Algebraic Thinking in Kindergarten?

We have all seen those words in our standards....algebraic thinking. You might be thinking...WHAT?!...these kids are in Kindergarten. Yep. You are right. They are and guess what? They CAN do algebra. In fact, it is really easy for them!

 I have had the honor and privilege to be in the presence of some really amazing math gurus and I have to tell you, Greg Tang, by far is my most favorite because he recognizes that we do not need to limit our students based on what the standards depict, but rather going with that they know, what they want to know and what they are capable of learning and doing. This leads me to a time when Greg, or Greggy (as my groupie self likes to refer to him as) approached the subject of algebra in the primary classroom. He started by saying his pen was 5 and his cell phone was 3 and if we put those together how much do we have....8, we have 8 and THAT IS ALGEBRA!


See the amazing thing about this is that with the little ones, in most cases, no one has told them that algebra is hard or dumb or SCARY! With this in mind, I have worked long and hard to figure out a way to put this on paper for students. I think that I have figured it out.

Check out my latest creation!

This is just the start of mind working on getting students comfortable with algebra!