189: My Kindergarten Lesson

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I’ll start with a confession: I’ve never taught kindergarten. Honestly? I don’t think I could. Kindergarten teachers bring superhuman levels of compassion, patience, and organizational magic. They teach kids how to be at school while also supporting families.

Yet I support K–8 math, and as a parent of two kindergarteners, I know exactly what a Monday afternoon classroom feels like. So when a kindergarten teacher asked me to model what math could look, sound, and feel like with deeper engagement, I said yes. Today, you’ll hear the case study that proves Word Problem Workshop is the solution for low-level, boring curriculum tasks.

Here’s the encouragement I want to leave you with: you don’t need a new curriculum. You just need a routine that reveals student thinking. Word Problem Workshop does that — every single time. Even in kindergarten.

So try one step next week. Launch a real problem. Give space. Let kids think. And watch what happens.

🎧 Listen to the full episode, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a review to support more teachers bringing sense-making into math.

❄️ NEW: Join the Winter Break Book Club HERE

If you want a simple, supportive way to deepen your practice over break, join our Word Problem Workshop Winter Book Club. It’s cozy, low-pressure, and designed to refresh your teaching before January hits. You’ll get discussion prompts, coaching insights, and a community of educators who care deeply about student thinking.

Come as you are — pajama coffee, holiday chaos, and all.