Thanks to some ambitious & creative friends, our school is trying out a summer math program. It's a set of different fun exercises that encourage interaction & a variety of practical math applications with a reward system. We tried out the first two for Kindergarten level last week & they were a big hit! 
Here Andrew & Rebecca are "planting a garden". Different colors & shapes of blocks are different kinds of seeds. They had to compare & contrast some real seeds first. Then we counted out specific numbers of "pretend seeds" & planted them in rows with specific lengths between each seed. They loved measuring it out & working together. Our entire basement was a garden for two days that they were tending, watering, weeding (random LEGOS & such), & making sure it received lots of (flourescent) sunlight.
The next day we went outside to count & pop different sequences of bubbles. I ran out of breath, so they won. ;) Then we sidewalk chalked numbers & gathered random items of each amount, then turned them into simple math problems. 
We drew shapes, compared sizes, & labeled with numbers. Rebecca has been counting for a long time, recognizing more than a few numbers only recently, & perhaps wrote her first numbers with this activity! Andrew's always so eager to jump in & write anything for her, I think she almost missed the boat. She can now master a 0,1, & 7... working on 4.
Here Andrew & Rebecca are "planting a garden". Different colors & shapes of blocks are different kinds of seeds. They had to compare & contrast some real seeds first. Then we counted out specific numbers of "pretend seeds" & planted them in rows with specific lengths between each seed. They loved measuring it out & working together. Our entire basement was a garden for two days that they were tending, watering, weeding (random LEGOS & such), & making sure it received lots of (flourescent) sunlight.The next day we went outside to count & pop different sequences of bubbles. I ran out of breath, so they won. ;) Then we sidewalk chalked numbers & gathered random items of each amount, then turned them into simple math problems. We drew shapes, compared sizes, & labeled with numbers. Rebecca has been counting for a long time, recognizing more than a few numbers only recently, & perhaps wrote her first numbers with this activity! Andrew's always so eager to jump in & write anything for her, I think she almost missed the boat. She can now master a 0,1, & 7... working on 4. These activities further inspired them to break out the flashcards & I found them in the basement quizzing each other. Rebecca was reading the addition problem aloud (before showing it to Andrew) & he was giving the answer. Awesome. I think we'll have to make it more of a daily fixture. Yesterday in the car out of nowhere Rebecca the Drama Queen lamented, "Oh no! I forgot to do my math homework!" Thanks for the summer learning boost, Amber & Kelly!
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