Nearly everything in Prima B is done in a notebook; there are no loose activity sheets, ever. When a worksheet is used, it is pasted into the notebook. The notebooks are a dream for us wanna-be-organized mothers who long to keep school memories but can't quite get our acts together. The teacher does it for us. Young One has completed two skinny notebooks for mathematics, and the third incomplete one will carry over to next year. Waste not, want not.
Dated Pages from the Mathematics Notebook: October to April
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| Cover Page of Math Notebook #3 |
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| Many / Few |
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| Which number comes before and after? |
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| Ordinal Numbers |
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| Math in Tables |
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| Greater Than / Less Than and Ten's Place |
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| More Math in Tables |
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| Graphing Results of a Poll |
She's adding and subtracting two digit numbers and doing very simple multiplication. I can't quite figure out exactly how the concepts are approached. I don't see evidence of stacking problems or "borrowing" and "carrying." (Is math even taught that way any longer?) She tells me that she has to work it in her mind (and with her fingers).
Pretty nice cursive for a first grader, isn't it? I checked with a teacher friend who has her own first grade class across town -- use of pens and cursive is not necessarily the norm in Italian first grade. One of my colleagues suggested I get Young One an erasable pen. Ha. . . that's pretty laughable. She obviously hasn't met La Maestra (that's what I'm calling the teacher these days, btw).
Young One will tell you that math is her favorite subject. You might imagine how happy it makes us that our girl loves math. Hooray! Three cheers for girls who love math!
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(EDIT of original post: Young One just told me that the TEACHER drew the tables and that the writing is mostly the teacher's, so I deleted that origianl part. Got that all wrong. Whew! How much time must that take her?)
That's excellent handwriting for a first grader! I love how colorful the book is, it's inspiring to see learning made beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I was mistaken. While the headings are in Young One's hand, the other writing is from the teacher. I totally misunderstood her the first time she explained it to me. She's neat, but not THAT neat. Ha. Stupid me.
ReplyDeleteD
I wish they would use notebooks here. It would make organization much easier for my very messy boys.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher does all of that!? Now that's dedication.
ReplyDeleteI think it's one of the benefits that comes with having a nun as a teacher; she doesn't have the same demands of her time as would a lay person, say a woman with a husband and three kids of her own. Her duty in the order is to serves as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is a treasure to keep for years and years! Madelyn e' bravissima davvero!
ReplyDeleteI hope that Gaia will be good in math as well. Otherwise there will be no one to help her. Literature, languages and history are our paradise while physics and math are pure hell...
I agree...excellent handwriting for a first grader! Heck! I know plenty of adults who can't even write that neatly :) And I bet you're thrilled that YO is a math wiz! I never got the hang of math in school, but I did love to read and write :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Kasia & Maddy. Math is EXCITING, isn't it? It's not the preferred subject for either of us either. She changes so much that it likely won't continue for much longer.
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It must be strange seeing your daughter learning in a way that is so foreign to how you were taught (i'm assuming you didn't do your schooling in Italy.) Do you just stare in disbelief from time to time? So interesting. Thanks for sharing the pages from her journal.
ReplyDeleteKaty,
ReplyDeleteIt is, at times, strange for me. Okay, honestly, it's always strange. I gauge the success of it on the simple fact that she loves school, and seems to be learning. I've no idea of exactly how that is happening (save the notebooks), but we get no complaints from her. I can only surmise that the methods match her learning style quite well. I can still help her with the homework, but I am afraid that the time is fast approaching that I won't be able to do so. That's entirely weird for me, being a teacher and all!
D