Below is a resume of 2002
Below is a resume of 2002
Maths has been my greatest fear for HE because it was such a terror to me as a child. I still panic now if faced with maths to be done at speed and I find it hard to cope with “3D” maths – ie maths in the wild where I need to apply intelligent logical thought to a practical problem! I supoose I have been slightly bolstered by the fact that my husband is incredibly mathematically able and I felt initially that he would be able to help if I got stuck.
In reality, so far at least, maths has been a relearning journey for me and good fun to do with Fran. of course so far she is very young but I think its what we do now that will make the biggest difference, I am keen to make sure she enjoys maths so I carefully watch her mood and how we go about things. I think it was my anxieties about maths which made me investigate Montessori so thoroughly and I am incredibly glad I did… we use Montessori materials or methods a good bit but it has also given me the courage to make my own materials as I feel they will be useful. So far I have got it right!
Last year…
Before we had the bubba it was easier to do floor work – since she got mobile we have to pick our times. But we spent lots of time using manipulatives, both sensorial and mathematical. A big success, and one we still use were the counters and numerals. Excuse the blackout – my children always seem to do maths half clad!
Wooden Numerals and Counters bought from Opitec
Completed, it looked like this:-
We also spent lots of time using the Montessori(bought) knobless cylinders which my then two year old loved. There is so much to do with these – I really must do it!
In addition we have made Red Rods – although they tend (ahem!) to get used a bit violently so are under lock and key! Fran learned her number predominantly from an ELC number jigsaw of the peg board type (also learnt her letters this way).