Jessica Bobo, teacher and math curriculum developer explores play and learningn in a new blog series Inspiring Play In Young Learners: Trust The Child’s Play! on the ORIGO Education blog www.origoeducation.com/blog/trust-the-childs-play/.

Children love to play. And when a child engages in non-scripted, non-structured play, the child is learning how to interact with objects and with others around them. Differences in how children play help to develop problem-solving strategies, language skills, and social-emotional characteristics. The blog series focuses on child’s play and specifically, mathematical play, and how it can be utilized at home and at school, as well as how educators can take the reins once again to empower children’s thinking, creativity, and laughter through the act of play.

Posts include links to ORIGO’s Resource Hub for tips about how to integrate hands-on play activities in the classroom.

ORIGO Education Announces New Program Adoption by Kennewick School District in Washington State

ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 will now be used as part of the school district’s elementary mathematics program

KENNEWICK, Wash. - October 24, 2017 - ORIGO Education and Kennewick School District have partnered to bring a new way of teaching mathematics to classrooms in the 2017/18 school year. After a year-long evaluation process of many math curricula, including the ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0: Comprehensive Mathematics program, Kennewick School District has adopted the program for implementation in the district’s 15 elementary schools. Approximately 350 teachers in K-5 grades will have access to the new program. Click to Tweet.

“We needed a new early mathematics curriculum that emphasized a hands-on approach to learning in the early grades. ORIGO was the best program we found to meet the needs of our early learners because it emphasized hands-on learning and the fundamental development of math concepts and skills we sought,” said Kathy Fisk, Kennewick School District’s K-12 math and science coordinator. “ORIGO Stepping Stones provides several resources from pencil and paper activities to interactive features and online teacher support. It’s adaptable to every classroom.”

ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 (SS 2.0) builds conceptual understanding through language and discourse, powerful visual models and engaging activities that foster student thinking. The program also includes Slate, asuite of interactive instructional tools for teachers, which can be run from a computer or tablet and displayed on a classroom screen or on individual tablets. This flexibility allows the educator to conduct classroom teaching or provide more individualized instruction.

“I love the deep understanding it gives kids. My students have a true understanding of each subject they have learned. It teaches deep, not wide,” said Chenoa Meagher, kindergarten teacher at Kennewick School District. “I am so excited that each lesson and module follows the ‘concrete, pictorial, abstract’ progression of learning. This progression is crucial to their development and I don’t have to supplement anything to accomplish that progression.”

“ORIGO understands that it is vital that teachers cover critical concepts at the onset to help students lay a solid foundation of mathematics before branching on to the next topic,” said Jessica Bobo, the early childhood mathematics consultant and author of ORIGOStepping Stones Pre-K. “SS 2.0 is rich with content and support, including MathEd learning videos and ORIGO One videos, that help teachers develop their mathematics practices.”

About ORIGO Education
ORIGO Education makes mathematics meaningful, enjoyable, and accessible for all students. ORIGO provides printed products, digital interactive resources, and professional learning for educators. The company’s comprehensive mathematics program, ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0, is an award-winning instructional program for grades Pre-K–6. ORIGO also produces free animated ORIGO One one-minute videos to explain critical math concepts beyond the classroom. For more information about ORIGO Education, visit ORIGOEducation.com. @ORIGOmath