Thursday, January 8, 2015

Preschool Math ...

When Kollin and Kolt were preschool age, we were not a technical homeschooling family. We pretty much just had fun doing whatever our little hearts desired throughout the day. I know they learned here and there along the way, but there was no formal schooling.

When it was time for Kollin to begin kindergarten (and Kolt was preschool age) the Hubs and I opted to keep him at home. At the time I just couldn't imagine being away from my baby for that much of the day. So we homeschooled, kinda sorta. It was really me dipping my toes in, questioning the heck out of myself and then realizing that he knows his shapes, colors, can count pretty darn high and can write his name - so I quit stressing. And for another year, we just had more fun. Sure, there was more learning than the years before but I didn't order expensive curriculum and make him do worksheets all morning. Kollin was okay with that and so was I. And so was Kolt.

When First Grade came around, we dove right in with learning. And Kolt jumped right in with us. 

But Kruz? Well, Kruz is different. He is four and the kid doesn't care what it is, if it has anything to do with school, he wants to be a part of it. The kid loves the idea of school. He loves the idea of the dining room becoming our classroom and of Mommy singing silly songs with him and of having a bulletin board and of having his very own box with scissors and crayons and glue. He just loves it. So when Kollin and Kolt have a task, he wants one too. And he knows the difference between Mommy-is-trying-to-shoo-him-away-work and actual school work. 

The kid is done with being given the "this-isn't-real-school-work" work. Recently he has become very in tune to everything Kollin and Kolt do. And he wants to do just the same. So when it came to math, I gave him the job of counting his bears/blocks, making his own patterns, etc. The easy stuff. 


Well, that worked for a couple days. In the words of Kruz Amon, he wanted to "add and take away too", like his big brothers. 

Enter ... (drumroll please) ... Mother Goose Time!
I mean, did you really think it was going to be anything other? 

Mother Goose Time comes with Math Story Cards every month. They are cards with simple word problems like, "There were 4 polar bears on an iceberg. 2 of them got really hungry and jumped into the water to find some food. How many polar bears are left?"

Some of the cards have easier word problems and there are a few with more advanced word problems. And he loves them. He loves when he figures out a problem, Mommy gets thrilled and says, "You just did addition!" or "You just did subtraction!" 

Sometimes he just has to use race cars. Fine by me, kiddo. Fine by me.

If you would like to see more of the Mathematical and Reasoning tools that are used, click here.

What started out as simply giving him Counting Bears and Pattern Blocks has turned into addition, subtraction and even some simple multiplication. It is a whole new level of learning for him and I love that his brain is already working on these levels of math! 

"I received curriculum from Mother Goose Time for honest and authentic stories resulting from my daily experiences in using the curriculum. I applied to be an official Mother Goose Time blogger and will continue to share my experiences throughout the 2014/15 school year."

2 comments:

  1. My little guys love the math story cards too. I always joke that Peter is learning by accident. He has done "school" right along with Lachlan (my oldest) since he was 18 months old. He has known nothing else and loves it. I am astonished at what he can do. But the manipulative this year with MGT have been amazing!

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    1. Agreed! I love watching my younger ones pick up new stuff from the older ones. Kruz repeats the most random things like what nouns are and all the planets and so on. It makes me oh so thankful to be homeschooling!

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