A Year in the Life: Ambient Math Wins the Race to the Top!
Day 224
For one year, 365 days, this blog will address the Common Core Standards from the perspective of creating an alternate, ambient learning environment for math. Ambient is defined as “existing or present on all sides, an all-encompassing atmosphere.”
And ambient music is defined as: “Quiet and relaxing with melodies that repeat many times. Why ambient? A math teaching style that’s whole and all encompassing, with themes that repeat many times through the years, is most likely to be effective and successful.
Any one of many garden themes would suit the Grade 3 needs and mood. All children have a built-in love for those who share this planet, and a deep appreciation for its many-faceted beauty. And though they may experience the pain of its present plight, it’s not in their best interest to be too explicit with details.
Stories, pictures, and simple practical activities are the language your child speaks and understands. So a focus on gardening and crafts is appropriate. Planting a bee and butterfly garden is just such a practical activity. The planning and care of a garden offer many opportunities for integrating academics, especially math and language arts.
A garden also serves the higher purpose of creating a safe, nurturing space in a world that can appear unsafe, to both the growing child entering it and by extension, to endangered bees and butterflies. No need to quote statistics, but you could share stories about how the bees find and forage flowers and how the monarch butterfly relies on the milkweed plant. See this link to help get you started on your garden.
Here are some images of the monarch caterpillar and butterfly, milkweed flower, and bees busy in their hive. Knowledge ensues in an environment dedicated to imaginative, creative knowing, where student and teacher alike surrender to the ensuing of knowledge as a worthy goal. Tune in again tomorrow for more Grade 3 fun!
