Saturday, September 21, 2013

#Free Daily Math Journals at Mommy School #Homeschool

     When I was teaching second grade, we did a morning calendar time along with a math time- a story problem, counting money, making change, and telling time.  Since I was continuing the calendar time, I knew that I also wanted to do the math time.  Now, Lily's only 3, so most of the math time is out of the question......for now.  However, we are going to do the daily math story problem and probably I'll add money later on.



     To make her math journal, I purchased a composition notebook (actually I reused Chloe's that only had a few pages used) and cut it in half.  That's right!  This is something that I've done in the past at my school, but with Lily only being 3, this was perfect  When they're cut in half, they're the perfect size for her and other elementary school hands.  I don't have a table saw, so instead I just used our circular saw.


     This is a little tricky, since there's no table underneath.  Just make sure the composition notebook is secured to a saw horse (or a pallet on the floor!) and then start cutting.  Since it's not a completely smooth cut, you get a little bit of a fray on the edge.  For home it's not a big deal.  Now if you're making these for a bunch of kids or your classroom, you can take the composition notebooks to Home Depot or Lowe's and they'll cut them for you for FREE!


     
     I created a bunch of daily math journal prompts for us to use.  I printed them out on paper and cut them into strips.  Each day, Lily pulls one out of the bag and glues it into her journal.  I read it to her and guide her as needed.  I did need to teach Lily how to put the prompts on the next available page.  I then date each page as we work through.  

Check out the little cutie in the background!



     You can get a free copy of my Math Journal Prompts at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store- here.  The cover that we used is from Living, Laughing, and Loving.  I also created a free Math Journal Cover-here.




I'm linking up at  (stop by their blog for amazing ideas):
  


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8 comments :

  1. What a fabulous idea! I'm going to have to give it a try! Thanks so much for sharing. And for all the great details!

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  2. Thanks! I ended up putting it in a plastic sleeve and added it to her morning work binder. She then uses a dry erase marker on it, writes her name, and loves using her little eraser to erase it.

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  3. This is a great idea to have a math journal. My daughter is very strong in math but a reluctant writer, so we mostly do mental math here. I have to consider making a math journal with her! Thanks for sharing with Afterschool!

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  4. My son would LOVE a math journal and I think the one problem per day per page is so smart. Thanks for sharing this at the After School Linky.

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  5. Thank you so much for reading my blog. Lily loves it and we've just started. Her dad is a math teacher, so I know he appreciates us starting early!

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  6. Thanks for hosting the link up. I'm hoping that by doing a little each day, we can build up and she'll be strong in math!

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  7. These are really neat! I just downloaded them and like the style of the questions. For a kindergartener, would you do this in addition to a regular math program? I'm trying to think how we would use them. I'm thinking they might be good to use during our breaks (we school year round and take week long breaks throughout the year). One problem in the morning at the breakfast table might be a great way to start the day =) Thanks for sharing this idea and the prompts!

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  8. I would definitely add them to what you're currently doing. I'm working with a preschooler now, so we do this and that's about it besides shapes and counting. When I was teaching 2nd grade, we did something similar during our calendar time on a daily basis plus a regular math time later in the day. It would also be perfect for that little something on your breaks though! Thank you so much for reading and posting.

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