Even proponents of the Common Core are concerned about the increased time spent preparing for and taking the associated standardized assessments that are a natural result of a new curriculum. This article, from the Boston Globe, describes many additional worries that are plaguing early childhood teachers who are now faced with the Core in kindergarten. […]

If you had to list three qualities of this manipulative that makes it a great tool for math exploration, what would they be? I like them because…. 1. They are long. Children can attach lots of these together to create a “super straw” that spans the length of a room, or at least the length […]

This article, entitled the Science of Resilience, comes from the Harvard Graduation School of Education and looks at the growing body of research around resilience and why some children overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. In brief, children who have caregivers that provide consistent responsive and supportive interactions, can build capacities that allow them to successfully manage […]

I know it is short notice, but I received this flyer in my mailbox this week and it looks like it might be of interest to many of our Math at Home readers. On Saturday June 20th the University of Illinois at Chicago is hosting the Early Childhood Entrepreneurship Expo. It costs $40 to attend, […]

Stacking Cups are one of those great manipulatives that grow with children. Even the youngest babies like to hold these and chew on them, throw them around, pile them up and knock them over. This is a great way to explore “cause and effect” and they can explore the shape of the cups through their […]

I was looking through a bunch of old photographs the other day when I happened upon a shot of Noah running his own lemonade stand. I remember that day so clearly. It was really hot outside and the boys wanted something to do. Noah found a large piece of old cardboard and wrote “Lemonade 25 […]

I wrote about Geoboards the other day when discussing topology. I found this website when looking for a good picture of a Geoboard as well as a place to buy them. This website creates a “virtual” geoboard that children can manipulate. When you open it, a geoboard appears and you can click on the rubber […]

Large colorful lacing beads are a wonderful tool to work on sequencing and patterns. Many children will approach this manipulative with a certain amount of trepidation as “lacing” is hard and requires fairly developed fine motor skills and strong hand-eye coordination. Many children work for a long time simply trying to get one bead on […]

If you are ever stuck for a good, creative idea for a math activity, this website has a lot of really nice ones. Many of them include materials you already have in your program, while others may require you to create something. Browse through pages and pages of ideas and let us know what you […]

We were taking some pictures of math manipulatives for online professional development program we are creating, and we got to talking about “bought” materials vs. “found” materials. Over the past couple of years, I have written a lot about both; from expensive hand-made, wooden puzzles to recycled egg cartons. They all have their place in […]