Bilingual Olympic-Themed Cards {Printables}

Woop! This week on MommyMaestra we are celebrating Las Olimpiadas! We have a lot of fun stuff lined up for you and are starting off with two sets of printables.

First off, since today is a Math Monday Marathon, I have a set of FREE Bilingual, Olympic-Themed Number Cards for you to print, cut, and laminate. They focus on the numbers 0 - 10 for kids in Pre-K through Kindergarten, or for beginning Spanish learners. Here's a sample picture:

I have also put together a set of Bilingual Olympic Trading Cards that features 10 Olympic sports (see top picture). Each card includes both the English and Spanish vocabulary. The sports are: archery, hockey, kayaking, boxing, cycling, fencing, equestrian, swimming, taekwondo, and gymnastics.

Feel free to share, but please credit MommyMaestra.

You can find these and other printables in my online shop, and keep an eye on it because I have more Olympic-themed printables coming soon!

Con mucho cariño... 

ChildUp Early Learning Game Cards {Math Monday Marathon}

"Home is the new first grade."

Since we have been talking about the importance of early education, today's math product is for children ages 1 to 5. These game cards are based on the ChildUp Early Learning Method, which emphasizes parental involvement and learning pre-math skills.

Each set of cards contains 16 parent cards and 48 child cards. The parent cards describe the early learning method and provides parents with solid information about their child's development stages. They also explain why the critical period for learning the basis for math and logic is between ages one and five.

The child cards are divided up into four different themed learning groups. For example, in the couting to 10 cards there are farm animals, ocean animals, African animals, and birds. Parents ask their children counting questions, such as "How many mammals can you count on this card?" or "Which animal is the biggest?" or "Which animals can fly/run/swim/etc." So the cards combine math concepts with science ones.

The counting cards feature pictures of various animals on the front, and the pictures with the Arabic numerals on the back...

The beautifully illustrated cards are designed by Argentine artist, Marcela Ribero. They are so adorable and engaging that your child is sure to love looking at each one.

The ChildUp website is full of information about their early learning method. You can find articles, online parenting classes and much, much more. They also offer two FREE learning apps: The EarlyMath app to help kids learn digits and teach early counting, and the EarlyZoo app to teach preschoolers the basics of zoology and biology (80 different animals in 8 different categories). I LOVE both of these.

I think they would do well to create their card games with parent cards in Spanish, too, so that Spanish-dominant families can also work with their children at home to prepare them for Kindergarten and future academic success. However, bilingual parents can easily read the cards and translate the questions for their children.

The cards also inspired my own child to do this!

So if you have a toddler, take advantage of this stage to begin teaching them early math skills!

Con mucho cariño...

Disclosure: ChildUp sent me two packs of counting cards to review. All opinions expressed above are strictly my own.

Fun with Roman Numerals {Math Monday Marathon}

We're continuing our summer of math fun with the entertaining (yet educational!) book, Fun with Roman Numerals by David Adler. Learning about Roman numerals can be a little confusing for some kids. Not only do they have to learn different symbols for numbers, they also have to learn that the order in which they are arranged is important.

If your child is learning about Roman numerals, don't panic! Adler does a great job of presenting them to kids in an engaging manner. My kids enjoyed learning about all the different ways in which Roman numerals are used today (in clocks, book chapters, and even the Super Bowl, for example) and they especially loved Miller's illustrations, which do a great job of reinforcing the text.

THE ACTIVITY:

After reading the book, my kids wanted to try their hand at writing out Roman numerals. So we came up with several activities to help them practice.

• The kids took turns writing their ages and then their birthdates on some thin cardboard pieces using a black marker.

• I also gave them some play-dough and a list of numbers and had them sculpt them out.

• Perhaps the best project was creating their own clock face. The kids took a bowl and traced around it on a piece of construction paper, then carefully labeled the hours.

• We also happen to have an old clock with one Roman numeral that was drawn incorrectly. I challenged my daughter to find the mistake, which she really enjoyed. Here's a picture in case you'd like to challenge your own child to find the mistake.

Happy learning!

Simple Adding Fun with Dominoes {Math Monday Marathon}

Since we missed posting about math last Monday in lieu of the ICE AGE giveaway, I'm doubling up today with an activity that can be modified for younger or older children.

My son wanted me to share this activity that he invented on his own. It's called "Step Up." An easy activity that sneaks in adding practice, Step Up is multi-lingual and can be played in ANY language! My son will be starting 1st grade this fall, so this activity is best suited for kids ages 5 and up.

Step One: Shuffle your dominoes.

Step Two: Select five or six dominoes and then stack them like stairs...

Step Three: Take the top domino, flip it over and add the two numbers...

Repeat!

My 8 year old wanted in on the action, too. But she needed something a little more challenging, so she selected two dominoes and added the two digit numbers together. And after a while, she switched and subtracted them instead, putting the larger number on top.

You could also use this game for multiplication/division practice for kids in 3rd grade and higher.

And of course, all this led to more fun...

Remember that math can be fun and doesn't have to be all about tedious worksheets! My kids respond much better to math when we use manipulatives or games to teach. So try out this little activity with your child this summer.

Happy learning!

Marble Measurements {Math Monday Marathon}

This week we had fun practicing our measuring skills. No books required. Just a few supplies that we happened to have on hand in the house.

Materials:
- marbles (preferably one small and one large),
- extra large mailing tube,
- measuring tape (or ruler),
- blocks/books/VHS cassettes for propping up one end of the tube,
- a pencil and paper for recording your results.

To learn a little bit about math and physics, our goal was to record how far each marble traveled each time we raised one end of the tube. We started out by laying the tube flat on the ground and placing a marble in one end. This was our control. Then we raised it one inch at a time, and again placed the marble in the opening of the raised end. Each time the marble rolled out the other side, we measured how far from the tube it rolled before coming to a stop.

After we had performed our "experiment" 8 times, we changed out our small marble for a larger one and did the same thing, recording the results.

Afterward, I showed my kids how to make a line graph using the data we had collected.
Here's what our results looked like:

Ways to extend the learning:

- Before you begin the experiment, ask your kids what they think the marble will do if you raise one end of the tube.

- Before using the second marble (bigger or smaller, it doesn't matter), ask your kids if they think it will roll farther or not as far as the first marble.

- Afterward, ask your child too look at the results and tell you which one rolled the furthest. Then ask them why that happened.

- You can continue this experiment until the mailing tube is perfectly vertical and see how this affects how far the marbles will roll.

Happy learning!

Animal Hide Tallies {Math Mondays Marathon}

Welcome to Week 3 of MommyMaestra's Math Mondays Marathon!

This week's math activity was a lot of fun. We were still studying tally marks. And this time, The Secret Life of Math focused on American Indians and how they kept track of things like time and events.

A little trip to JoAnn's fabric store yielded some suede-like material from their clearance section. Perfect for our little project! *Happy dance*



We played around a little bit with our design until we ended up with the right size and shape for my two little Dakota Indians. I sketched out a shape, folded the fabric in half, then started cutting...

My daughter decided to try the "ink" (black paint) method on her hide, and calculated the animals she wanted vs. the ones she had...

But my son went with his trusty marker set to begin drawing animals we might see around our place.

When he finished, we wandered outside to find some animals to count! (We found some turkeys way off in the distance, but fortunately for this little Dakota Sioux, he had a pair of binoculars in his backpack.)

Then he carefully recorded his numbers on his hide and tucked it back into his belt for safe keeping.

My kids really loved this activity. Role playing is already one of their favorite ways to play, and making "animal hides" just made it that much more fun.

Stay tuned for next week: A book on Roman numerals!

Un abrazo...

Tally Sticks...Err, Bones?

Welcome to Week 2 of MommyMaestra's Math Mondays Marathon!

Last week we learned by reading The Secret Life of Math that some of the earliest peoples used tally sticks to keep records. Both sticks and bones were used as tools for counting and keeping track.

I started off our math learning by giving my kids a sheet of paper and some marbles/canicas and stones/piedras. I showed my kindergartner 1st grader how to make tally marks as he counted his stones, and had my 2nd 3rd grader tally the marbles. Making tally marks is a really great way to introduce counting by 5's, which will make multiplying and telling time easier.

To reinforce the concept of tallying, the book offers a craft where kids can create their own tally sticks using real chicken bones that have been cleaned and saved.

Since I didn't really have any real bones for them to use (I kept throwing out the chicken (drumstick) bones by mistake- Oops!), I decided to let my kids make their own using some air-dry clay I picked up at Target. I showed them the picture in the book, then let them have at it! (PS - remember to put down an old tablecloth or the clay may get stuck in places on your table top.)

This is what we ended up with...

Finally, after the bones had dried overnight, I had my kids notch their bones with a plastic knife. They put notches for each group of five stones, another bone with notches for each month so far this year, and another with the number of days we've completed this week.

Have a little fun this week making your own tally sticks bones!

Con mucho cariño...

Monday's Math Marathon Begins with a Monster Book of Dimensions

Welcome to the first day of MommyMaestra's Math Monday Marathon! This summer I'm sharing fun books, activities, and other resources to keep your kids happily learning math during the summer vacation. Help your children avoid Summer Brain Drain by letting them practice some of the skills they've learned in school, so they don't have to re-learn them again in the fall.

We are going to be relying heavily on The Secret Life of Math book, but today I'm starting off with the frighteningly fun book, Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions.

In this hilarious book, monsters of all shapes and sizes are starring in - and going to see - a monster movie. Along the way, they're helping your child learn about the three dimensions (sometimes called height, width, and depth), as well as perimeter, circumference, area, and volume.

My children thoroughly enjoyed this informative picture book. David A. Adler may just be my favorite math book author. The learning is story-based (Learn about area: How big is the movie screen?  Volume: How much popcorn does a jumbo bag hold?  Perimeter: How much fencing do the monsters need to buy to go around their yard?), and teaches the concepts simply and in such a way that my kids can easily understand.

Take a peek at these examples:

THE ACTIVITY:

After reading the book, we were inspired to create our own Monster Theater. Out came the shoeboxes, construction paper, glue, tape, scissors, and other craft supplies. Within an hour or more, my kids had created their own movie theater diorama.

During the process we talked about what 3D means, and what measurements make up the three dimensions. Then we explored the other concepts mentioned in the book:

• To practice finding the area of an object we measured our movie screens.

• We measured around the opening of the theater to find the perimeter.

• We wanted to know how many monsters would fit inside the theater, so we measured the volume of the shoebox.

• We also practiced measuring the various dimensions by creating our own monsters and measuring their height, width, and depth.

My kids absolutely loved this activity. It kept them busy and entertained for an hour or two in the afternoon.

The book is in English, however, the activity could stand alone for Spanish- (or English-)speaking families, as long as mami or papi are around to explain how to measure and calculate.

And if you'd like to see this book translated into Spanish, leave a comment below and if we have enough, I'll forward them to the publisher.

(For other monster math books in Spanish, take a look at Monstruos Matematicos in my online shop.)

To calculate PERIMETER: Just add up the lengths of all the sides.

To calculate AREA of a RECTANGLE: Multiply the length by the width.

To calculate VOLUME: Multiply the height by the width by the depth.

This activity is best suited for children in 2nd grade and up, but it was a great way to introduce the concepts and terminology to my kindergartner who helped measure and enjoyed creating the theater.

Here's how it turned out:

My daughter is just now learning multiplication, so we used lima beans to figure out the volume.

Con mucho cariño...

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of Perimeter, Area, and Volume by the publisher for review. The opinions and activity above are my own. All book links lead to my own online bookshop.

MommyMaestra's Math Marathon



I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! My mami flew into town on Saturday and is spending the week with us. My kids are over the moon that their 'Buelita is here and refuse to give her a moment's rest.

I have so many exciting things going on here and can't wait to share them all with you on MommyMaestra. To start off, I am dedicating this week to STEM resources for families. Summer is just a few weeks away and although I know your kids are looking forward to the break from school, I know a lot of parents are already thinking about ways to keep them occupied.

More importantly, like a lot of parents, I've been thinking of ways to prevent "Summer Brain Drain," otherwise known as summer learning loss. During the summer, students can forget much of what they've already learned in areas like math, reading, and science. But parents can prevent this from happening by providing them with opportunities to practice their skills over the summer months with fun and educational activities. 

As a homeschooling mom, I don't completely stop teaching during the summer, but our schedule certainly becomes a lot less structured and we don't necessarily follow a curriculum. We do a lot of reading and I like to pick one or two subjects that my kids are interested in really learn about them.

This summer, I'm excited to say that I'm launching the MommyMaestra Math Marathon! Every Monday, I'll be sharing ideas, photos, or activities revolving around math. If your family is interested in joining us along the way, then you'll probably need to pick yourself up a copy of this book: The Secret Life of Math: Discover how (and why) numbers have survived from the cave dwellers to us! by Ann McCallum. If you click on the link it will take you to my online bookstore where you can purchase it for only $5.18 - that's 60% off the cover price!

The Secret Life of Math is the the ultimate math book. In it, McCallum explains how math has been developed and used around the world. From the Inca in South America to the Japanese in Asia, kids (and their parents) learn that communication, counting, and keeping track were powerful motivators. The best part of this book is how it uses hands-on crafts to supplement the history. We'll be making different types of math tools - such as tally sticks, an Inca quipu, counting balls, an Egyptian amulet, Mayan number cookies, and even our own abacus! - to help us understand each section. Part of what I love about this book is that it is a history lesson, geography lesson, art/craft lesson, and reading lesson all rolled into one.

I really hope your familia will join mine this summer learning all about math in a fun, very hands-on way! The first MM Math Marathon activity will be posted Monday, June 4th!

Con mucho cariño...