Our natural world is the perfect classroom on so many levels.  The world is full of color, vibrancy, life, science, history.  It is an inspiration for art, writing, music and dance.  And, our world is so mathematical. 

Not exactly what you were expecting? Read more…

If there is one item in my 4 year-old class that thrills every single one of my students, it is my set of pattern blocks.  My class loves to create patterns and pictures with shapes, creating art and objects using squares, hexagons, triangles and quadrilaterals.  This activity always manages to lead the child to discover the properties of shapes in regards to angles and sides: how different shapes can “interlock”, which shapes work best for creating patterns, and which shapes do not work at all. Read more…

Today, my older son not only goes back to school after the holiday break, he also starts back at piano lessons.  My son has a love/hate relationship with the piano - he LOVES to think he can play the piano, but he HATES to practice.  And, I kind of agree with him.  Practicing 30 minutes a day means you are sitting AT THE PIANO for thirty minutes a day, and he’s not necessarily one to sit for 30 minutes for anything.  But, the payoff is so worth it - he can read music, he’s pretty good at playing, and we finally have a few more songs in our repetoire other than “Hot Cross Buns” and “Jingle Bells”. Read more…

Way back when I was in grade school, I took a course offered through our local Lion’s Club on increasing your memory.  One of the key elements of the class was music.  Read more…

One of my major goals for my children is to teach them to respect and take care of the world around them.  However, kids are still kids and love to have fun.  Finding ways to make ecology exciting and fun can sometimes be a challenge.  Here are some ideas to get your kids thinking green: Read more…