Sharing recipes, crafts and frugal living, the challenges and triumphs of parenting a neurotypical child and a child on the Autism Spectrum. Yoga Instructor said goodbye to her nightly glass of Chardonnay to give up habits that were not serving her purpose in life! The CocktailMom name remains, however with a new focus on healthy and authentic living.

1/22/2013

Math Power Towers



During a parent teacher conference with one of my son's teachers it came to my attention that the children who are the hands-on type of learners don't often get to tap into that skill. I'm a hands-on learner myself and often as a child wished that I could learn by doing in school. Our ideas are often formed by our own personal experiences and when it comes to learning I try and create games that are not only educational but FUN and that don't involve sitting and writing because I feel like my boys get enough of that during their day in school as it is.

If you haven't seen Teacher Tipster videos, go there directly after reading this. He has some awesome videos on teaching children place values, time, and this is where I got the idea for math power tower.

I purchased the dixie cups from Costco and on the bottom of each cup you write a math fact, I made addition and subtraction sets for my younger son and a multiplication set for my older son. Inside each cup is the answer. The idea is that the child reads the math fact and if he/she answers correctly they can build a tower with each cup. What kid doesn't love building!

I've now made sets for both of my son's homeroom teachers so that the teacher can incorporate it into their classroom learning environment. To store the cups I used tennis ball containers but you can also use a Pringles can. I picked up the labels for the cans from this blog, she offers a free download.

Of course these towers can also be made using sight words too! And while you make one for your kids, make a set for your child's classroom as well- the teacher will be thrilled!
P.S.- Pajamas are optional.

4 comments:

Nannerl said...

I am so going to pass this on to my teacher friends and post it on my blog. Hope you don't mind! Such a GREAT mom you are!!!!

Gretchen said...

Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

Anonymous said...

neat idea! thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

I'm doing this today!

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