Let’s explore the very important concept of sequencing in coding

Posted on Apr 12, 2021

Computers are awesome, but they lack a really important skill we humans have: common sense. If we’re walking down a supermarket aisle and there’s a bag of sugar spilled all over the ground, we have the common sense to walk around it — not through it! If we’re driving our car and the GPS tells […]

How computers work: Hardware vs. software for kids

Posted on Apr 5, 2021

Phones, computers, and tablets – oh my! Devices everywhere, every day, all the time! But what exactly makes them work? If you guessed hardware and software, you’d be right! Hardware and software are like the nuts and bolts or peanut butter and jelly or pizza and melty cheese of the computer world – you can’t […]

What is Coding?

Posted on Mar 29, 2021

Exploring coding basics for kids Computers are pretty incredible. But they can’t think for themselves (yet, anyway). They need people to do the thinking for them, and not just any people – coders (sometimes called programmers)! Coders write special instructions that tell computers what to do to achieve a specific outcome. Thinking like a programmer […]

Social emotional learning in math for kids

Posted on Mar 15, 2021

Social emotional learning in math for kids Math is just about numbers, right? Actually, no! Math is about all kinds of things, like sorting patterns, counting plates of spaghetti, directions, and adding and subtracting doughnuts. And not only are there a whole lot of different things to teach kids in math, but there are also a whole lot of […]

Simple probability math for kids: Certain, possible, impossible

Posted on Mar 1, 2021

When we talk about probability math (no, not probably — prob-a-bil-ity), we talk about how likely something is to happen. We explore the possible vs. impossible. In other words, we use probability basics to figure out the likelihood of events occurring. Think of it as the mathematical version of fortune-telling, but without the crystal ball. In our […]

Data for kids: Teaching data organization and analysis

Posted on Feb 15, 2021

Data is a collection of information that we can sort and use to understand things, like how many shoes we own, how many kids in our family have blue eyes, and how many people on planet Earth prefer summer over winter. Every day, humans create about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data! So, whether you say day-ta or dar-tar, data organization and […]

Which way is up? Learning about direction and locations

Posted on Feb 1, 2021

Serious question: where are you? Maybe you’re cozied up on your couch in the northern hemisphere. Perhaps you’re precisely 3,333 miles from the Eiffel tower. Or maybe you’re to the left of your bookcase and to the right of your desk lamp. When someone asks us, ‘Where are you?’, we use positional language. We use directional words […]

How to sort shapes by attributes

Posted on Jan 18, 2021

Shapes are everywhere. Look down, and you’ll see fallen leaves, each with a unique shape, round beetles, and rectangular picnic rugs. Look up, and you’ll see the circular sun and fluffy clouds. Shapes have attributes, and we can use shape attributes to sort shapes. Pretty neat, huh? In this math video for kids (at the bottom […]

Patterns for kids: Start making real-life patterns now!

Posted on Jan 4, 2021

Patterns are all around us. We see patterns in real life, and if we’re extra observant, we can start identifying patterns in math. We can hear patterns, too, and when we learn the rules of a pattern, we can start making predictions. You heard it here first. Predicting patterns gives us fortune-telling powers. With a […]

Measurement for kids: Measuring length, distance, and heights, oh my!

Posted on Nov 30, 2020

So, you want to teach the kids all about comparing heights and widths? Well, we have your back. Our measuring lesson covers must-know concepts: standard vs. non-standard units, salamanders, measuring length and distance, and cows wearing funny hats. As we said, must-know concepts. Before we get into the good stuff, let’s start from the beginning. […]