Dear WIS Community,
My last Oryx entry for the 2023/2024 school year will revolve around ways you can extend learning over the winter break. I can hear you think this is the last thing you want to do, not least your child - get into arguments over boring worksheets! But it doesn't have to be that way. Below are a few ways you can practise maths and literacy with your child in a fun and engaging way whilst strengthening their skills. As Ethan's article in last week's Oryx pointed out, we have seen significant growth in our MAP Growth scores. This growth is a result of the collaborative efforts of our students, teachers, and the entire school community. With the continued support and involvement of parents, I believe we can strive for even further progress in 2024/2025!
Why practise Mathematics?
Mathematics is the foundation for many aspects of our daily lives, from counting and measuring to using patterns and relationships to make estimations and predictions. Maths helps us carry out important tasks such as cooking, travelling, managing money, using technology, participating in sports and arts, following instructions, managing time, and solving problems.
Here are some fun and engaging activities you can try with your child over the winter break:
1. Cooking and baking: Involve your child in measuring ingredients, doubling or halving recipes, and discussing fractions and proportions.
2. Grocery store maths: Have your child estimate the total cost of items in the cart, calculate discounts, and determine the best deals.
3. Geometry scavenger hunt: Challenge your child to find and identify various geometric shapes in everyday objects around the house or neighbourhood.
4. Maths-inspired art projects: Explore concepts like patterns, symmetry, and tessellations through drawing, painting, or digital art.
In addition to these activities, playing maths games with an adult or family member can encourage children to engage with basic number concepts alongside problem-solving and reasoning in a more inclusive environment. Research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) suggests that maths games develop key skills for life by encouraging children to think about and plan their own game strategies more explicitly. This promotes self-regulated learning, which involves cognition, metacognition, and motivation. Engaging in maths games with an adult or family member enables children to develop these skills in an encouraging and safe environment. There is also evidence that board games with linearly arranged, consecutively numbered, and equal-sized spaces may be particularly beneficial to numerical understanding by providing opportunities for developing strategies such as 'counting on'.
Here are some great maths games to try:
1. Number Bingo: Create bingo cards with numbers instead of letters, and call out simple maths problems for players to solve and mark off.
2. Fraction Matching: Make a memory-style game with pairs of cards showing equivalent fractions, decimals, and percentages.
3. Tangram Challenges: Use tangram pieces to create specific shapes or designs, encouraging spatial reasoning and problem-solving.
4. Maths Twister: Create a Twister mat with numbers and maths symbols, and call out equations for players to solve with their hands and feet.
5. Dice Games: Use dice to create simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division games, such as "Pig" or "Farkle."
Another great way to support your child's mathematical development is through reading. Literacy and maths are closely connected, and many children's books incorporate mathematical concepts in engaging and accessible ways. Here are a few excellent titles you might want to browse through with your child:
1. "The Grapes of Math" by Greg Tang
2. "One Hundred Hungry Ants" by Elinor J. Pinczes
3. "Math Curse" by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
4. "The Lion's Share" by Matthew McElligott
5. "Bedtime Math" series by Laura Overdeck
The key is to make these activities enjoyable and engaging for your child. By incorporating maths into everyday activities, experiences, games, and reading, you'll help your child develop a positive attitude towards the subject and build a strong foundation for future learning. If you need a reference for Maths, or some help in explaining certain concepts to your child, I am linking all the family letters that you received throughout the year here.
Reading
Reading is a fundamental skill that opens doors to learning, imagination, and success in life. As parents, we play a crucial role in nurturing our children's love for reading and helping them develop strong literacy skills. Research has shown that reading aloud to children is one of the most effective ways to promote literacy development. It exposes them to rich vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and a variety of genres, while also fostering a love for books and reading.
Inspired by the book "The Read-Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease, which emphasises the importance of reading aloud to children of all ages, here are some engaging activities you can try with your child over the winter break:
1. Family Read-Aloud Sessions: Choose a book that appeals to the entire family and set aside time each day to read together, discussing the story, characters, and themes.
2. Reading Scavenger Hunt: Create a list of reading challenges (e.g., read a book with a blue cover, read a poem, read a non-fiction book) and have your child hunt for books that fit each category.
3. Storytelling Prompts: Provide your child with story starters or writing prompts and encourage them to create their own tales, either in writing or through oral storytelling.
4. Vocabulary Games: Play word games like "Word of the Day," where family members take turns introducing and using a new word in conversations throughout the day.
In addition to these activities, there are numerous literacy games that can make reading and writing fun and interactive for children:
1. Word Bingo: Create bingo cards with sight words or vocabulary words, and play a traditional bingo game with a literacy twist.
2. Rhyming Matching: Make pairs of cards with rhyming words and play a memory-style matching game.
3. Story Dice: Use story dice or create your own dice with story elements (e.g., characters, settings, objects) to generate unique story ideas.
4. Magnetic Poetry: Provide your child with magnetic word tiles and encourage them to create poems or short stories on the fridge or a magnetic board.
5. Book-Inspired Charades: Have players act out scenes or characters from favourite books, encouraging everyone to guess the title or character.
To further support your child's literacy growth, consider exploring these highly recommended children's books:
1. "The Read-Aloud Family" by Sarah Mackenzie
2. "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo
3. "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
4. "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick
And finally….
When I look at the picture above, it captures two very important words: 'growth' and 'belonging'. These three boys have been classmates at WIS for the past three years, and have grown and learned together, forming a strong sense of community and belonging that our school fosters.
As the end of the year approaches, we find ourselves in the bittersweet moment that is characteristic of international schools. We celebrate the growth and achievements of our students while also bidding farewell to those who are leaving for new adventures in different parts of the world. Although challenging, this transient nature of our community presents unique opportunities for personal growth, resilience, and the development of open-minded, empathetic global citizens.
As we say goodbye, we celebrate the memories and experiences we have shared, recognizing the strength of the friendships formed here. To all our students: cherish the growth you have achieved and the sense of belonging you have found at WIS.
To all our parents: It has been a pleasure working with your children and watching them grow as mathematicians, readers, writers, artists, and athletes. I hope that the activities and ideas shared in this article will help you continue to foster their love for learning and exploration during the break. I wish you and your family a joyful, restful, and rejuvenating winter break and look forward to welcoming back all our amazing students in the new year, ready to embark on new adventures together.
To the families who are not returning next year, we wish you all the best in your future endeavours and hope that you will cherish the memories and friendships made during your time at WIS.
Happy holidays!
Marcelle van Leenen | Primary School Principal
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