Spring Math – Math is Outside Too!

Spring and nice weather make for a great time to get outdoors and connect with math. Whether you are taking a walk, filling compost bags with leaves or starting to build that garden shed, there are many opportunities to engage in rich mathematical discussions with your child.

Here are some questions you can pose to your child as you engage with nature:

• What shapes do you see in that house?
• How tall do you think that tree is?
• How far do you think we walked today?

• How many piles of leaves do you think will fit into this bag?
• How many ___ did you see on our walk?
• How many windows do you think are in that building?
• How long do you think it will take us to walk one kilometer?
• If we double our pace how long do you think it will take us to get home?

So the next time you spend some time outdoors with your child, take some time to engage in some math talk!

You may also be interested in reading a new article for parents written by Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University.

Developing Mathematical Mindsets, The Need to Interact with Numbers Flexibly and Conceptually

To find out what your child will learn in math this year or to find other fun activities that you can do together as a family, please visit http://www.yrdsb.ca/Programs/Math/Pages/default.aspx.  Be sure to also try our Problem of the Month