We're continuing our summer of math fun with the entertaining (yet educational!) book, Fun with Roman Numerals by David Adler. Learning about Roman numerals can be a little confusing for some kids. Not only do they have to learn different symbols for numbers, they also have to learn that the order in which they are arranged is important.
If your child is learning about Roman numerals, don't panic! Adler does a great job of presenting them to kids in an engaging manner. My kids enjoyed learning about all the different ways in which Roman numerals are used today (in clocks, book chapters, and even the Super Bowl, for example) and they especially loved Miller's illustrations, which do a great job of reinforcing the text.
THE ACTIVITY:
After reading the book, my kids wanted to try their hand at writing out Roman numerals. So we came up with several activities to help them practice.
• The kids took turns writing their ages and then their birthdates on some thin cardboard pieces using a black marker.
• I also gave them some play-dough and a list of numbers and had them sculpt them out.
• Perhaps the best project was creating their own clock face. The kids took a bowl and traced around it on a piece of construction paper, then carefully labeled the hours.
• We also happen to have an old clock with one Roman numeral that was drawn incorrectly. I challenged my daughter to find the mistake, which she really enjoyed. Here's a picture in case you'd like to challenge your own child to find the mistake.
Happy learning!