Tag Archives: games

What is a number? – First week of Kindergarten Math

Posted on September 9, 2016 by aofradkin

My first week of teaching has been a lot of fun!  This post is about some of the things we did with the Kindergartners. On the first day, after introductions and getting to know each other, I asked them what … Continue reading →

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Diagonal is not straight

Posted on May 25, 2016 by aofradkin

Zoe and I often play games where one of us makes a figure with some objects (stones, chips, snap-cubes, etc.) and the other one has to make an identical figure.  Today, for this purpose, we were using an old Russian … Continue reading →

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Nonstandard Division

Posted on May 12, 2016 by aofradkin

The game Labyrinth has been a recent favorite at our house.  However, this post isn’t so much about the game itself, but rather about Zoe dealing with a certain aspect of the setup: dividing a pile of cards evenly between … Continue reading →

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Fun Math Festival (Russian version)

Posted on February 18, 2016 by aofradkin

[This is the Russian version of the guest post made by my sister, Yulia Shpilman, about the awesome math festival that she organized last weekend.] Ну вот, наконец мы провели у себя в Филадельфии мат игротеку (спасибо Жене Кац за … Continue reading →

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Fun Math Festival

Posted on February 18, 2016 by aofradkin

[This is a guest post made by my sister, Yulia Shpilman, about the awesome math festival that she organized last weekend.] So I finally did it!  I organized a math festival (thank you to Jane Kats for her inspiration and … Continue reading →

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Random Walks through a-MAZE-ing Triangle

Posted on October 1, 2015 by aofradkin

The main activity for last weeks lesson with the first and second graders was adapted from the book Math Circles for Elementary School Students by Natasha Rozhkovskaya (and it will likely be the first of many). The kids were split … Continue reading →

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“Where’s the animal?” – A fun game for all ages.

Posted on September 29, 2015 by aofradkin

Yesterday, Katie dug up a game that she really liked to play a couple of years ago, but hasn’t played in a while.  I was quite surprised to discover that Zoe is now capable of playing and enjoying the game … Continue reading →

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First class of the year: 2-pile NIM

Posted on September 16, 2015 by aofradkin

Last Sunday we had our first lesson of the year at the Golden Key Russian School – an event that inspired me to start blogging again after the long summer break.  This year I am teaching two groups, one consisting mostly … Continue reading →

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String theory and practice

Posted on June 10, 2015 by aofradkin

Part I: Zoe Zoe really liked her aquamarine pants with two strings. She liked playing with the strings, and she liked counting them: one, two.  Then, one day, she pulled a little too hard on one of the strings, and … Continue reading →

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(Mis)playing Games

Posted on May 15, 2015 by aofradkin

I really like playing games with my kids, and we have quite a few of them.  However, until recently, many games had to be kept out of Zoe’s reach because she  would rip cards, destroy boards, and lose small pieces. … Continue reading →

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