28 September, 2021

Happy September

Back to school… for those in school.. and back to homeschooling/unschoolers for home/unschoolers!!

Families all over the world all in the same boat- lots of choices to make on curriculum and what concepts to start with.

 I always start the term with a review of things… as this achieves 2 things:

• helps to get the brain tuned in recalling previously learned skills

• builds confidence to revisit skills achieved, so you can look back at the skills you worked on last term and do just one question for each to see if things are still in place; for the things forgotten, you can make a list of gaps to try to revisit and fill

Here are some simple, fun and general warm up activities to get the juices flowing:

• Times Tables popping up finger method

• Visit addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills- the mechanics if appropriate, or just orally if that is where you are

• Draw and name shapes (numbers of sides etc.)

• Measures- look at things around the home for weight (on tins/boxes of food), capacity (shampoo, milk)… and also measure things around the room using a tape measure/ruler

 Things are extremely exciting here for Bridge the Gap Maths as it is becoming more widely known and receiving heartwarming feedback from UK parents and students.

We are in the process of working with a new fulfilment company in UK, but our current company is still mailing out the UK edition daily.

Have a great term ahead everyone!

New events!

I am excited to be part of some BIG new things around the corner:

As I am not able to attend the AHEA (Alberta BC) live conference, I will be joining in virtually 3-5th May 2021…. and then am submitting a written article for the Canadian and USA The Old Schoolhouse!!

My article is called ‘Maths: Putting Fun in Fundamentals’ , and is all about my theme of finding the balance between maths-book/worksheet based math and real life, fun ‘up-and-doing’ maths activities, many of which I have talked about in earlier blog entries.

And finally, I am having some adverts in The Old Schoolhouse fall edition. WHHHHOOOOO!!

It has been a hard, funny old time not being able to attend conferences, but HOPEFULLY we will be able to do so soon- fingers crossed.

Hope you can join me in some/all of the above- and thank you as always to those who continue to support and follow Bridge the Gap Math/ Bridge the Gap Maths progress!

April 25, 2021

It's been a while!

Exciting news that Lisa Marie Fletcher- the Canadian Homeschooler is kindly providing a ‘virtual conference curriculum showcase’ to the whole of Canada from 17th-22nd May 2021…so I have put together a video walk through of Bridge the Gap Maths today. So wonderful to have this opportunity as I have been feeling very sad that real conferences have not been able to happen- they are so important for small businesses like mine. I will include the video on my website after the event too. Many thanks to all who are helping with events like this!

Celebrating 2 years! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all.

Bridge the Gap Math (Can/US)/Bridge the Gap Maths (UK) is now celebrating 2 years since publication. Feels amazing, and each time a new testimonial arrives, I get such a buzz of happiness.

So how about some fun New Year maths ideas…

Use 2021 numbers to make some maths Qs/starting ideas of discussion/calculations…

• How many months in a year?

• How many days in a week/weeks in a month etc.

• Is 2021 a Leap Year?

• How many days does each month have?

• How many days in a whole year?

• How many hours, minutes, seconds in a day?

• Make addition/subtraction/multiplication/divisions to come up with some maths Qs to solve the type of problems above- simple to tricky e.g. how many years ago was 1980? How many days in 5 years? How long until August 3rd 2021… or to a birthday?

• Collect birthday dates and make a graph to show months where most occur.

• Take HAPPY NEW YEAR and make a code game, where each letter is worth a numerical value.

• Make images for NY out of 2D shapes.

• Write worded problems with a NEW YEAR theme.

  ~~Thank you to all who have supported me so far. Wishing you all good luck for 2021~~

New happenings!

It’s been a while- what a strange year so far… but 2 new things happening for BtGM!

First of all, I received a review video last week from the wonderful Canadian homeschool guru ‘Edna’… who reviewed Bridge the Gap Math along with her teenaged son… the video, which shows them using the book and helps you to see a real situation where mom and son work through a page together, will be on my FB page, and in the ‘events’ section on the website soon.

I am looking for an opportunity to have the UK edition ‘Bridge the Gap Maths’… WITH AN ‘S’ reviewed!

Also, I am proud to be part of the Canadian Online Homeschool Conference February 3rd-10th 2021, organized by the wonderful Lisa Marie Fletcher- another homeschool mom/guru representing the whole of Canada- where I will be speaker (7 Shape and Geometry video lessons for you to use at home) and also vendor… this is my second year and I am excited to be part of it again.

Not being able to attend conferences has been hard this year for all, so fingers tightly crossed that 2021 brings good news for us all… hopefully a return back to some normality ~

Autumn Maths Ideas.

As I have explored before, maths can be seen everywhere… not just in textbooks… and we all know about how e.g. cooking is a great way to learn about measures, ratio, reading, fractions etc, or how laying out shoes in pairs is great for learning the 2x table!

Using creative maths ideas is always a good idea… children remember the fun ‘real’ activities and this makes the concepts more likely to stick. So today, I am going to share some ‘autumnal ideas’ for creative maths… I hope you like them.

Go on a seasonal walk in the woods with a small bag: collect 30 small objects which can be returned later (twigs, seed heads, leaves, pebbles etc- maybe take a few extra in case some break) and once home use all 30 to:

• make a tally chart of the TYPE of items… and then a bar graph

• arrange them all (random items) into groups of 2, then rearrange into groups of 3, 5, 6, 10 and discuss the results; use them to count in 2s, 3s, 5s, 6s & 10s

• play around with grouping… find half, quarter, three quarters… talk about 50%, 25%, 75%

Move into division and make division questions… e.g. if we group/divide the items into groups of 5, how many items will be in each group?

Create the four different types of triangles (using ‘RISE’ as an acronym to remember: Right, Isosceles, Scalene, Equilateral) and then colour them to make fall trees by adding branches to the ‘trunks’… label the triangle types with the correct terminology… and discuss properties

Survey: ask 20 people what their favourite thing about autumn is. Collect answers and start to think about how the info can be used as ‘data’ to create a tally chart or bar graph. Hopefully, you will get some answers which form a trend, e.g. a few people might say, ‘changing leaf colour’

Create the 6 quadrilaterals (4 sided shapes: square, rectangle, kite, rhombus, parallelogram, trapezium) and make them into designer ‘leaves’ with autumnal colours, labelling and discussing properties

Remember… if you are wanting to teach a ‘formal’ maths idea- you most often have 2 options…. and should do both:

1. Sitting down at a table to do examples in a maths text book/on paper

2. Doing a practical, real-life, fun activity

So, e.g. if you are teaching division…  do some ‘textbook’ work AND some practical ideas like the ones above.

~Happy autumn everyone! Stay well, enjoy your maths, do a little every day… and be creative with your ideas whenever possible.

The 'back-to-school-soon-feeling'... with an elephant in the room.

Usually at this time of year, mainstream school families are thinking about clothing, supplies, the funkiest pencil case and thinking about which friends one hopes to be seated next to; homeschooling families are also starting to think through logistics of getting back into routine, and writing out or thinking through daily/weekly plans… everyone generally getting back into ‘schooling’ mood.

This year has seen some changes for us all. To say the least.

For me, I am going back to my September teaching 100% on video, which has opened up opportunities to each students ANYWHERE!!... not just on my little island- I am already planning teaching some UK and US students, as well as Canada. Mind blowing! I am teaching maths, English and piano still, so a great balance. I had reservations as to whether my lessons could be as effective, but it has worked out sooo well.

My book is reaching many people now in Canada, USA and now UK… and once we have ironed out the shipping logistics, we will be fulfilling orders from Aus and NZ. Exciting stuff.

The 2 BIGGEST snippets of feedback at this time have been from parents of not-usually-homeschooled-children… parents who have found themselves now teaching at home - and ‘Bridge the Gap Maths’, having the TEACHING SCRIPT and being in manageable bite sized (one page) pieces is going down well with parents internationally:

• It simply HAS to be do-able for both parent and child

• It can be just one page a day- the small pieces soon add up to a big piece

• It has to feel manageable to fit in with everything else

I am currently working hard on marketing for UK, as (of course), the ‘getting-it-out-there’ is hard.

I wish you all good luck in this next chapter of teaching and learning together ~

Additional editions (play on words... with a maths word thrown in for free!)

What a time it has been… on so many levels.

Teaching via video has been a challenge for me, but I was amazed at how well it worked out. I have no idea what will happen re teaching in September, but I am just one of many who will just have to wait and see how the implications of COVID-19 progress and develop. My teacher colleagues (who work in schools) in both UK and Canada have been sharing with me the implications for schools, the staff and the students.

I am VERY excited to announce that the UK edition of the math book is now available to order in UK (I am having them printed and distributed there).. and the new edition is called (drum roll…) 

‘Bridge the Gap Maths’ ……….’WITH AN ‘S’!!…….. with a new website www.bridgethegapmaths.com  

So now I have to think very carefully when writing/saying the word math/maths; when I first came to Canada, saying the word ‘math’ was so alien and tricky for me- and saying ‘math’ without the ‘s’ was an effort. And now, having been teaching ‘math’ for 9 years here in Canada, saying ‘maths’ now feels wrong!! Coming from UK to Canada has thrown up so many vocabulary differences- (I still can’t make sense of the word ‘bangs’ for fringe!!)

So now the UK edition is live (fingers crossed it does well there), we are now locating the right printer and fulfilment arrangement for the Australia/New Zealand edition- hopefully up and running by fall.

So three editions in all:

• Canada edition is now re-titled Canada/US edition (selling in Canada since Jan 2019, then into US since March 2020)

• UK edition (available from today!)

• Australia/New Zealand edition (hopefully available to order in fall)

I clearly remember, waking up one morning in spring 2016, announcing, ‘I am going to put what I do in a math book!…. yes, I’m going to write a book.’                            ~PHEW~

Last little comment for today’s blog.  Although summer rest and relaxation is a-coming, do keep a little bit of math going over the holidays to avoid the September feeling of ‘I’ve forgotten it all!’… but remember real life math is still math, so be creative on the beach, in the yard or on the deck- math is all around us- weight/estimation/shopping/cooking/collecting data/measures… long division? (joke- that would be too mean).

Stay well all, and thank you for reading. Do connect with me via email or FB if you would like me to cover any specific themes around math in my blog. I know the ‘helpful tips’ ideas do go down well.

2 x VFAQ!! (two frequently asked questions)

 FAQ: How much time should we be working on maths?

As an general outline, I often recommend that in your mind, you allocate 'a numeracy hour' daily (and also a literacy hour too)- this stems from my 20 years in mainstream classes with 30+ children in my class- we had a literacy hour, and a numeracy hour.

This can be broken down in to identifying a small learning objective, exploring it together as 'teacher/student', student working on paper to work on a few examples, plenary together at end, where you both evaluate, return to learning objective, and finally set target for next day's numeracy hour- this might identify a new learning objective, or might stay the same as day before. 

Remember though, maths learning does not always have to be 'paper based'- real life maths is equally as vital (if not more). General rule- try to have good balance- some doing/some paper based.

FAQ: 'My kids do so well on a maths concept... but then three or four weeks later say, 'I don't know how to do that!'... it is so frustrating! HELP!' 

Well, this is normal! BUT there is a REALLY simple solution:

Every day, have a 5 minute warm up 'sheet/grid' with just 4 little questions from previously learned concepts... do this every day before staring the 'numeracy hour' as a warm up. If 4 Qs is too much- reduce to 2 or 3.. if going well, maybe increase to 5 or 6.

So it might be that there is one column multiplication Q, one 3D shape to name/draw, one 'find the mean' Q and one kg to g Q... KEEPS SKILLS HOT!... and is also good for settling down to focus well. PHEW!     ~

More REAL ideas please....... OK, my pleasure.

Hmmm... tidy up the house or teach maths?

Sort/tidy the tinned food/groceries cupboard, and make a list of the measurements g and kg... look at how 1000g is 1kg, and how 1.5kg is 1500g / 500g is half a kg etc (complexity relevant to age or grade)... make a record table (maybe with an estimate column) and you have a 'top drawer' maths lesson!

REAL LIFE maths IS REAL MATHS❤️.

And you have a tidy cupboard.... now make a column to list the out-of-date groceries and calculate HOW out of date they are! 😆~

Simple maths at home!

~SIMPLE MATHS at home IS MATHS LEARNING.❤️~

Teaching at home?
Here's a Monday Maths 'UP AND DOING' idea:
Explore the concept of equivalent fractions...
1. Draw around a small plate several times to create circles, and then divide some into half, some into quarters and some into eighths. Look at how shading half looks the same as shading 2 quarters, and 4 eighths.... then if you want, you can look at how sixteenths would work...
2. Do the same idea but with rectangles.
3. Remember to look at what happens to numerators and denominators and you will notice number patterns happening.
4. If you feel brave, try the same ideas but with thirds and sixths, or fifths and tenths.~

OR…

No need to sit formally with paper/maths books to learn about mls/litres- just look at the labels on shampoo/milk/water when using... and discuss. SIMPLE MATHS at home IS MATHS LEARNING.❤️~

REAL activities for REAL maths learning!

Lots of parents are struggling at this time to feel that the maths they are doing in the home environment is resulting in ‘REAL LEARNING’ and adequate progress.

Well…  DON”T underestimate how the simple activities in everyday life can be HUGELY successful in achieving learning objectives.

'Practical' and REAL maths activities in the home/garden are so important to learning Intermediate maths... and can cover SO many concepts... and they are FUN!!

So don’t forget that as well as the ‘traditional-sitting-down-and-doing-maths-on-paper’ work you might be doing, the getting up and ‘DOING’ maths is equally as valuable  (if not more so sometimes) as working on a maths sheet/book.

Length & measurement opportunities: units of measure, estimating, making a recording table, choosing equipment, converting e.g. cm to m, using decimals, scale (e.g. doubling size) .………… and then link these outline ideas to capacity/liquids and weight/mass- WHAT A LOT YOU CAN COVER!!

Data collecting and graphing findings: colour of shoes or socks/tins of food in the cupboard/number of pictures on walls of rooms.

Suddenly maths feels fun and students can really see how it is relevant to daily life~

Stay safe and well all.

Helpful activities

Sometimes, when teaching maths at home (especially if like many, you are suddenly and unexpectedly doing so) it is hard to get a good balance of activities and concepts to keep things ticking along and keep it vibrant. I would recommend this approach once in a while:

Take just ONE ‘example question/activity’ from ten different areas of maths; doing just one example of each keeps it pacey, interesting  and lively!

Make it fun by giving tokens or stickers for each question attempted! EVERYONE loves a sticker!! You can find zillions more of these questions in FLASH FACTS- which is the fifth section of BtGM.

Here are a few to give you the idea- but you can tweak them to suit age/ability:

473 x 5:   lay out as a column multiplication… check on a calculator

Name 4 quadrilaterals other than a square and rectangle (explain properties and draw them)

796 ÷ 4:   how would you lay this out and solve it? Check your answer on a calculator

Find mean, mode & median of 8, 4, 5, 9, 5, 7, 11

What do we call 2D shapes with 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 sides- what does regular/irregular mean? Draw and name some. Make the ‘irregular’ ones look like crazy creatures, birds or monsters

Add two thirds to one fifth

What is the square root of 25?

Identify 3 square numbers and explain why you know they are square numbers

Express the fraction three fifths as a decimal and percentage

Using a protractor, create an angle measuring 70 degrees… then make other angles and try to identify what TYPE of angle they are

As a general rule, I find it really helps to do a number-y question, then a shape-y activity, then a stand up and do activity, then a number-y….etc…. keeps the wheels rolling. Good luck!

Canadian Spring break ~ surreal feel!

Arriving at spring break always feels good… and this time is no exception, but with all the confusion around the virus and what direction it is all going to take, it has found us all feeling a little odd!  

I really enjoyed meeting the PAC members on the Sunshine Coast for my talk last Tuesday… THANK YOU!!- cramming in as many ideas for how parents can step in at home with simple activities to move math learning forward… and of course now the website is accepting US orders (HOORAY- a REALLY big step forward for me)… I have been heavily involved in marketing the book in the US; the first orders to New York, Georgia and California have arrived… WOW!!  

Sadly though, the AHEA conference in Alberta for end of March is now cancelled, so that is a huge disappointment- not only for me (and other vendors and speakers), but for the organisers and parents hoping to attend… but right decision- health comes first always. I was looking forward to having a physical presence in Alberta with BtGM and meeting parents and teachers.   

DO use spring break to recharge and relax, but also, if appropriate, do SOME math to keep things ticking over… a simple suggestion is to take just ONE question from a whole range of the learning objectives covered over the past few months, and work through them- maybe just one column multiplication, one ‘draw 6 different quadrilaterals’, one long division, one angle to measure with a protractor, one finding the area of a rectangle etc. etc…. it is VERY important to keep ‘old’ skills hot to avoid the, “I have no idea how to do this!!”….. “YES YOU DO- we spent 2 weeks on it recently!!” (the FLASH FACTS section of BtGM has the whole range from Grades 4-7, covering one Q from all things visited in the book work).  

Stay healthy, keep calm and carry on… with math! Have a wonderful spring break everyone.   ~

International shipping... steps forward - finally!

Today is an exciting day for Bridge the Gap Math.

(Well, I am ALMOST there!!)

Back in fall 2019, I had some people connect with me to request a copy of BtGM be sent to them in various countries- South Africa, Singapore, USA, Philippines and UK to name a few.

Things were held up for 2 reasons- I needed to take advice to ensure that copyright was firm to mail out ‘safely’ to countries outside Canada (to ensure that the book was not photocopied/reproduced digitally etc), and also I did not have the appropriate shipping procedures in place- the latter has been a difficult hurdle to jump over... but I am almost there.

So today is a ‘milestone-moment’ for me and for the book, as we are now shipping internationally (safely! as protected by our NEW registered copyright status, and registered in other countries’ copyright offices!) via either Canada Post (still rather an expensive option to mail internationally, but nevertheless available), or shipping via other carriers.

The big target for this week is to upgrade the shopping cart so the website BUY NOW page accepts international orders!

So thank you to all who have waited patiently, and stand by for your copies to be in your hands ASAP. Another step along the road…   ~

Spring Break suggestions

Making math ‘real’ is SO powerful in making it make sense in math ‘lessons’!

Math is all around us, and as spring break approaches, it is the perfect opportunity to get outside and look at how math is relevant in the real world.

Here are some outdoor ‘intermediate’ math ideas…

Find real life examples of ‘lines’ which are horizontal, intersecting and perpendicular- identifying these in real life, makes them make sense when applied to shape and geometry ‘lessons’

Find two trees where one is taller than the other… first estimate their height (so lots of discussion about measurement units), but then work out the DIFFERENCE in their height (to understand how the term ‘difference’ means that the concept of subtraction is involved

Make up simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division worded-problems/stories based on real life… e.g. I can see three shops… in each shop there are 5 customers…. how many customers altogether?

Collect data whilst out and about (so many choices) and make it into a graph later

Collect small ‘nature’ specimens (a rock, a petal, a twig…) and estimate length and weight… then test out later

Make a list of 3D shapes and see if you can find any in real life situations (cubes, rectangular prisms, cones, cylinders, triangular pyramids etc)     

For more ideas, do look in any math text book contents page and think up practical ways to introduce concepts in a ‘real’ context- SO POWERFUL- enjoy this nicer weather- it  lifts my spirits so much!

Now I need to put my plans together for my next 3 events… a local talk on math and English K-9, Sunshine Coast PAC presentation on Intermediate Math support at home… and AHEA conference in Alberta! ~

The COHC... Canadian Online Homeschool Conference Feb 5-11

Well, I have to dedicate this week’s blog to COHC, to say that the event is just fabulous. SO WELL PUT TOGETHER AND ‘POSITIVE’ (vibes)!!  I have been blown away by the professional running of a conference intended to provide support, information, knowledge and resources to homeschoolers across Canada… and to have been part of it this year has been a big deal for me… and a privilege, so a BIG thank you to the organisers- you did a great job- and I will be sad on Tuesday night when it is over.         

At last year’s COHC, (so Feb 2019), I was only 4 weeks into the book’s promo and quite frankly had no real idea how best to go about sharing the fact it existed, and taking part as vendor was a first for me. So to be part of it again this year as vendor and speaker was nice on many levels- I felt I had made progress in my own understanding about how homeschooling communities ‘worked’, how DL schools ‘worked’ and how resources were ‘shared’… and also, one year on, I  felt in a better place to make decisions on how to go about using social media (I made some boo-boos in the early days, and am still finding my way). Admin members were all supportive and many really held my hand through my boo-boo hic-ups! (I am very grateful).

The making of the ‘How to get your kids to KNOW their Times Tables’  video was an experience, and I would like to thank all the people who watched it and then took time to comment and feedback- it meant the world to me- it has given me confidence to do more.

So there are 2 days left of COHC… but I am excited to be exhibitor this Thursday Feb 13th at the Catholic Educators’ Conference (Canada Place- Vancouver Convention Centre)- another first for me… and I also have several talks booked for private events this year, as well as lots of BC conferences… and also AHEA in Alberta!! I was SO HOPING to attend Ontario OCHEC, but just found that it is full- so disappointed- so will hope for 2021.

Thank you to all who have helped me in my journey to share the resource, and help me make it known. It is such a wonderful thought that the book is helping families in the home environment, as well as in some schools themselves now.

I am working hard with my husband Andy this month to get the book to the United States… and further. PHEW!

Happy February and thank you for reading my blog- and I hope you are also looking forward to how February means that spring is around the corner- we are all ready for it :)

Talking so much about math- what about English??!!

I was chatting with a mom last week, who was working with me to arrange for me to do a tailored talk about Intermediate Math at the DL school where her children attended… and we decided that the main content could be me explaining and demonstrating some of the most common ‘core essentials’ in math I tend to do with my 1:1 students, depending on their ages.  

For my BLOG today, I thought you might be interested in what those things would be for a younger G3 student, as I rarely have shared this, so here are some of the outlines for say, a 4 week plan:

G3: checking first that addition and subtraction are secure mentally, and then working on very simple (then more complex) ‘column’ versions/basic understanding of fractions- parts shaded and understanding numerator and denominator placing/counting up in 2s and 3s confidently using the ‘pop-up-finger-method’… and then moving onto 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x quick Times Tables oral recall/names of 2D shapes/and then VERY basic 2 digit by 1 digit ‘column’ multiplication, and introducing the VERY SIMPLE division link using what we have learned about counting up in 2s, 3s, and 5s.  

We then came up with the idea of doing the same thing based on English skills- writing, reading, grammar, spelling and handwriting - and it was actually nice for me to let my brain go to English teaching for a time! Ha ha- math has sort of swallowed me up since the book launch in Jan 2019!  

When a younger student comes to me for English, after talking to them about what kind of books they like to read,  I hand them a little hand-made booklet- front title page ‘All About Me’… where on page one, I have written the title ‘My Family’…  and I ask the student to just have a go at writing a few lines (after we have chatted about ideas for content, and reading out some examples of the books previous students have done).

Then once the student gets going, I note the following five areas:

• Readiness to write/get started/confidence

• Correct formation of letters

• Use of capitals

• Use of periods

• Spelling ability

This starting point than gives me the opportunity to see WHERE the student is with writing (and reading it back to me), and I then go about planning how to best address and improve, setting little learning objectives based on my observations. I then figure out what makes the child motivated to write (we discuss interests e.g. dogs/trees/bugs) and then I base the next writing session on their chosen subject.

Our writing activities over the next, say, 4 or 5 sessions are based around the ‘All About Me’ book (so page 2 might be ‘my house’ or ‘my pets’, and their mini-topic on e.g. bugs; during these sessions I make/add to a list of words incorrectly spelt to use as a starting point to put an individualized spelling plan together.

I always share the WHAT WE ARE LEARNING TO DO TODAY/WRITING TARGETS with the student, based on the above 5 bullet points.  

😊I particularly like it when a new student wants to do half and half math and English- such a great combo- and usually an hour and half session is about right for this. ~ I hope you find this helpful! ~

Events and moving futher forward

Well, January is marching on, and I have been working hard behind the scenes to make important decisions about two big areas for me and the book…

• EVENTS for the coming year

• Moving out further into all other parts of Canada  (sales have mainly been in BC to date) 

The logistics of me applying to attend and hopefully speak at the BC conferences I attended last year are not quite so daunting for me, as this is my second time!

I hope to attend Kelowna’s BC CHEC’s ‘replacement’ in May (so the BCHLC in Langley), and all the others as last year too- but the first one is almost here: COHC is 5-11th Feb, and I am excited to be speaking about Times Tables, as well as being vendor; the video is submitted now (phew), so that feels good!

And then The Catholic Education Conference in Coal Harbour is Feb 13th, and that will be my first time.  

But, it IS a HUGE DEAL! for me to have applied to attend AHEA in Alberta and OCHEC in Ontario- so travelling!!… and this feels exciting, almost signifying the start of a next chapter in the sharing process.

I have joined many Homeschool Facebook Groups in all provinces, and that certainly feels nice to be allowed to let families further afield know the book exists. From doing this, I have already ‘met’ many new people who have helped me and supported in many ways- thank you to you all.

The up and coming events are now listed on the events page of the website (thanks to my techy husband) and so the visiting of new provinces to share is definitely a huge step forward for me.  

One big highlight for me last week, was someone commented on FB that they have been following and reading my blog!! I was delighted- so thank you to all you kind people who are interested enough to read- it is such a great feeling, as all this side of things has been rather a steep learning curve for me.

OK- back to events planning- which is including local talks for me.

Happy mid-January to you all. ~

Some short and snappy math chats

 It feels so good to be back into the zone after a nice break- we are now officially moving right into our new decade!

A few people have commented that practical ideas on my blog are helpful, so I had another think!

Sometimes, we find ourselves in a situation where we have 10 minutes to fill, whether it be waiting at the dentist, waiting in a line-up etc, and this can be a perfect time to talk math with a child, so here are 5 little ideas:

• Look around and ‘find’ some right angles… and then talk about ‘90 degrees’ and what this ‘means’. Using 2 fingers or arms, make the right angle, and then make it less to make ACUTE, and more to make OBTUSE… then play identify the fingers/arm angle. If other people see you, they might wonder what on earth you’re doing!

• Look at real pieces of furniture which are cubes or rectangular prisms- maybe a dresser or a building: talk about what ‘3D’ means and how length, width and height apply

• Estimate the length of things in cm or m

• Find examples of ‘parallel’ lines

• Work on a Times Table, using the ‘pop-up-finger-method’ and then play ‘ask and answer’

  Remember, the little things all add up… so why not put these bonus snippets of time to good use? Happy January… and thank you to all who read and comment on my blog- it means such a lot.   ~

Happy New Year plans

Happy 2020 to you all! May it be a great one for you.

The new year is a great time to make plans and I have been working hard over the holidays to identify outline plans for spring with Bridge the Gap Math.

My main audiences of parents, students, schools, teachers, conferences, speaking events and social media support groups have mainly been in BC, with a small number of orders from other provinces… and now it is time to move out further afield big time.  

So I have started this week connecting with education support groups in Alberta and Ontario- and all the other provinces too. I have applied to attend education conferences in Alberts and Ontario, as well as all the ones in BC attended in 2019.

Background work is also happening to introduce BtGM  to other countries too- very exciting.  

I plan to make my blog entries as helpful as possible to parents, so feel free to email suggestions (info@bridgethegapmath.ca) of areas concerning Intermediate Math you would like me to ‘blog’ about, whether it be questions or advice on teaching certain topics.  

Deep breath Laurie- you can do this girl! ~