Open Maths Class

I know this sounds weird. Bear with me.

Lately my kids have been suffering a fatal dose of a Love-Hate relationship with maths.

Some of them love angles and hate subtraction. Some love multiplication and hate triangles.

To accommodate some of these opposing interests I like to give them some open time in maths to demonstrate their understanding of thing that interest them.

Some will race around the room showing me various kinds of 3-dimensional shapes, analysing their characteristics by counting their faces, edges, and corners. Some will estimate their height using our metre stick. Some like to play pattern recognition games like ‘Atelier Abaques’. Some (like Ali here) will calculate the amount of unit blocks that represents the length of the table.

Giving students time like this to explore and engage with their interests reignites their love of a subject and keep them motivated to learn. 🙂