2022.07.08

Toyonaka Campus | Blog | 8 July 2022

This month we had our annual Aiwin “Numeracy Week” event, it was great fun and we learned a lot as well. Our event was spread across five days, with each day having separate activities to help us learn about mathematics and concepts in formal logic.

 

On Monday, all the classes began working on a project that would be displayed for everyone to see in the “Math Museum” at the end of the week. Early Nursery class learned about ratios and quantity by balancing objects on a set of toy scales, while Nursery class expanded on this by teaching quantity through buoyancy; how greater numbers of certain objects will eventually sink if enough are placed on a toy ship. Preschool students learned about 3D shapes, and did a safari of 3D shapes located all around the school. Finally, Junior Kindy class made clocks and converted them into sundials. Definitely a good choice considering all the sun we have been getting this summer.

Tuesday was an especially exciting day. While Early Nursery, Nursery and Preschool classes remained at school to work on their projects, Junior Kindy class joined Mikuni Campus on a trip to Banpaku Park! They visited the famous “Tower of the Sun” to discover the secrets it holds inside. In the tower they learned about the evolution of life and, specifically regarding mathematics, learned about sequencing and scale. After visiting the tower we had a lovely picnic in the shade with our Mikuni friends, and ended the field trip by playing a few games together. “Tug of War” and the cup-stacking race were perhaps everyone's favorite activities.

“Math Detectives” was the main activity we enjoyed on Wednesday. During this activity several simple math-based mysteries were placed around the school. The children from each class scouted out the locations of these mysteries and completed them together. Some of these mysteries included matching patterns of shapes on a wall, or reading numbers that were partially obscured. A lot of pattern recognition as well as simple counting and even addition was practiced on this day. It was very fun, especially since we also got to enjoy some special math learning stations after we completed our mysteries.

Many numbers and colors graced our school on Thursday as we had our “Wear Your Math” event. Students and teachers came to school wearing colorful clothing with math concepts or numbers displayed on them. We even had a super cool math superhero come to school! Many of the classes had mini fashion shows and a lot of laughter was had as we all enjoyed the creative and silly things our friends and teachers wore.

 

On the final day, Friday, not only did we put our projects in the Math Museum, but we also had great fun with the “Aiwin Market”. Hosted by Junior Kindy and Preschool classes, the Early Nursery and Nursery classes were able to visit stores and service stands that were set up by Junior Kindy and Preschool classes. The children had a great time pretending to purchase ice-cream, pets and groceries with money that was made and decorated by their older friends earlier in the week. Everyone was able to practice the many nuanced math concepts that accompany the ordinary shopping experience. For the older children, this was doing addition and subtraction at speed, while for the younger children, learning about simple quantities and the sequence of the shopping experience was the primary learning outcome.

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Throughout the week we also had several parents come to school to teach us math concepts, such as geometry or addition. This was especially fun as the learning experience was extended beyond what our teachers present, and included the mommies and daddies of our friends showing how learning isn’t exclusively the domain of our teachers. Thank you to all the parents who participated.

Math week is always an exciting event as it is often when we have our first field trip for the year. More than anything, this is a week that shows us how fun learning can be, especially when it comes to difficult concepts such as those found in mathematics. We had a wonderful time this week and we cannot wait for our next big event!