Exploring Makerspaces as a Spark for Student Innovation

/ By Mary Dournaee, Beautiful Mathematics Curriculum Writer

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With startups popping up all over the bay area, Silicon Valley is known for its successful innovations across a plethora of tech fields. Creative and innovative makers are in high demand here! Our kids, the next-gen young makers, are going to need tons of innovation and creativity to solve the problems of the future. Many educators call for more of this maker mentality and design thinking in their classrooms. Many parents search for these types of opportunities for children in non-traditional educational settings. Segue to... Maker Faire 2019!!!

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Building Resilience and Overcoming Obstacles within Families

/ By Mary Dournaee, Beautiful Mathematics Curriculum Developer and San Mateo Parents Club Webmaster

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In today's hectic world, children and parents alike often experience a multitude of challenges in a typical day. Challenges can easily become frustrations with big emotions and undesirable behaviors. The ability to easily overcome setbacks and manage emotions is integral in building resilience. With resilience comes a greater sense of control and optimism in our lives. This stretches our willingness to take risks and put ourselves out there. Fortunately, resilience can be developed with focused effort and consistent hard work.

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How to Nurture Emotional Intelligence in Children

/ Adapted from an article written by Monica Nazareno, San Mateo Parents Club’s Newsletter Co-Editor

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Jackson quickens his kid-sized strides in an attempt to hurry you, his mom, to the classroom on this busy Monday morning. At the door, parents are smiling, hugging, and waving goodbye as their children enter the classroom for the day. As the two of you stroll together toward the room, intense sobs grow louder and louder. When you enter, your gaze immediately goes across the room to Billy, who is in tears while he clings tightly to his teacher’s leg. Jackson notices Billy, looks up at you with a concerned look on his face and says, “Billy seems really upset.” At that moment, another child reaches for his Lego keychain to quietly show Billy. Next, a third child drops what he’s writing, walks over with outstretched arms and gives Billy a big hug. Soon, Billy calms down, manages a smile, and joins his friends at their spots for table work.

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Losing Labels: Maximize Learning and Minimize Stereotype Threat

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Harper, a super active ten year old, loves elementary school. Indoors, she's getting messy with classroom crafts and projects while outdoors she's running, climbing, and sliding in the playground. Harper remembers circle times, group projects, and partner reading with her friends and teachers. She's sad to leave her elementary school this year, but she's excited to be moving on to junior high school in the fall. Mom and dad also feel enthusiastic as well as a bit apprehensive. How can they encourage Harper to continue learning to focus her attention and thrive in an inclusive learning environment?

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Preventing Summer Slide

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Parents can prevent summer slide, the tendency for children to lose achievement gains, by building curiosity and exploration into their summer plans. To feel successful, children need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months. Summer presents a great opportunity for creative and innovative learning activities that are not necessarily covered in school. During summer, children can explore new and exciting concepts while learning at their own pace. With school pressures on hold, summer could be the season your child discovers how fun learning can be!

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Encouraging a Mathematical Mindset

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Sarah loves elementary school. Indoors, she's getting messy with classroom crafts and projects while outdoors she's running, climbing, and sliding in the playground. Sarah remembers circle and story times at the rainbow rug with her friends and teachers. She's sad to leave her elementary school this year, but she's also excited to be moving on to junior high school in the fall. Mom and dad are also excited as well as a bit concerned. How can they encourage Sarah to continue developing a successful growth mindset?

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Using Creativity and Social Skills to Enhance STEAM Education

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STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education is certainly getting a lot of attention right now. Many programs seek to transform STEM into STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) with the belief that this will drive innovation. What these acronyms are still neglecting is the connection between social intelligence and STEM or STEAM education. More than ever, successful companies rely on effective social networking and creative marketing to reach the public and sell their products. How can we incorporate these essential social and creative skills into our STEAM educational programs?

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How to Encourage Kindergarten Math Readiness

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Michael loves preschool. Indoors, he's getting messy with sensory and pretend play while outdoors he's running, climbing, and sliding in the playground. Michael loves circle time with his friends and teachers. He's sad to leave his preschool this year, but he's excited to be moving on to "big kid" kindergarten in the fall. Mom and dad are also excited as well as a bit concerned. How can they encourage Michael's math readiness for kindergarten?

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Five Tips for Finding an Excellent Math Tutor

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Bryan always succeeded easily in math class; however, this year marked the beginning of his pre-algebra course. Now, Bryan struggles with challenging homework problems and can't seem to connect what his teacher discussed in class to what he is practicing for homework. Bryan's parents feel challenged by the methods shown in his notes. Procedures and strategies have changed so much over the years! An experienced math tutor may be the perfect solution.

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Don't Freak Out About Common Core Math

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Children ask their parents for help with math homework problems, parents take one look and freak out. The wording is unlike anything they've ever seen. Social media outlets are filled with pictures of these confusing math homework problems supposedly based on common core standards. However, much of the criticism and confusion about these situations stems from the actual implementation of the standards.

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Imaginative Math Poems

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One creative way to incorporate literacy into math curriculum is to encourage students to practice their mathematical learning through writing. Composing poems provides students with a meaningful context for reflecting on and consolidating their math learning.

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Geometry Webquest

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A WebQuest is an inquiry-based activity. Students search the Internet for relevant information. Webquests are learner-centered. Instead of passively taking notes, students explore, investigate, and discover information for themselves.

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