HuckleBerry
Center for Creative Learning
Math Games & Mastery Series
A series of 5 standards based math classes designed to take students from basic addition skills to becoming ready for PreAlgebra!
In this fun games, projects and mastery activities series of classes, we will follow along with what you’re doing at home to enhance your child’s understanding and enjoyment of math! Math Games & Mastery has 5 levels,
Math Games & Mastery I = 1st grade standards
Math Games & Mastery 2 = 2nd grade standards
Math Games & Mastery 3 = 3rd grade standards
Math Games & Mastery 4 = 4th grade standards
Math Games & Mastery 5 = 5th grade standards
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Find the level that matches what your child needs to practice, and join us in class for a hands-on experience that helps all kids see themselves as mathematicians! Some students will be learning these concepts for the first time, and some students will be in the class because they need some reinforcement of these ideas. Both types of students will have a great time in class, and walk away with a stronger understanding of math principles.
Math Games & Mastery classes are standards based math classes designed to enhance your HomeSchooling. Students should still be following a curriculum at home to thoroughly learn Math. These classes meet once a week, and students should be practicing math concepts daily to achieve mastery!
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The Math Mastery and Games year-long class is the perfect class for new graduates from our Young Learners program! We’ll start our day with a short lesson and group work on a worksheet, and then move into our games, projects, and strategies part of the class! Sometimes our games will focus on memorization and sometimes our games & projects will focus on strategies and practice. From playing Bingo, Place Value Battleship, and Math Scavenger Hunts to having Math-Offs on the board, the kids will have fun mastering math concepts! Students in Math Mastery will always have at least one worksheet that comes home that indicates some of the skills we are working on.
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Math Games and Mastery I
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Ages: 6-8
Location: In Person
Homework: Optional
Prerequisites:
Students should be able to count to 20, hold a pencil, and do minor writing. Basic knowledge of shapes: Students should be familiar with common shapes such as squares, circles, triangles, and rectangles. It’s OK if your child is still writing numbers backward! That will shift in time.
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Fall:
We will be working on addition and subtraction strategies through the number 20, and quite possibly more. We’ll be using objects to help us understand the underlying principles of addition and subtraction while we first model putting together and then taking apart, and then move into number identification and using worksheets that allow us to switch from concrete understandings to the abstractions we’re all so used to. It’s so important for early mathematicians to see what they are doing with counting, adding, and subtracting before we move to the abstraction of a worksheet, but we’ll get there! We’ll use chips and other objects to practice counting, counting by twos, making 10s, decomposing 10s and so much more!
Winter: Our games will help kids master number bonds that will help them move easily from addition to subtraction. (3+4=7, 7-3=4, 7-4=3) We’ll be grouping numbers in tens and ones and learning about place values up to and including a hundred.
Spring: It’s all about measurement in the Spring! We’ll be getting good at using our rulers and other measuring devices, and also becoming masters of shapes! We’ll put shapes together, take them apart, and identify them all around us as we work with shapes using different tactile experiences. With math, one of the most important aspects is the kids have FUN with the concepts and see themselves as mathematicians!
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Math Games and Mastery II
Teacher: Ms. King
Ages: 7-9
Homework: Optional
Prerequisites: Before enrolling in this course, students should be able to count to 20, hold a pencil, and do minor writing, as well as, have a basic understanding of mathematics at a primary level. They should be familiar with simple addition and subtraction and comprehend the concept of place value, as well as demonstrate introductory knowledge of shapes.
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Class Description:
Welcome to the Math Mastery and Games II (second-grade standards) year-long class of math-tastic adventures where we'll make math fun, exciting, and super understandable! We'll blast through addition and subtraction at light speed without needing our fingers, using cool objects for skip counting and mastering numbers up to 20 and beyond. With energetic games and fun activities like Bingo, Math Go Fish, and Scavenger Hunts that make numbers come to life, we'll be hands-on mathematicians, playing with shapes in clay and on paper, delving into the world of symmetry and area. Our mathematical journey doesn't stop there, as we'll be measuring time to the quarter hour, becoming money wizards, and unraveling the secrets of place value up to and including 1000. We'll tickle our brains in operations and algebra, get cozy with fractions, and discover measurement and data through thrilling problems and interpretations. By the end of the year, not only will we have a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and skills useful in many subjects, but we'll also see ourselves as brilliant mathematicians who've had stacks of fun while learning!
Fall: In the Fall trimester, students focus on Operations and Algebraic Thinking, where they solve one- and two-step word problems, apply mental strategies for addition and subtraction within 20, identify if a group of objects has an odd or even numbers and utilize addition to find the total number of objects in rectangular arrays. In the subject of Measurement and Data, the children learn to measure the length of objects using various tools and measure a single object twice using different length units. They also learn about the three-digit number system, and skip-count by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 100s.
Winter: In this session we encourage estimation strategies in Operations and Algebraic Thinking to make reasonable estimates, and mentally add or subtract 10 or 100 to and from numbers within the range of 100-900. In the domain of Measurement and Data, students are asked to estimate lengths using different units and compare the lengths of two objects. For Numbers and Operations in Base Ten, the goal is to read and write numbers up to 1000 and compare two three-digit numbers.
Spring: In the Spring term of Trimester 3, Operations and Algebraic Thinking involve interpreting products and quotients of whole numbers and solving word problems involving multiplication and division within 100. In the sector of Measurement and Data, they learn to tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure or estimate the volumes and masses of objects. In Number and Operations in Base Ten, students round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100, fluently add and subtract within 1000, and work with multiplication on one-digit numbers
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Math Games and Mastery III
Ms. King
Ages: 8-10
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Homework: Provided and required. Plan on 30 minutes of homework per week.
Prerequisites:
Should be comfortable with the basics of addition, subtraction, and multiplication, and understand how to work with multi-digit numbers, measurement, and object classification. They should also know about geometric shapes and their properties, how to solve problems using reasoning and measurement tools, and be good at addition and subtraction up to 20 as well as solving related word problems.
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Class Description:
Welcome to a game and activity-filled, year-long mathematical journey where your child will encompass diverse skills like multiplication, and division, mastering fractions, and gaining a solid understanding of geometry. Starting with the intricacies of skip counting and the concept of "fast adding," we'll gradually move on to memory tricks for multiplication that will lead to division. Reinforcement exercises at home are encouraged, with games and interactive activities like multiplication board games, Around the World with division, and fun Math-Offs on the board, supplementing our in-class lessons for tactile comprehension. Diving into fractions, we'll start with units and proceed toward addition, subtraction, ordering, and manipulation using our freshly acquired multiplication skills to generate equivalent fractions. Our unique take on geometry will empower your child to associate multiplication with shapes as they learn to calculate area by splitting squares and rectangles into equal units. Expanding our numerical understanding to a million, multi-digit multiplication, division, improper, mixed, and proper fractions will be gracefully interwoven into the curriculum, eventually transitioning into decimals - a valuable skill for being money-savvy! A final touch of mystery-solving activities involving team-based word problems will encourage the application of learned mathematical principles, ensuring geometry isn't seen as complex but rather, intriguing. All the while, your child will not only have significantly sharpened their mathematical abilities but also have fun, cultivating a mathematician's mindset, ready for a thrilling journey!
Fall: During the Fall trimester, your child will begin learning key math skills involving multiplication and division. We'll expand their understanding of numbers up to a million, introduce the concept of fast adding, and practice skip counting. We’re also going to start teaching them some clever memory tricks to help them rapidly recall multiplication facts, which will be crucial as they move onto division. As we transition further into the trimester, we'll begin teaching your child about decimals, a critical skill they'll need to understand and manage money effectively.
Winter: In the Winter trimester, we will focus extensively on mastering fractions. Your child will get hands-on experience using their multiplication skills to generate equivalent fractions and delve deeper into the universe of fractions. They will continue their exploration with unit fractions, addition, subtraction, ordering, and how to manipulate them effectively. To add more complexity, we’ll also begin multi-digit multiplication and division. We’ll integrate working with improper fractions, mixed numbers, and proper fractions into the curriculum to ensure a thorough understanding.
Spring: Come Spring, we will start introducing some fun mystery-solving activities that involve solving team-based word problems. These activities are designed to encourage the application of the mathematical principles they’ve learned so far. Also, your child will start their journey into geometry. They will learn to associate multiplication with shapes, specifically how to calculate an area by splitting squares and rectangles into equal units. Throughout this trimester, we'll continue to strengthen and build upon their geometry skills, setting a solid foundation for them in the coming years.
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Math Games and Mastery IV
Ms. King
Ages: 8-10
Homework: Provided and required. Plan on 45 minutes of homework per week.
Prerequisites: a comprehensive understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Comfortable using numbers up to 100 and has a basic knowledge of multiplication and its relation to division, Able to solve single-step word problems using any of the four operations and understand the concept of 'area.' Additionally, able to comprehend the place value of numbers and have the proficiency to round off whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
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Class Description:
In our engaging, year-long class, we aim to instill a firm understanding of mathematical principles enjoyably, helping children see themselves as confident mathematicians! We will begin by ensuring mastery over multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, rooting our knowledge in place values up to 1,000,000. We'll remind your child how ½ of a pizza can easily become 2/4 when the pizza is cut into fourths, emphasizing the need to memorize multiplication tables to simplify calculations. With this firm foundation, we will venture into the skill of estimation through fun games and projects, such as Scavenger Hunts, Math Bingo, and Fast Fraction Face-Offs! Our mathematical journey takes us back to the fascinating land of fractions, where we'll be multiplying fractions with variant forms of 1 to find their equivalents, using both objects and worksheets for practice. We will dive deep into fraction and decimal conversions, supported by our further enhanced place value understanding, turning 3/10 to 0.3 effortlessly. The fun doesn't stop there; we've got the 'money magic' in-store to familiarize your child with handling money while understanding basic mathematical concepts! We will make word problems interesting by working in teams, turning our learning into a mystery-solving adventure. In our geometry unit, we will explore different figures, describing and categorizing them based on different attributes. Along with this, we will leap into the 3D space, creating our own 'Volume Village' as we learn about volume measurement. BattleShip-like games will introduce us to the coordinate plane, introducing the concept of negative numbers also. Above all else, we aim to make these concepts fun, fostering a love for math among your children.
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Fall: During our fall trimester, start with multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These principles will be anchored in knowledge of place values up to 1,000,000. We aim to move beyond memorization, demonstrating how real-world situations, such as dividing a pizza, requires a clear understanding of these concepts. We will also learn the adaptation of fractions, for example, how ½ of a pizza can be interpreted as 2/4 when cut into fourths. In addition, the importance of memorizing multiplication tables to simplify calculations will also be emphasized. They will step up to learn the skill of estimation. This extends further into the realm of fractions; students will multiply fractions by various forms of 1 to find their equivalents, learning to use both tangible objects and paper worksheets to solve problems!
Winter: In our winter trimester, students will have a chance to apply their foundational knowledge in multi-digit operations to commensurate experience in the numbers world. Next, our class will explore fraction and decimal conversions, accompanied by our increased understanding of place values, turning fractions like 3/10 into decimal values like 0.3 with ease. We will incorporate the 'money magic,' teaching children how to handle money while reinforcing learned mathematical concepts.
Spring: In the spring we aim to make learning fascinating by solving word problems in teams, turning our educational journey into an adventure of solving mysteries. As we delve into our geometry unit, we will discover different figures, observing and classifying them according to manifold attributes. Concurrently, we will venture into 3D spaces, giving life to our 'Volume Village' as we comprehend volume measurement. Much like the game Battleship, we will acquaint ourselves with the coordinate plane, introducing the concept of negative numbers. Primarily, our goal is to ensure these concepts are engaging and enjoyable, promoting a passion for math among your children.
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Math Games and Mastery V
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Ages: 9-11
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Homework: Plan on 45 hours/minutes of homework per week.
Prerequisites: Grasping and applying addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, long multiplication, and division, understanding fraction equivalence, performing basic fraction operations, interpreting decimal notations for fractions, and comparing decimal fractions, familiarity with concepts of a rectangle's area and perimeter; basic understanding and application of geometric concepts is preferred.
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Class Description:
In this year-long games and project mastery class, we'll begin by ensuring complete mastery of multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. We will then move on to continue our place value understanding needed for fraction-to-decimal conversions as this is the year where we focus on fractions conversions to decimals to percents and back again! This class requires a thorough understanding of place value up to the hundredths for these conversions. We’ll extend our fraction learning to adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators, and start multiplying and dividing fractions. We'll also work with decimal addition and subtraction, understanding its money application while enjoying games such as Money Bingo, as we continue decimal-to-fraction conversions learning with fun fraction board games! This extensive practice in fractions and decimals will pave the way for mastering the concepts of ratios and rates, using real-life examples always tied to fun activities like baking cookies or running a lemonade stand. We will also explore more complex geometric concepts, like volumes of three-dimensional shapes, integrated with games and creative projects like "Volume Ville."
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Fall: We'll begin by ensuring complete understanding and mastery of multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Next, the focus will veer towards strengthening place value understanding, which is a prerequisite for fraction-to-decimal conversions. This is the trimester in which we delve into fractions conversions to decimals and vice versa! A robust understanding of place value is a must for these conversions, extending right up to the hundredths.
Winter: This trimester branching out from fraction conversion and place value, we will introduce the addition and subtraction of fractions having different denominators. The Winter term also introduces decimal addition and subtraction, enhancing understanding through its practical application in managing money. Interactive games like Money Bingo will provide an enjoyable learning atmosphere while we press forward in our decimal-to-fraction conversions journey, bolstered by captivating fraction board games. We will also, start to explore more complex mathematical concepts. This includes mastering ratios and rates, always tied to real-life examples and entertaining activities like baking cookies or running a lemonade stand.
Spring: By this stage, our extensive practice in fractions and decimals throughout the year will have laid a firm groundwork for understanding these concepts. Our exploration of geometry also takes on a more complex note this trimester, as we start to examine the volumes of three-dimensional shapes. Games and creative projects like "Volume Ville" continue to provide a fun-filled, engaging learning environment in which students can genuinely appreciate and master these concepts.