Making Math Count in the New Year!
“Math is a
language of logic. It is a disciplined,
organized way of thinking. There is a
right answer; there are rules that must be followed. More than any other subject, math is rigor
distilled. Mastering the language of
logic help to embed higher-order habits in kids’ minds: the ability to reason,
for example, to detect patterns and to make informed guesses. Those kinds of skills had rising value in a
world in which information was cheap and messy.” Esther Cepeda, Daliy News, 2/23/14.
This excerpt
is from an article “Why math? Why not?” from the Daily News and it makes a very
important point: math teaches your child much more than just how to add and
subtract, math teaches your child how to be a logical adult with strong
reasoning skills. Math is an intricate
part of our everyday life. Think about
your daily routine and how many times you have had to problem solve a difficult
situation or make reasonable deductions.
Here is a problem for all ages from Bed Time Math - http://bedtimemath.org/ if you haven't had a chance to check this website out I would highly recommend it. There are many quick "thinker" problems that you can add to your bedtime routine.
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Here's your nightly math! Just 5 quick minutes of number fun for kids and parents at home. Read a cool fun fact, followed by math riddles at different levels so everyone can jump in. Your kids will love you for it.
KING OF THE GARBAGE CAN
December 12, 2016
You probably know that it isn’t a great idea to eat out of the garbage. But for animals like rats, goats, and cockroaches, it’s a yummy treat. The smartest of these guys may be the raccoon. Raccoons, known for their funny black masks and poofy ringed tails, love breaking into people’s garbage cans and flinging leftovers everywhere as they snack. And they’re really clever about it, as we’ve seen here ourselves: the neighborhood raccoon always finds a way to undo the latch, tip the can over, and pop off the top. In fact, studies have found that raccoons are smart enough to open 11 out of 13 different complex locks, and can also remember tricks 3 years after learning them. We hope we can do that, too!
Wee ones: A raccoon has 5 claws on its front paw. Is that more than, less than, or the same as the fingers on your hand? Count to check!
Little kids: If a raccoon starts breaking into your garbage at 8 pm and succeeds 2 hours later, when does he get in there? Bonus: If you put 13 locks on your garbage can and the raccoon can open 11 of them, how many locks are still stopping him?
Big kids: If a raccoon opens the 12th lock in a giant row, then the 16th, then the 20th, what lock does he open next to keep the pattern? Bonus: If there are 42 houses on your street and the raccoons break into half of them, how many people’s garbage cans do they invade?
Wishing you
a Happy Math Year!
Victoria Saldana
Math Specialist/Instructional Coach
Answers:
Wee ones: The same number as your 5 fingers.
Wee ones: The same number as your 5 fingers.
Little kids: At 10 pm. Bonus: 2 locks.
Big kids: The 24th lock. Bonus: 21 houses.
Parents around the country have expressed trepidation about new math instruction they don’t recognize and rightful concern that they are unable to help their children with their homework. But, some parents have come to the realization that they want their children to be better and more confident at math than they were as students. And the more they learn, the more parents are starting to appreciate the math concepts promoted in the Common Core State Standards.
