Math Centers/Tubs

    Math Center/Tubs are  done very much with the Mathematics Their Way approach.  Students choose a tub filled with various manipulatives.  During the first few weeks the students freely explore the materials.

Free exploration allows the child to ...

• do his/her own thing so later it will be possible to focus on the material as learning material
• sense his/her environment
• satisfy curiosity
• realize that learning takes place in more than one way & with more than one material
• learn from other children
• discover a variety of possibilities with various materials
• have an opportunity to spontaneously discover sorting, counting, pattern, geometry, measurement, balance, comparisons of color, shape, size, weight, sound, etc.
• feel successful
• experience the idea that there are no right or wrong answers
• verbalize ideas
• problem solve
• feel, explore & find out just what possibilities & limitations various materials have
• feel at ease in the classroom because the environment is familiar
• make a decision to get involved in something
• develop language
• share experience & ideas
• awaken his/her senses
• discover likenesses & differences in the world around them
• begin to focus attention on the natural environment
• know the variety within one material so they will be able to focus on those details in order to later build a pattern
• become familiar with the environment so that later, for example, if I want to use unifix cubes for a graph, they will be able to focus on the graph rather than the particular qualities of the unifix cubes-How do they snap together?  What do they feel like?  Can you look through the hole?  How many would it take to stretch to the wall?  etc.
• prepare the children for directed work with the materials

• observe the complexity of the task various children set for themselves & to observe now they react to difficulties in completing their task
• observe how children interact with one another & the different materials
• observe what the children do spontaneously with different materials
•  observe children working with a material without the children trying to “please” the teacher
• observe how a child learns through play
• observe which children are self-directed
• observe language patterns as they discuss with their peers
• have time to assess children’s skills