When my youngest was in first grade, I got a taste of Waldorfish math when I ordered the first grade curriculum from Oak Meadow. This curriculum included charming stories about the math gnomes and their adventures. Each gnome had a name (add, multiply, subtract, and divide) and a symbol. I made my son a set of plush math gnomes from some felt and wool. They were cute and cuddly and a huge hit. I bought a bag of glass marble type things from the local Dollar Store to be "gems" for the gnomes. He loved this arrangement and was quite happy to play with them and do the hands-on math the curriculum suggested. I can't say enough good things about the story approach to math.
My son is dyslexic and has struggled to master reading, but working with the math gnomes helped him explore math and make sense of it in his way and time. I have spent time online looking at Waldorf math stories. There are many fantastic stories available as well as making up your own. As a storyteller, I love to memorize or make up math stories to use in lessons. Christopherus curriculum uses math squirrels instead of gnomes. I love the idea of woodland critters as math story characters!
So, what is meant by a "math story"? When I first came to Waldorf education, I can remember wanting to know what a math story looks like. Here is an example of a math story and how you might use it to teach the concept of Roman numerals.
Once there lived a very young shepherd. He was a very responsible boy and had been chosen by the villagers to take care of their sheep. Each morning he would take the sheep to the pasture to graze. The sheep would wander all over looking for the choicest bits of grass to munch. The shepherd was very careful to keep a close watch on his sheep. He would stand on the little rise and look to the left and right keeping a constant count of how many sheep he could see. There were 12 sheep in his care and one day he devised a game to keep up with them. He took a little handful of sticks and made shapes to count his sheep. When he counted the sheep to the left of him, he would put the symbol he had made to his left. When he counted the sheep on his right, he could put the symbol for them on his right. In this way, he was able to keep track of his sheep from morning to night. The symbols that he used are I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII.
After telling this story to your child, you could provide a peg person shepherd, 12 cotton balls for sheep, and a little handful of sticks. Your child could then expand the story by making the Roman numerals out of sticks and acting out the shepherd and sheep story by putting a handful of cotton balls on each side of him and then make the number with the sticks. Your child could then copy the numerals into their main lesson and possibly add a picture of the story. Using stories to teach math is a brilliant way to help math concepts "stick". This example was only one of many ways that Waldorf math is magical. Waldorf Essentials also has a wonderful geometry resource that we use and love. Make an appointment with yourself to explore the world of Waldorf math. Rediscover math with your children and make it magical!
