We've been spending a lot of time on fractions recently -- on different levels. The seventh-grader is busy converting decimals to fractions and vice-versa, the second-grader is comparing fractions, while the first-grader is recognizing fractions in a set.
They're doing good, so far. At one point, the Little Man even said, "I love fractions!". Honestly, I think it was this Mr. Scratch here that made him so happy to learn about fractions. Nope, maybe it was the cheese shouting, "quarter!" that made him love the video.
So apart from pizza, how do we really make the lesson relatable to kids? We've been talking about fractions a lot and Little Miss' interest is fading. LOL.
We need not go far. Fractions are everywhere, anyway. So we decided to apply fractions in measurements of food ingredients. Mommy loves to bake, and Little Miss loves to help out. This would be a fun way to use fractions in a way that is interesting since we cook every day.
We took out our measuring cups and spoons, and a few handfuls of wheat grains.
We started filling the small cups and counted how many scoops it would take to fill 1 cup.
1/3 cup + 1/3 cup + 1/3 cup = 1 cup!
Weee! 3 scoops of 1/3 cups really made 1 cup. That's addition of fractions for you, Little Miss!
We also tried the same with the half cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon!
Apart from fractions and addition of fractions, we were also able to obviously discuss measurements with a bit of multiplication and division here and there.
Since the activity involved scooping and pouring the grains from one cup to another, fine motor stills were polished too.
"I think I am ready to cook," Little Miss said after a while.
A real life application of her lesson gave her more confidence to take on new tasks and hopefully, hungry for more learnings. We are not learning fractions just because the curriculum asks for it, but instead, through our simple activity, she realized that there are real-life applications to what we're to doing.
At the end of the day, it is important to let the children realize the importance of their lessons in real life scenarios. They will hopefully be more confident in dealing with their day to day activities, knowing that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to get by.
