Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Reflections: Career as a Mom
Just jotting down my thoughts... I have come to realize - career as a mom is very short compared to many other careers a woman can have - you have at most 10 years (18 years if you are fortunate) and then you reach your retirement age (for by age 18, your child does not need you anymore, nor will you have any more influence). Joshua is soon turning 4. I have 6 – 14 years left. I have to make full use of it.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Montessori Activity: The Teen Board & Beads
AGE: From 4.5 years old (after your child has been working with golden
bead materials, the colored short bead stair or teens with rods)
OBJECTIVE(S):
1.
To introduce teen quantity and symbol and to give the child the concrete understanding of teens.
2.
To provide materials to combine symbol and quantity to create new
numbers.
MATERIALS:
1.
1 set of teen board (2 wooden frames with nine 10's printed one
below the other. Each section containing a numeral ten has slots in which unit
cards can be affixed, thus covering the "0" in ten. The last section
of the second frame is blank)
2.
9 golden ten bars
3.
1 set of colored bead bars 1 to 9.
4.
1 set of number cards 1 - 9.
PRESENTATION:
1.
Name the Teen Boards and show there they are kept.
2.
Place teen board on the left and slot in the number in order into
each slot.
3.
Lay out the colored short bead bars and build a stair.
4.
Lay out a ten-bar each beside the board on your right side in
order and name it as you go: “This is ten, this is ten…” all the way until 19.
5.
Place a unit bead beside the ten-bar, count and say: “This is one.
Ten and one is eleven.” Point to the matching symbol on the board and say:
“This is eleven.”
6.
Place two units beside the ten-bar, count and say: “This is two.
Ten and two is twelve. ”Point to the matching symbol on the board and say:
“This is twelve.”
7.
Repeat for 13 – 19 and say: “thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen, nineteen.” Tell the child that the “teen” tells you that these are
numbers between 10-20.
8.
Do the Three Period Lesson. Go back to the eleven and ask the
child: "What is this?" or "How many tens in this?" The
child will respond "one ten" or "one".
9.
Replace back the materials and invite the child to try.
VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBDM8zwFmYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgGai04PL2o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF5k5iomukw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmi86o0E-ng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgGai04PL2o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF5k5iomukw
TIPS:
The empty section at the
bottom of the second frame may be used to give the child the concept of 20 or 2
tens. The 20 symbol printed in blue on the cards used for the golden bead
material may be used in this slot. Place a ten bar before the child, place the
nine bar next to it, add the one bar and count. Replace the 9 and 1 with a 10
bar. Show the child that you now have "2 tens" or "20".
Place beads and symbol in place. This prepares the child for the ten board.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Joshua (3Y8M8D) tried
this today. He could do it, but didn’t show much enthusiasm about it :-( He
didn’t bother counting the beads. I think I had more fun with this activity
than him, which is an irony.
Updates 9 December 2013 (4Y10M4D)
J started out being very unserious bordering on whimsical. He got very creative with the Teen Board, but creative without any logic by sliding the numbers in no particular logic. And he could not just not remember his teen numbers in Danish, but also could not match 1-10 in Danish. He also kept working on it from the opposite direction, thus looking at the numbers up-side-down. I got very upset with him, since we have worked with numbers for more than a year now.
We went down for dinner, and I apologized for losing my cool with him. I was disappointed with myself for having so much expectations, and yet didn't quite know how I could correct the situation. I asked him if he would want to continue to work with Montessori. He replied that if I don't get angry with him, he would want to continue working with Montessori. I was relief and touched, and I told myself not to get upset with him, if he still does not know his teen numbers after so much practice. I told myself that I will just come from the low level of a learning challenged kid, and thus anything would be a bonus.
While Daddy was giving him a shower, I went to revise my lesson plan and watched the youtube video. When J was done with Daddy, we started the session with watching two youtube demonstration, in particular this presentation with a child participating.
I went on to demonstrate to him and said that we can try to take a video of him. He got inspired by the child in the demonstration and this time round, he approached his work with a lot more focus and seriousness, while having fun - he treated the 10 bars as train as he moved the "trains" to match the 10 bars.
We did the videos in Chinese and he wanted also to do them in Danish, however, we run out of time as it was 9pm, way too late for his bed time. The session ended well and I am thankful for being able to approach it with unconditional acceptance. By recording this down, I want to remember this lesson for myself not to be upset with J. For J, it helps a lot to video down his work. It helped him to take pride in his work, as it made him respect his work more and gave him the desire to do a good job. In the videos, J added in the "bowing" component, which he learned from his Suzuki piano class.
 |
| 9 Dec. 2013 (4Y10M4D) - J pretended that the 10-bars as trains and drove the "trains" to each of the 10s in the Teen Board |
J's demonstration in Mandarin (except for the Part 1 video, which is in Danish, where he lined up the 10 bars to the board by pretending that they were trains).
9 Dec. 2013 (4Y10M4D) - J pretended that the 10-bars as trains and drove the "trains" to each of the 10s in the Teen Board
Updates on 16 Dec. 2013
This morning, J requested to do Montessori, as he was too tired last evening. This time round, we revise the teen numbers in Danish and we made a video of the demonstration in Danish.
9 Dec. 2013 (4Y10M4D) - J pretended that the 10-bars as trains and drove the "trains" to each of the 10s in the Teen Board
REFERENCES:
http://www.infomontessori.com/mathematics/skip-and-counting-teens-symbol.htm
Monday, 12 November 2012
Montessori Activity: Introduction to Decimal Quantity - Beads & Number Cards
 |
| I "paid" J $1000 and he "sold" me the thousand cube |
OBJECTIVE(S):
1.
To provide a sensorial experience in explaining the differences between
one and thousand in terms of size and weight, thereby making concrete the
concept of decimal quantity.
2.
In the process to familiarize the child with the names of the
different categories.
3.
To acquaint the child with the written symbols for the decimal
quantity.
MATERIALS:
1.
1 set of Large Number Cards 1, 10, 100, 1000
2.
1 of each bead material: unit bead, 10, 100, 1000.
PRESENTATION:
1.
Cards - Name the Large Number Cards and show there
they are kept.
2.
Take out 1, 10, 100 and 1000 cards.
3.
Introduce the cards as “one unit”, “one ten – with one zero”, “one
hundred – with two zeros” and “one thousand – with three zeros”.
4.
Take out Card 1 and ask the child what it is.
5.
Take out Card 10 and ask the child what it is.
6.
Notice how many zeros are in the number 10.
7.
Repeat for Cards 100 and 1000.
8.
Bring your child’s attention to the color coding of the cards.
9.
Do a Three Period Lesson, each time highlighting how many zeros
are in the number.
10.
Beads - Ask your child to bring the Decimal Demonstration
Tray with beads.
11.
Start by taking out the 1, 10, 100, 1000 beads from the tray and
name them.
12.
Take the Numeral Cards and ask the child to see if he remembers or
not.
13.
Match the golden beads with the numeral cards below them
respectively, naming them 1, 10, 100 and 1000 accordingly.
14.
Put back the golden beads into the demonstration tray, repeating
their respectively name as you go along.
15.
Put back the cards repeating their respectively name as you go
along.
16.
Invite the child to try.
TIPS:
Make it interesting by playing
“The Shopping Game”: Pretend that the Number Cards are money to buy the beads.
Show him “money” Card 1 and ask him what you can buy with it. He should give you
the unit bead in exchange. Show him “money” Card 10 and ask him to give him the
bead that you could buy with the “money”. He should give you a ten-bar. Repeat the
same for the Card 100 and Card 1000.
VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:
CONTROL OF ERROR:
1.
One of each quantity is provided.
2.
One of each symbol is provided.
3.
The size of the concrete quantities and symbols.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
In continuation from yesterday, J (3Y8M7D) tried this today. He
enjoyed very much walking one round with each of the category of beads. It got a
little monotonous teaching the Number Cards… and I got a little sad :-(. Then an
idea came to my mind. Hey, J loves to play the shopping game with his cash
register. Why not use the same concept and pretend that the number cards are money!
I made it into a “Shopping Game”. The Number Card 1 became $1, the Number Card 10
became $10, the Number Card 100 became $100 and the Number Card 1000 became $1000.
That gave an about turn and he was very eagerly playing the game, and learning
the name of the number as well as recognizing the numbers in a more determined
way. Thank God, thank God, thank God. I really can’t thank God enough for the timely
idea that came to my mind.
I discussed it with Daddy
and we agree that J is probably too young to understand the concept of 1000,
but I think that it gave him an idea of what it is. After all, this is what the
activity aims to do - to provide a sensorial experience. The full understanding
will come later with more experience and age. This will help him to build on
his basic understanding until the day he is ready to put all into a full picture.
The most important thing is that J was interested and having fun with the “shopping game” using Number Card and Beads.
REFERENCES:
I bought our demonstration tray from Kidadvance.com, but it is also available from Amazon:
J's Lunchbox
J's lunchbox consists of pear, potatoes, blanched broccoli, carrot, cheese stick as snack, millet with green peas and salmon and grapes
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Montessori Activity: Introduction to Decimal Quantity - Beads
AGE: 4 - 4.5 years old (after mastery of Counters and Cards)
OBJECTIVE(S):
1. To provide a sensorial experience in explaining the differences between one and thousand in terms of size and weight, thereby making concrete the concept of decimal quantity.
2. In the process to familiarize the child with the names of the different categories.
3. To acquaint the child with the written symbols for the decimal quantity.
MATERIALS:
1.
1 tray containing 1 unit golden bead, 1 golden ten-bar (10), 1
golden hundred-square (100) and 1 golden thousand-cube (1000)
2.
1 mat
PRESENTATION:
1.
Name the Decimal Demonstration Tray and show there they are kept.
2.
Take the unit, feel it, and bring the child’s attention to the
size, say: “This is very small.”
3.
Encourage the child to feel and explore it.
4.
Tell the child: “This is one unit”.
5.
Have the child walk one round with a unit bead in his hand with
great care and encourage the child to repeat its name.
6.
Take the ten-bar, feel it and say: “This one feels different from
the unit.”
7.
Encourage your child to feel and experience it.
8.
Place it vertically to the left of the unit and say: “It is made
of units. Let’s count how many.”
9.
Count with the child the number of units in the ten-bar.
10.
Tell the child: “This is called ten.”
11.
Have the child walk one round with a ten-bar in his hand and encourage
the child to name it ten.
12.
Take the hundred-square, feel it and bring the child’s attention
to the size, say: “This one feels bigger than the ten-bar.”
13.
Encourage the child to feel and experience it and place it to the
left of the ten-bar, say: “In this one, we have many tens. Let’s count how many
tens we have.”
14.
Count with the child the number of ten-bars in the hundred-square:
“1 ten, 2 tens, 3 tens, 4 tens…. 10 tens.”
15.
Tell the child: “We call 10 tens - hundred. There are ten tens in
one hundred.”
16.
Have the child walk one round with a hundred-square in his hand
and encourage the child to name it hundred.
17.
Take the thousand-cube, feel it and bring the child’s attention to
the size, say: “This one is very big and heavy.” Bring the child’s attention to
how many hundreds we have in the thousand-cube.
18.
Encourage the child to feel and experience it and place it to the
left of hundred-square.
19.
Count with the child: “1 hundred, 2 hundreds, 3 hundreds… 10
hundreds”.
20.
Tell the child: “We call 10 hundreds – thousand. There are ten
hundreds in one thousand.”
21.
Have the child walk one round with a thousand-cube in his hand and
encourage the child to name it thousand.
22.
Do the Three Period Lessons by naming: “unit, ten, hundred and
thousand” pointing respectively to the objects.
23.
Say, “Show me 100,” or “Show me unit,” or “Show me thousand”.
24.
Repeat until the child has a good grasp of the names of all four.
25. Then point to the unit and ask: “What is this?”
and the child should say unit for example.
26.
End by having the child walk one round carrying very carefully the
demonstration tray with the materials.
VIDEO DEMONSTRATION:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
J (3Y8M6D) tried this today. He found it most fun to walk one round with each of the decimal quantity. I tried to do it in English, but could feel that he learns better and pays more attention if I use Chinese. So I repeated the whole lesson to him in Chinese. It is not easy doing bilingual Montessori.
I think he is still grasping the concept of hundred and thousand, but it gives him some kind of idea. So I will repeat this in another way in our daily life if possible.
REFERENCES:
 |
| 11.11.2012 - Joshua happily doing the "quiet walk" around with the thousand cube |
C tried it on 12 November 2019 (3Y5M26D) for the first time. She enjoyed it, walking one round with the beads. But she didn't want to repeat it, and also to move on to the Montessori Memory Game tray on the shelf, which was distracting her.... aarrgghhh But she enjoyed it very much, and I think she was learning what quantity is all about, how one differs from thousand, how thousand is much heavier than one, and what they are called in Chinese. Similar to J, I did this activity with C in Mandarin.
I bought our demonstration tray from Kidadvance.com, but it is also available from Amazon:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
