By Sarah Addae
As I am teaching a block, I often notice all of the different things a particular subject connects to. It is actually amazing sometimes how many different connections exist – not only between subjects, but between different years and grades. I’ve been able to pull in a memory from several grades earlier with the children and point to where we are going in a particular subject.
Math lends a grounding to the social sciences like history. If you’re studying geography, for instance, and you discuss distances, temperatures, topography, and population, in the upper grades, you’re looking at how to use navigational instruments and how to use the stars to navigate. That experience of not knowing where you are but trying to orient yourself from the sky is one that can arise time and again through camping trips and wilderness experiences, too.