Gooder Math

Above: Video of JillyBoo doing transferring activities. She's maybe 2ish in the video?? Or 1.5?

A few nights ago, my daughter interrupted her sleep to cry out, "My old school was gooder because we had math!" Her old school was terrific, and she was very academically engaged on a daily basis. So much so, that I didn't even consider afterschooling JillyBoo too much. After all, she was pretty intellectually exhausted by the time she left school, and we could be the fun, game-playing, let's-go-on-a-walk parents.

Her new school, as I've indicated, is totally non-academic, if you don't count the fact that it's entirely a German immersion for JillyBoo. She reminded me recently that she was good at math, and if you believe you're good at something, you need a chance to prove yourself, to be challenged, to do real work at it!

Not many books at my intermediate school (3rd and 4th grades) are written at the right level for JillyBoo, but I took a leap and scoured the math section for some kids books. I found some GREAT selections, including: Count Your Chickens and Money Math. They are both published by Capstone Press, and show children of kindergarten ages doing math. I always appreciate books that show children from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and these two don't disappoint. The books lend themselves well to hands-on extensions, such as, "If a girl has two nickels and one penny, how much money does she have."

As silly as it sounds, I really haven't pushed money studies prior to now. What's tough is that we live in two worlds: Dollars on base and Euros on the European economy. We were way to early for violin lessons a few nights ago, and I realized that I could do a great skip-counting lessons with nickels and dimes. So I pulled out some change, and we reviewed the names and value of each coin. JillyBoo commented, "Mama, Euros are easier." So true! They actually include the value of the coin right on the money!

Looking at money also allows for a great history lessons-who are these old guys, anyway? I have since pulled out a pile of change when I was "stuck" waiting, which proves to me that I don't need all of those fancy gadgets (like I think I do!) do afterschool at the drop of a hat. It's enough to just look for the opportunity and to be the mother with inventive ideas!