    There’s a bag full of them in the cupboard. The individual MATHs are tiny white things that taste SO good! They’re chewy and squishy and fun in my mouth.

    They’re about the size of Cheerios. (Oh – and comparing sizes is something called “math” – but Cheerios don’t taste like this, so it must be different).

    Taica took the picture at the top of this article so I could show you what I’m talking about. Look to the right of the book in the photo – that’s MATH. YUM!

    You can do it with flash cards.

    She pulled out my number flashcards (made by School Zone and given to me by Granfuffy) and let me pick a card. I chose the one with cars. I like cars.

    I put one MATH on each car. Taica counted as I did this. After a while I got really good at putting them on and taking them off. It’s called “one-to-one correspondence,” apparently. Or at least she kept saying that.

    Then she turned the card sideways!

    This was a little harder. But I managed.

    Then upside down – I was really wanting to eat the MATH at this point, but I continued to play along.

    At one point the marshmallow rolled off the car. So I left it there. I knew where it was supposed to be so it wasn’t a big deal.

    When I finished, I was out of MATHs and still had the yellow car left! Like this:

    Taica told me that if I didn’t make sure that the MATH was directly on the car, I would lose the “one-to-one correspondence” and end up with a leftover car.

    We figured it out and then it was time to eat.

    Do you want to try?

    I’m looking forward to the next time – there are some flash cards that have lots and lots of things to match!

    If you want to do it, you can get everything you need at a store. You have to “pay for them” before you take them home, but that’s easy for grownups.

    How do you like your MATH? Let me know in the comments so I can do more stuff. And share this on twitter, too!

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  • Egg Hunt Shows Natural Math Ability

    Egg Hunt Shows Natural Math Ability

    I saw natural math ability yesterday!

    K8 was hunting Easter eggs at Mawmaw & Pawpaw’s house. She saw an egg inside the sandbox. As she reached into the box she realized the egg was too far away.

    She was standing where the footprints are. The egg was where the striped egg is:

    She needed to step inside the sandbox.

    The “easy” answer was to step inside the sandbox. But she wanted no part of the gritty sand.

    With no hesitation, she moved from her location, around the sandbox to the new spot:

    This took some effort because she had to squat to get under the ladder. But she had seen that avoiding the sand was possible if she accessed the egg from the other side.

    She recognized and compared distances!

    With no vocabulary or formal training (indeed she’s 2 1/2 years old) she identified perpendicular distance! She assessed which side of the square sandbox would minimize this distance. And she acted on that assessment.

    It’s normal for parents to believe their children are especially smart, gifted or brilliant. I believe that all children are these things.

    Kids have a natural math ability. And so do you.

    What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments and make sure to share this story with your twitter network!

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