Everyone Can Learn Math

New school year is coming up! Time to restock your classroom library? Start your kids off with a positive math mindset with our two children’s read-alouds.

Would you rather…

2 jugs for $12.99 or 1 jug for $7.49?

Why? Give an explanation for each choice!

We counted 65 pepperoni slices in our package. The kids had to figure out the best rectangular array to arrange the slices on our pizza.

Some requirements:
🍕maximize the number of slices (use as close to 65 as possible
🍕don’t go over 65 (we don’t want bare spaces on our pizza)
🍕think about the ratio of length to width so the pepperoni are evenly spaced out

This was an excellent way to problem solve. They made some initial guesses but had to modify because of the ratio.

The kids are prepping to participate in the Canadian Math Kangaroo contest happening this March. They’re both really enjoying the puzzle-like problems, especially the youngest. This is a problem he was working on today from the 2020 Grades 3-4 contest.

The figure is a 4x4 grid. How many squares in the figure (possibly different sizes) do not contain the black dot?

This problem is similar to other “how many squares” problems we’ve seen before, but I like this new variation.

Have your kids try it and share their answers!

Bought a new set of dumbbells. Let’s do some mental math!

There is one pair of each weight:
5 lb
10 lb
15 lb
20 lb
25 lb

💪🏽 What is the total weight of the entire set?
💪🏽 How did you find the total? Could you find the total using a different strategy?
💪🏽 The set was delivered in three separate boxes. How much weight do you think was in each box?
💪🏽 How might the ten dumbbells be combined so that each of the three boxes held the same amount of weight?
💪🏽 What shape is on the end of each dumbbell? How many sides does it have?

BONUS: The stand came in a separate box and was not assembled. How long did it take me to assemble the stand?? 😆😆

One of our favourite things about the holiday season is all the different box shapes we can find!

We take them apart to inspect the net of the shapes. Love the creativity of all the boxes for cakes, chocolates, candies, etc.

What unique boxes have you seen this season?

🛞How many tire swings?
🛞How did you count them?
🛞Write a multiplication sentence that describes how many tire swings there are.

Beauty and math in flowers all summer long!

🌸 Count the petals.
🌸 Count the white spots.
🌸 What patterns do you see? Describe them.
🌸 Can you draw a line of symmetry? Where?

We’re jumping in on today and the theme is MATH CHATS. But, math chats are what we always do around here at ! Be sure to check the hashtag and my stories for more math chat fun from some of my math friends.

Today, the kids wanted to hang some yarn art on their bedroom doors, so we decided to put up hooks. We made some choices:
🪝 Hang the hook 6 in from the top of the beveled rectangle
🪝 Centre the hook on the beveled rectangle

We had to figure out how to do this using our measuring tape (because mum insisted we did not just “eyeball” it).

Including the kids in a job that we can easily do ourselves might take a little longer, but gives them life skills and allows us to have a meaningful math chat.

What shapes can you find?

Happy summer!

What do you notice?
What do you wonder?

Do you see lines? How many?
Do you see shapes? Which ones?

Let’s make this the summer of math talk ✅

Do you or your kids use a fitness tracker?

We love our fitness watches for the daily number talks with the kids!

👟 Have you hit your step goal today?
👟 How many more steps do you need?
👟 Write your steps compared to your goal as a fraction.
👟 Can the fraction be reduced?
👟 What other fitness goals does your watch track?
👟 How many days this week have you met your goal?
👟 How many more days in the week do you need to meet your goal?

It doesn’t matter what kind you own, there are many opportunities to dive deep into numbers, whether it’s step count, activity stats, or even the timers and chore trackers on the kid devices! Each of us actually owns a different brand of watch to suit our needs and we always find ways to talk numbers with them!