We recently finished Sariah's first math block, which was all about the Qualities of Numbers. This is unique to Waldorf--before the children start working to manipulate numbers, they explore just what a number is. This is also the block where they learn to write the numbers 1-10 in both Roman and Arabic form. I used several resources for this block. Most of them were somewhat similar, and I was able to combine ideas and then also put some finishing touches on it to make it our own. The resources I consulted were 1) Marsha Johnson's files at Waldorf Home Educators yahoogroup, 2) the Ancient Hearth blog, 3) the Littlest Birds blog, 4) Kristie Burns' Sixth Sense Math e-book, and 4) this fabulous teacher training manual from east Africa.
On the first day of the block, I laid out a story with silks, dolls, and other props. The story came from Marsha Johnson and was tweaked by homeschooling moms on several of the other blogs I referenced. I tweaked it again to make it fit our needs (and fit the dolls I had). The story was about two sisters who ran into a meadow one evening chasing a rabbit. They followed the rabbit and accidentally fell down a hole, where they found themselves in a strange, barren land. (At this point, Sariah asked, "Is this Alice in Wonderland?") They wandered in the strange land until they came to a mountain with a door carved in it. Our fairy forest tree house made a great mountain when I covered it with silks. It even had a ready-made door! The door was locked. In front of the door, there appeared a wise woman, who told the girls that in order to open the door and continue their journey homeward, they must answer 10 questions, one question per day. As they answered each question, they would be given symbols to crack the code to unlock the door. The first question was "What is ONE?" At this point, I asked the question and ended our lesson for the day. Sariah had to think about this overnight, and I didn't discuss it with her at all until we met for school the next day.
The next day we shared ideas, and she had plenty. I did have to kind of gently steer her to where I was trying to go with the question. She would say things like, "Well, there's one piece of paper there on the table." Or, "I can hold up one finger." The number one represents both individuality and unity. I wanted us to be able to come up with things in nature or in our bodies that uniquely represent the number in question. We ended up deciding that ONE is the SUN. One is also me or you as an individual. One is also the whole world. (Of course this kind of backfired when Sariah spouted her knowledge of Mormon doctrine by informing me that Heavenly Father created more than one world. Yes He did, I replied, but we only live in and know ONE of them.)
A painting of the sun that Sariah did later in the week.
The next day, the girls were given the symbols that would help them unlock the door in the mountain.
The symbols turned out to be the Roman and Arabic numerals for one. Here they are in her main lesson book next to her drawing of the sun. Then I left her with the question, "What is TWO?"
Two can be our eyes, our ears, our nostrils, etc. Two is also ME and YOU. Two can be night and day. Two can represent the concept of togetherness or the concept of opposites. For her drawing, she chose to draw the two sisters in the story. I forgot to take a picture of it.
We continued this pattern for the remainder of the four weeks. After the first week or so, we had to move more quickly, so often I would give the question one day, and the next day we would answer the question, draw the picture, learn and draw the symbols, and do any rhythmic work related to what we'd learned. This was the only way to finish all 10 numerals in a timely manner. But that pace was hard on Sariah. I don't know if it's because she is a bit of a young 1st grader (by Waldorf standards) or what. By the time we got to writing the numbers, she was generally done and wasn't as careful or attentive as she could have been.
Three was the sun, moon, and stars. It can also be the Godhead for Mormons like us or the Trinity for other Christians. Looking at the body, it can be head, trunk, and limbs... though that was confusing for Sariah. She didn't see how four limbs could be "one". I was surprised and impressed by Sariah's very own answer to this question. She told me, "Three is your eye." How right she was--there are three parts to our eye! I wove that into the story, making up a part where the wise woman tells the girls that there is one thing they have not thought of, "your eye is three". Sariah's eyes lit up and I could tell she felt about ten feet tall when I put that in the story.
This was a painting idea for the number three that we got from Marsha Johnson. Three friends go to the park and slide down the slide together--straight as can be.
FOUR is the seasons, the four winds, or the four directions (east, west, north, south). I felt that the seasons would be easiest to illustrate. With the Roman numerals, we are corresponding the symbol to the fingers. Thus, we portrayed "four" this way and not "IV". Sariah loved learning the Roman numerals and calls them "the ancient numbers" because I told her they were invented in ancient times.
With all the numbers, we did a lot of work with movement and physical activity and tried to use as many senses as possible to work with the numbers. Here is Sariah walking the number on the floor:
Then tracing it with her nose:
And with her bum:
The hopping it on one foot:
Here we worked tactilely by forming both Roman and Arabic numerals out of playdough, then blindfolding her and having her identify them by touch:
I also adapted a game from the east African training manual where I wrote the numbers on cards and taped them to the floor. Then I called out numbers and had her jump to them. When that got too easy, I gave her a sequence of numbers and she had to jump them in order. When that got too easy, I began saying things like, "Jump to how old Preston is" and "Jump to how old you have to be to get baptized". Then, finally, I began saying, "Jump to which number is the sun" or "Jump to which number is your eye". She loved this game!
FIVE is a five-pointed star. It is also your four limbs and your head--the things that stick out from your trunk. Your body can make a star! Five is also the number of fingers on one hand or toes on one foot.
Did you know that the Roman number V comes from holding your five fingers with the four fingers together and the thumb sticking out, forming a V between the thumb and the index finger?
The best thing we found for SIX is the honeycomb shape found in a beehive. That proved extremely difficult for Sariah to draw, so I helped on a few of them. The next day she went back and looked at the picture and looked at the ones she had drawn (which did not have six sides consistently) and was so confused. Also, your eyes, nose, mouth, and ears make six. I guess we could have drawn that. There are also six directions: above, below, in front, behind, left, and right.
SEVEN is the colors in the rainbow and also the days of the week. We had a heck of a time trying to make "indigo" but we did manage to do it so that Sariah's rainbow could have all seven colors. We painted rainbows too, but apparently I didn't get any pictures of them.
EIGHT is the legs on an octopus or spider:
(Dallin's on the left, Sariah's on the right.)
TEN is the number of fingers or toes we each have. It is also the Ten Commandments. The Roman numeral X comes from two V's crossed (crossing your arms, with each hand representing 5).
Finally we were ready to wrap up our story and have our two sisters enter the door in the mountain. The wise woman told them that in order to open the lock, they had to match 10 sets of symbols. Of course, the symbols were the Roman and Arabic numerals:
I wrote each number on a card, and she had to match them together.
Then, voila, the door opened, and inside was...
... The Land of Numeria!
The Land of Numeria is a magical land through which the sisters must travel to get back home. Inside can be found all sorts of fanciful creatures--gnomes, fairies, animals, precious stones, etc. As they travel, they will also learn many wonderful and important things that will help them on their journey and in life. I got up at 5:30 am to sew math gnomes to have ready for Sariah. It was totally worth the lack of sleep to see the look on her face. Her eyes got big as saucers when she opened the little door and saw the gnomes. She knew what they were for because she remembers Dallin's math gnomes from a few years ago. She was so excited! On each gnome's back I embroidered one of the four process symbols: +,-,x, and divide. We will be returning to Numeria in the fall when we have our next math block and begin learning the four operations. The gnomes will be our helpers.
Dallin's face had a shocked look with mouth hanging open too. He said, "She's going to learn DIVISION??? In first grade??? I didn't get to learn that in public school! She's going to be ahead of me!" (Oh, the horrors!)
All in all, it was a successful block. We also did a lot with verse and movement. I had some verses that related to the qualities of each number that we recited each day. I can't find where I put them at the moment. We also did some clapping verses which emphasized beats in 2, 3, and 4. For example, the verse that emphasizes four goes: I laugh, ha, ha, I laugh, he, he. I laugh all day, it pleases me! Ha, ha, laugh I, he, he, laugh I, all day laugh I, then say goodbye. I think I got this from the east African training manual, though I've seen these verses in other places as well. My very favorite rhythmic thing we did were these walking verses: (I'll only post portions....)
I am proper, neat and prim
My walk is straight, my clothes are trim
So count my steps and you will see
That each one is the same for me
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, etc.
(We practiced counting to 30 forward and backward while walking forward and backward.)
Then in two's for the "Grandpa walk":
But MY two STEPS are NOT the SAME
For I must LEAN upON my CANE
Although I'm BENT and WEAK and OLD
I CAN still COUNT my NUMbers BOLD
1,2,3,4, etc.
Then in three's for the little brother:
I'm a LAD, so each DAY
I would MUCH rather PLAY
I can RUN with my BALL
While the NUMBERS I do CALL
1,2,3,4, etc. emphasizing every third number
Then we continued with verses for fours and fives. We walked all over the house doing these. This is perfect preparation for future skip counting and learning of times tables. I've seen these verses in several Waldorf resources.
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