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Cooking with Preschoolers

posted by Alison Balis Hirsch Cooking with kids offers a wonderful array of learning opportunities for young children. It provides practice in language arts (vocabulary and “reading” a recipe), science (chemistry and exploring the senses), and developing social skills (cooperation and turn-taking). The kitchen also provides a range of math practice such as counting, measuring, […]

Classroom Jobs: The Snack Helper

posted by Alison Hirsch Balis There are many reasons to provide “jobs” for children in the preschool setting. A job shows the importance of the child’s contribution to the group and his/her affect on the social fabric that is the class community; it provides practice in children’s developing social skills, such as speaking in front […]

Order in the Classroom

by Alison Balis Hirsch or·der ˈôrdər/ noun: the arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method an authoritative command, direction or instruction verb: to put into a methodical, systematic arrangement to bring about order One of the first learning experiences I recall as […]

The Importance of Daily Routines

Following a daily routine at school provides stability for children, allowing them to feel more secure in the classroom setting. The schedule should not be rigid; in fact, the ideal schedule is flexible and adapts to both the needs and interests of the kids, allowing for spontaneity within the structure of the school day. A […]

News from Math at Home

Attention! Attention! Math at Home Readers! I am pleased to tell you that our blog is changing course a bit. Over the past 4 years I have been blogging for Math at Home and have enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. After over 700 posts we all thought it might be nice for a change. […]

Baby Brains and Math- Chanting and Singing

Did you know that babies respond more to the “rhythm” of speech than the words themselves? It is a natural impulse to speak to babies with a higher-pitched-than-normal voice, a sing-song lilting quality to the words, and a repetition that is particular to these interactions. Throughout my career, I have had students and new parents […]

Baby Brains and Math- The Concept of More

When our first child was born, my husband was studying special education at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He became very interested in using sign language to communicate with non-verbal students so he began studying it. When Noah came along, Larry was convinced that we could communicate better with him if we gave him “language” before […]