The ninth week of Summer School brought together two themes that look far apart: maths and music.
We stepped into the world of fractions, and the children met it in a way that kept their curiosity alive. A fraction is the first idea where the intuition built up until then stops helping: a child used to counting one by one has to accept that something exists between 1 and 2, and that "a part" can be written with numbers. That is why we began with whole things divided into equal parts rather than with a definition — once you can see the division with your own eyes, the notation follows and frightens nobody.
We then worked on comparing and adding natural numbers, exercises that look simple but only settle after a great deal of practice. The youngest children managed splendidly, and that pleased us most of all: at their age, the courage to attempt a sum in front of the others counts every bit as much as the right answer.
The second half of the week was musical. We explored the C major scale and enjoyed playing together on boomwhackers, the coloured tubes that each sound a different note. They are a fine instrument for a group of children precisely because nobody can play a tune alone: everyone holds one note, has to sound it at the right moment, and the result only appears if all of them listen and wait. It is the most concrete teamwork exercise we know.
The link between the week's two themes is no accident. Both a fraction and a beat are a whole divided into equal parts, and a child who has grasped the idea in one place recognises it more easily in the other.
And the eagerly awaited moment, the Mystery Box, brought its surprises and good cheer this week too.
About the PlusKids Summer School: https://pluskids.ro/en/summer-school