At Sholem Aleichem College, we believe in making learning come alive, and our Year 2 students are currently immersed in an exciting mathematical adventure that proves just that! Under the guidance of their dedicated teacher, our young learners are deepening their understanding of multiplication, moving beyond simple repeated addition to explore the mathematical concept of arrays.

This engaging approach is exemplified by their participation in "How Close to 100," a fun and challenging game developed by renowned Stanford Professor of Mathematics, Jo Boaler, and shared on the YouCubed website. This interactive game sees students working in pairs, rolling dice, and then strategically drawing rectangular arrays on a 100-grid sheet. The goal? To fill up as much of the grid as possible! Each array drawn is accompanied by its corresponding number sentence, reinforcing the visual and symbolic representation of multiplication.

This activity is much more than just a game; it's a dynamic learning experience that directly links to the mathematics curriculum and our commitment to excellence in education. By playing "How Close to 100," students are actively building a strong conceptual understanding of multiplication, developing their spatial reasoning, and enhancing their strategic thinking skills. It fosters a love of exploration and learning, allowing children to experience success in a hands-on, enjoyable way.

We are incredibly proud of our Year 2 students for embracing this challenge with such enthusiasm, and we encourage all Sholem Aleichem families to join in the fun! "How Close to 100" is a wonderful game to play at home with dice and grid paper (you can easily draw your own 10x10 grid). It's a fantastic way to spend quality time together while reinforcing essential mathematical concepts in a playful environment.

Let's see how close your family can get to 100!

Nigel Coutts