Who is Jiji the Penguin?

Jiji the Pengiun is hard at work at Elizabeth Hall International School.

JiJi is the beloved penguin in the ST Math software games. Children help JiJi get past obstacles by solving math puzzles – and they associate JiJi with challenge, learning and the thrill of success. Every time a child demonstrates understanding of a math concept, JiJi crosses the screen, signaling success and leading the student to the next more challenging puzzle.

The puzzles that students solve in ST math are directly related to the work we are doing in class.
Once the classroom teacher has assigned puzzles to work on at home, students can work on STMath puzzles on a computer or tablet at home. Click the Jiji picture for more information

How to Learn Math

Jo Boaler is a professor at Stanford University. She has created a wonderful course of ideas and activities for teachers and parents on how people learn math. Does not get into the specific strategies we use, but it shows how our brains work when we are learning, and how we can help children and teens become great at mathematical thinking.


Jo Boaler - How to Learn Math on You Tube

How We Learn - Synapses and Neural Pathways

Talking Math With Your Kids

If you are wondering how to have great math conversations with your children, This blog Talking Math With Your Kids is a really great resource.

The Author, Christopher Danielson, is a local college professor and has written a book for parents Called Common Core Math For Parents (For Dummies). He does a really good job of explaining how to help your child through questioning and learning along with them.

What is Division?

We have been working on equal sharing stories in all grades K-5. These stories are examples of how young children, even kindergarteners can be thinking about division.

Parents can ask children how they would share an amount with a certain number of people and look for explanations like these. Near the end of second grade and in higher grades, children start sharing numbers that have to be split into fractions.

Here’s Why Math is Taught Differently Now

This video explains how the traditional algorithm for multiplication that most of us learned in the US is related to the strategies students are learning today.