May 2021
Welcome to EFM's May Newsletter!
VIDEO CONTEST!
Win a shirt with an EFM logo! Send us a video showing your family demonstrating one of the EFM activities, and if your video is selected, we'll send you a free shirt with the charming EFM logo on it. Go to the site's Videos page for more details.
In other news ...
Version 1.1 for Chapters 1 through 4 is on the site. This includes one new page of activities for each of Chapter 2 and 3, and two new pages for Chapter 4.
Chapter 5 - I Can Count to 100! development continues. It is in rough draft form and should be ready for release in two or three weeks.
There are ten new annotated storybooks as part of a new Beginning Level of storybooks. Check them out and read them to your children!
Translations: We have added Dutch and Chinese (Simplified) to Spanish and Catalan as translations being worked on. If you are interested in adding a language to this list, or you would like to help us speed up the release of these translated versions, please contact us.
New Activities to Enjoy!
Chapter 2 – String Number Line – An activity from Wendy Van Gastel
In addition to putting a number line on a piece of paper on your wall, create a number line using a string. Tie or clip a section of string between two objects. Use paper clips to attach sliding Number Cards from 0 to 10 along the string in order. Here are some things you can do with this. You and your child will probably discover many more.
Switch two numbers and have your child find the mistake.
Leave out a number and have your child find which one is missing.
Have your child remove every other card and skip count by 2’s.
Have your child pair up the cards to see that 10 is made up of five pairs.
Practice adding. For example, to do 4 + 2, slide over the first 4 numbers and then slide over the next 2.
Practice subtracting. To do 6 - 2, slide over to the left the first 6 cards and then slide 2 of those back to the right.
Chapter 3 – Zoo Rescue – A game from Michael Minas
Use two dice or two sets of number cards going from 1 to 6. Each player has 6 tokens – animal tokens are perfect for this game if you have them. Each player also has a piece of paper with boxes numbered from 0 to 5. Each player decides where to put their 6 tokens – it is okay to put more than one token in a box.
During a player’s turn, two numbers are created by rolling the dice or picking two cards, and the difference of those numbers is used. A player can free one of their tokens if they have one in that box. The first player to rescue all their tokens wins.
Alternatively, use cards numbered from 1 to 10 and have 10 boxes numbered from 0 to 9.
An important part of this game is choosing good boxes to place tokens in to start with. With practice, your child will realize that some boxes are more likely to occur than others.
Chapter 4 – Cards to a Target – A game from Michael Minas
Start by laying out all the playing cards from 1 to 5 in a 4 by 5 grid. Start the running total at 0 and choose a target number, say 25. Players take turns choosing and turning over one of the numbers and adding that number to the running total. The last player to pick a number that does not run over the target number wins. Replace using 1 to 5 with any set of five numbers you want practice adding. To practice subtraction, start at the target number, subtract the selected numbers, and don’t allow going below 0.
Chapter 5 – Revealing Products – A game from Nrich
Start with a blank multiplication table that has 4 product rows and columns. There is an additional group of four missing numbers at the top and on the left side – the top and left will have some of the numbers from 2 to 9, and the numbers can be duplicated on a side. The adult fills in this table out of sight of the child, and then flips over or covers all the numbers. The child can ask to reveal, one at a time, up to 10 of the 16 product entries. The goal is to figure out the entries for the top and left sides before running out of turns.
Imagine that all the cards were flipped over in this example. If the child chose to flip over the card that happened to have the 63 under it, then they would know it came from a 7 and a 9. Flipping over any other card in the same row or column as the 63 would indicate where the 7 and 9 are. Suppose the second card they flipped over was where the 56 is. Not only would they know that the third column was for 7, they would also know that the second row was for 9 and the third row was for 8.
Larger sizes would also work. For example, a table with 5 blank product rows and columns that allows for up to 12 flips will work well. Pick numbers for the top and left sides that you want your child to practice.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them my way. I would enjoy the opportunity to electronically chat with you.
- Chris Wright
May 18, 2021
chris@kitchentablemath.com