Making Maths Fun
“Go down deep enough into anything and you will find mathematics.” ~ Dean Schlieter
Christmas holidays are on their way,
And kids can’t wait to close their books and play,
They have been working hard at school,
But learning at home can be really be cool.
Coach Caroline has fun ideas to share with you,
To strengthen skills and learn something new.
Cooking and games and building a zoo,
While having fun, you’ll be learning too!
Developing Understanding Through Arts and Crafts
“We cannot hope that many children will learn mathematics unless we find a way to share our enjoyment and show them it’s beauty as well as its utility.”
~ Mary Beth Ruskai
Constructing a crazy zoo from coloured card, boxes and toilet paper rolls and creating a racetrack game are enjoyable ways to help your children to make sense of new and unfamiliar maths and English concepts, and to help them to become more confident in areas where they may be struggling
Arts and crafts is beneficial for children of all ages. Creative activities and project work which incorporate colouring, cutting, pasting and model building will develop the children’s fine motor skills and other valuable learning tools like planning, accuracy and observation.
A colleague of mine once told me that life is too short to learn only one thing from a lesson. When children have direction and are enthusiastic and engaged, they absorb new information more easily. Incorporating art and craft activities into maths and English lessons engages the children’s attention. Because the learning is fun they are motivated to experiment and take chances, and as their faith in their own abilities grows they are more willing to try and complete tasks independently .
Strategies for Success
“ Doing mathematics should always mean finding patterns and crafting beautiful and meaningful explanations.” ~ Paul Lockhart
Learning happens when children are taught a lesson , understand it and are able to apply what they have learnt . At school children are introduced to many unfamiliar concepts . While they may be keen to learn and try to pay attention, absorbing new information during lessons is not always successful and they may have difficulty understanding what they need to do .
During hands-on-learning opportunities with their hands and their brains working simultaneously children develop a greater understanding of the work they are being taught. Enjoyable sessions with Coach Caroline creating number lines , number charts, word webs, story books and bond rockets, and playing game will reinforce the maths and phonics your children are being taught and they will retain the information better.
Learning how to make use of strategies like blocks, number lines and colour coding help them to improve their speed and accuracy. Getting homework done will be easier, good test and assessment results will boost their confidence and they become more successful, independent learners .
Linking learning to life skills
“Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking. It’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity.” ~ Guy Fieri
While children will learn a lot of things at school, there are important lessons and skills that they will need in life which can taught at home. Teaching your children cooking and baking from an early age will allow them to experience accomplishment and feeling good about themselves will build their self esteem.
Working with you in the kitchen, making a meal or baking a cupcake, will provide your child with a learning opportunity to develop life and English and maths skills.
Your children will enjoying making and eating these colourful fruit kebabs. While I like to use pineapple and peaches as these fruits natural sugar content causes them to caramelise, you can experiment with other fruits like strawberries, bananas, apricots, nectarines and kiwi fruit.
Preparing the kebabs in a “ Kitchen Classroom” will provide your children with a fun hands on learning opportunity finding out the difference between fruit and vegetables, take a trip to the spice islands to learn about cinnamon and vanilla and explore the maths concepts of patterning and fractions.