Math Monday: New Year's

This is a great time to teach/review calendars, time/clocks and anything using the number 12, especially fractions. You can also focus on the number 10 since 2010 begins a new decade (vocabulary word).

Arithmetic

- Review math facts for numbers 10 and 12 according to what they have learned (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)

- Get a 2010 calendar and write in everyone's birthday that you celebrate. Count up the number of birthdays each month and write an extended equation to see how many birthdays you will celebrate this year.

- Use the numbers in 2010 to form equations using only those 3 numbers (0,1,2). See how many you can come up with.

Word Problems

- Last year, Kelly made 6 resolutions. She kept 3 of them. What percentage of her resolutions did she keep?

- Gage's family is hosting a New Year's Eve party from 8PM until 1AM. How long will the party be?

Time/calendar

- How much more time is left in this year? Express your answer in days, hours, and minutes. (Adjust as necessary for child's ability)

- Test the accuracy of a sand timer or, if you do not know how long the timer should be, determine the time. Watch a second hand on a clock or watch or use a digital timer with a count up feature to see how long it takes for the sand to run out.

- Figure out how many days until your birthday.

- Learn the number of days in each month. An easy way to remember is to make a fist. Touch the first knuckle and say "January", then move to the space between the 1st and 2nd knuckle and say "February", then to the 2nd knuckle and say "March" and so on. When you reach the last knuckle (July), touch it again and say "August" and then continue back across the hand until you reach December on the middle knuckle. Each month that "falls" on a knuckle has 31 days, the others (except February) have 30 days.

- This is also a good time to introduce the military clock. Midnight is 0000 (zero one hundred) hours.

_ You can also discuss time zones and celebrate as different places welcome in the new year.

- Make a calendar for the new year.

Geometry

- Draw some party hats, using different types of triangles (Isoceles, equilateral, acute). This is a good way to reinforce ruler skills and to teach triangle types.

- Draw, or otherwise create, and decorate your own "ball" to drop on New Year's Eve.