Five-Year-Old-Fraction-Fun

by Crewton Ramone
(Maui, Hawaii)

This morning we were playing with a pretend baking craft project.

When I asked my 5-year old daughter, Natalia, to line the cups up in order from smallest to largest, that was easy. Most 2 or 3 year olds know bigger and smaller.

However, when we looked at the numbers on the cups (1/2, 1/3, and 1/4) and asked her which one was the smallest, and she said "1/2".

That makes sense because she has only seen whole numbers up to this point. We have talked about sharing (division and fractions) but only with whole numbers.

For example, using the blocks we ask "If 3 mermaids want to share 1 apple, how many pieces should we cut the apple into. She knows three pieces.

This was a perfect opportunity to bring in the math blocks and the fractions kit and relate them to something in the real world (baking and measuring cups).

So when we got out the fractions and looked at 1/2 (the orange pieces on the right in the picture), 1/3 (pink), and 1/4 (yellow) and took those pieces side by side, she could SEE and FEEL that 1/2 is BIGGER than 1/3, and that 1/3 is BIGGER than 1/4.

At that point she said:

"With fractions, the smaller numbers are bigger than the larger numbers.... that's crazy!!"

She totally got it!!

I am very impressed with how quickly she is learning these concepts, and I am equally impressed with how the Mortensen's More Than Math blocks (plug for Crewton Ramone's House of Math) make learning math simple, easy, and fun.

I'm a big fan and super grateful to know that my daughter will never suffer at the hands of a math teacher who doesn't know better!

Thanks, Cewton!

Want to see more free pages & lessons & other free stuff on this site?

Consider a dollar a month.

For $1 per month (the lowest level subscription) you get access to
The
Super Duper Super Secret Facebook Page. 
 
You'll find hours and hours of videos with base ten blocks and information you won't may not find anywhere else not even on this website.  I often post video tutoring sessions there. Other people post vids and links there. Lessons cost the people doing them minimum $50.00 and hour. You can watch 2 to 10 of them a month for a dollar...Do the math. Currently 127 people are there. About half of them are active.
You basically get a support group for a buck a month.


Here's My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/CrewtonRamone

Note: from time to time the passwords change. Simply e-mail me for a new one or a new passport as the case may be. Annual passes are good for one year, lifetime passes are good for as long as the site remains up, (site has been up for eight years now).  All single page passwords have lifetime renewal.

Note: Mortensen Product Ordering Buttons Have Been Removed Due To Shipping/Inventory Issues. i basically DO NOT sell product for them anymore. Use eBay or other sources for base ten blocks.