The mandalas, a good strategie to relax and to revise geometric figures!

The mandal has its origin in India, its name means "circle or wheel", passing to represent its basic characteristics, although they can be different forms incorporating all the geometric figures.

Drawing or painting is a therapy that is being used more and more every day. Its desing free and its meaning will depend on its shape and colors.

Meaning of the colors:

- Green: nature
-  Pink: love
- Yellow: happiness
- Blue: water
- Red: Passion
- Orange: value
- Purple: wisdom
- Black: sadness
- White: purification

It is also an interesting technique to know how a child is feeling in that moment while s/he is painting with some colors. So, an interesting activity could be make the students create a mandala according to how they feel that day. For the teacher would be really useful to know the students´ feelings and help them when they need. Moreover they also practise the geometric figures!!! What do you think about it?

Let´s go to learn the angles singing!!

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, one of the best way to teach from my personal point of view is singing!!! I think that children love it and the corporal expression is one of the skill that the students have to develop. So, what better way than develop that skills by learning geometry at the same time? 

I consider that the angles is a concept that the students learn better if the teaching is visual, but it is time to change the visual method not only with pictures and, from my personal experience, the kids learn so good by songs, why don´t you try it?

Here´s some examples really interesting that you can use for your children!! I hope you enjoy! 

Videos in spanish: 

This one is so interesting, because it is not a song but it lets to the students think and revise the angles differently. I think that it would be a good tool in order to evaluate the children to replace the traditional exam. What do you think?

Videos in english:

Geometric mock-ups about the city!

As I said in previous spots, the geometry is part of our lives and sorrounds us everyday. Everything has a geometric figures so, a good activity to do in class or at home with the children is creating a mock-up about the city. As you know, the cities are composed by a lot of geometric figures. What do you think about it?
Moreover, we can do it in a transversal way, making the mock-up in the art sessions too. The idea is making in groups and let that every child shows  his or her creativity and imagination.

Here you are some examples of mock-ups of the city. They look amazing!!! I love this idea and what about you? I hope you like it!

The geoplane, a fantastic resource to practise geometry!

It is a fantastic resource to learn maths in a manipulative way!!!
The geoplane was created by Caleb Gattegno in 1960, who looked for a method to teach geometry in a more didactic way. Currently the most of the geoplanes are made of plastic but the origina one consists of an  wood square board with nails that towered out and you could hook elastic bands that were used to represent different geometric figures.

 Calleb Galetano


 A geoplane made of wood

There are three types of geoplane:
1. ORTHOMETRIC: 
A cuadricular weave of 25points the most of the times.

2. CIRCULAR:
A colection of points of a circunference that have the same distance of space. It lets making regular polygons of 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 24 sides. The last one is the most frequent.


3. ISOMETRIC:
A triangular weave. The points are located in the vertexs of the equilateral triangles.



So, to conclude, you can teach this manipulative resources not just to create figures, you can also teach it to study the propierties of an circunference for instance or to solve problems. I think that it is really interesting and it is a way to learn differently.

Here you have some video that show how you can create a geoplane in different ways, I hope you like them!!

Who´s who in mathematics!!

Thinking about the flat figures in class, today my group and I thought about an interesting activity that could be really fun for the students!!

Have you ever played the famous game  who´s who?

If you have never played it, here you have a link  which shows you the rules of the game: http://www.boardgamecapital.com/guess-who-rules.htm

Now, regarding to the theme of maths that we pretend to teach (the flat figures), we are going to teach it playing in this way:

The students can divide in pairs or in groups. One of the student put in his/her forehead a stick with a flat figure drawn and the other student have to describe the flat figure, that s/he is seeing in that moment, with the objective of his or her classmate guesses the flat figure described.

As I said in other spots before, the best way to teach is motivating to the kids, and I consider that this game it is perfect to learn and revise any concept of maths (the flat figures in this case) and you can even use it in any subject aswell!!

So, what do you think about it? I hope you like the idea and you find it useful for your lessons!!

Waldorf Math Lesson

First at all, what is Waldorf Mart lesson about?

The Waldorf pedagogy began in 1990. This educational method was created by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, after the First World War. This educator was given the task of running a school for the children of the Waldorf cigarette factory and this is the reason why he named the method.
 The aim of this method is different in each stage of learning but the main purpose is teaching in a creative way, stimulating the childrens´imagination getting closer to the reality.

If you want more information about this method click here:
- Spanish doc.: https://www.etapainfantil.com/pedagogia-waldorf
- English doc.: http://www.waldorfanswers.org/Waldorf.htm

                                         Rudolf Steiner.

Then, this is a very interesting tool which follows this method whose purpose is learning or revising the multiplication tables at the same time you compose geometric shapes.

I consider that the multiplication tables are always something "difficult" for the students, specially at the beginning. And it is good to revise them frecuently because they can forget them easily due to they are used most of the times at the school.

So, this is the perfect activity to do in class mixing the geomety!!! And you can use it with all the ages and however you want!! 

An example you could do with your students could be: You give to the children a paper with some multiplications they have to resolve, and at the same time they are doing it, they are going to compose the shapes how the video, you will see later,  explains.

Here´s two videos explaining this method doing differently and really interesting!!! when I saw the first time I loved so much because as I said previously, the best way to learn is by playing!! 

I hope you like it and, above all, that it is useful for you!

1st video (in spanish):

2nd video (in english):

What about learning geometry online?

As you already know, we live in a world in which the technological environment surrounds us everyday. Moreover, our kids are very interested in it and they love it! so, what better way to learn geometry online?

I think that it is a different way to teach this subject to our children and really interesting for both teachers and kids. 

Sometimes learning with paper and pencil is boring for the students nowadays due to the technological habit that they are used to. Besides, it can be proved how the children usually learn faster and better using a technological resources that the traditional ones.

That means it is time to new changes and make and effort addapting to the children and the world which exists nowadays!!

The main aim is that our students learn geometry and have fun doing it!!!

Here´s some free apps that they seems to me very interesting and funny that you can use with your children about geometry so... what are you waiting for to take a look?

I hope you like them!!!

The website with the different apps: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/49750770858421083/