Tag: math toys

  • Cuisenaire Rods

    Cuisenaire Rods

    Cuisenaire Rods are brightly colored wooden sticks. Technically, they’re “proportionally sized rectangular parallelepipeds.” (But only say that if you want to hear your 3 year old repeat something really cute!)

    The “proportional” thing is important. The white ones are 1cm square, the red ones are twice as long and each color is 1cm more than the next color.

    I’m anticipating many articles and videos on how to teach with these (since  the possibilities with these things are virtually unlimited), so I thought I would start a running series. Here are the ideas and the links to the articles/videos that are ready:

    Creating Coordinate Pairs with Pictures

    Share your own ideas on how to use Cuisenaire Rods in the comments!

    P.S. I spent my hard earned money on these at Teacher Heaven. This small set was $15 in the store, but I see you can get it for less than $13 online. 

    This is also shared on Works for Me Wednesday.

    Related articles
  • Teaching Subtraction Using a Balance

    Teaching Subtraction Using a Balance

    I love finding nifty ways to use tools for teaching math. Especially tools that aren’t supposed to teach math. Or at least the math I’m trying to get it to teach.

    I have this very cool balance that I got from Discovery Toys that would normally be a science toy. But, alas, I’m a mathematician, Jim, not a doctor. So I’ve taken the fancy science toy and turned it into a way to teach subtraction.

    You can, of course, use it to teach addition and later I’ll do a post on using it to teach multiplication and division.

    If you have children who struggle with math concepts, teaching them with hands on bits (manipulatives) sometimes helps. Here’s how to teach subtraction using a balance:

    This nifty trick can be done with any balance as long as you have weights appropriately sized. Sometimes that’s not so easy to find. Order a colorful balance that’s similar to the Discovery Toys one in video here.

    Did it work? How did your children receive this method of learning arithmetic? Please share your experience with it in the comments!

  • How to Train the Brain to Understand the Transitive Property

    How to Train the Brain to Understand the Transitive Property

    Remember the ol’ “if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C” deal? At parties it’s a great line to drop. In math, it’s officially called … cue music…

    The Transitive Property

    Saying it is fun, teaching it is curious, learning it can be weird.

    Grownups think it’s intuitive. But to a kid, it isn’t. It takes experience and experimentation to learn all the bits that we think are “common sense.”

    The transitive property is really thinking things through. Starting from one place and moving along through another and then arriving at a third place.

    There are many ways to help kids with this learning. Word problems simulate thinking stepping stones. But they can be rather stressful. If you do it through play, you reduce the stress that they face and give them skills they need to tackle advanced thinking, forever.

    This video shows a nifty “toy” from Discovery Toys that can get kiddos using those brain stepping stones.

    Notice the flow is

    1. Choose the number tile with the question number.
    2. Read and answer the question.
    3. Correspond the answer to the letter in the answer box.
    4. Put the number tile with the question number in the corresponding letter box.

    Thinking through from question number to answer letter while avoiding the pitfalls is the challenge.

    Have you played with these? How do you train your kids’ brains for the transitive property?

  • Two Reasons to Memorize Math Facts

    Two Reasons to Memorize Math Facts

    I learned my math facts by “singing” them while looking at flashcards.

    Having these facts ingrained with chanting or singing isn’t a bad idea. It might not “feel right” because we’re so into experiential learning these days. But if a kid can’t immediately access and use things like 8 x 7 = 56, he’s going to be slower than if he can.

    And if he’s slower, he might get frustrated and start to think that he’s not good at math.

    Also, knowing these cheap and dirty math facts helps with confidence. Even if a kid’s struggling with other things in math, knowing that he has this one thing (the “facts”) will help out.

    I fight this battle often. Some people feel that math facts shouldn’t be memorized. But there’s so much value in it.

    How about you? Which side of the fence are you on?

  • How to Teach Division in the Sandbox

    How to Teach Division in the Sandbox

    Need to offer a better way to understand the concept of division and remainders? Try it in the sandbox!

    The Discovery Toys  are proportional, so they allow a really engaging way to see how division and remainders work.

    This video shows how you can help kids put together the numbers 9, 4 and 1 to “see” division at work:

    You can also do this in the bathtub or pool. And the are perfectly weighted and “massed” so they float.

    I think this has something to do with “water displacement,” but I’m not sure. I’m a mathematician, not a physicist. 🙂

  • Using Toys as Curriculum Tools to Teach Arithmetic

    Using Toys as Curriculum Tools to Teach Arithmetic

    Want to give your kiddos a jump start on multiplication and division? What to help the ones struggling with division to grasp it better?

    The Discovery Toys Measure Up Cups can do just that. They are built as a curriculum tool, in the proper ratios, so that the #6 cup holds exactly twice as much as the #3 cup. This allows for engaging and beneficial play that gives kids a grasp on how numbers relate to reality.

    For example, in this video, kids can compare the numbers 3, 6 and 9 to see how they relate:

    You don’t have to say out loud, “three plus 6 is 9” or, “9 divided by 6 is one with three left over.” But these concepts are ingrained into the child’s brain as they see this work.

    What do you think?