Making Waves with Math

November 1, 2025 Marisa Macy

“Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world.” ~The Beach Boys

Last month I wrote about developmental waves related to language and early literacy. I shared how my little one and I created learning opportunities at the beach. We explored storytelling by the seaside. This month the topic relates to how young children develop and learn math skills.

Families can play a role in their child’s math development. I had a chance to talk about this topic on my University of Wyoming College of Education podcast episode #3 entitled, “Working with Families.” I shared some of the research my colleagues and I have been doing, as well as practice oriented strategies to partner with families of children. Math opportunities could also be embedded into activities like a day at the beach or children’s familiar routines. While playing with toes on feet, we could embed math concepts. For example, we could count toes on each foot and create playful moments with storytelling.

Developmental waves with math occur during familiar routines, play, and small and/or large group activities. Embedded learning opportunities could be planned or spontaneous. Learning opportunities could be child-directed or adult-directed. There are many ways we can teach children who are developing their math skills. University of Wyoming professor of mathematics, Dr. Scott Chamberlin, spoke about how math skills could be taught on the BUTTERCUP podcast episode. Curriculum of all types can be considered for supporting math learning in young children. For example, the AEPS-3 has a Math area that can be used with a curriculum and assessment.

Early childhood professionals can support children’s math development by using a high quality curriculum-based assessment that has undergone research. The AEPS-3 incorporates authentic assessment in math with a companion curriculum to teach the targeted skills for children with and without disabilities. There are crosswalks created for state early learning standards, For an example of how Wyoming state learning standards align with the CBA see the Wyoming math alignment here (click). https://aepsinteractive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AEPS-3-Wyoming-Early-Learning-Standards_FINAL.pdf

For other state math alignments, see website. If you’re interested, click on the link below that will take you to the math blog I wrote about the AEPS-3 for Brookes Publishing. Link to Math information here: How AEPS-3 Supports Early Math Skills in Young Children.

When my daughter was in kindergarten she came home from school one day with a self-portrait entitled, “Math About Me.” It was a life size cut out of her holding a poster. On the self-portrait poster it showed how she saw herself portrayed in math concepts. She personally represented math ideas (e.g.., like how many?) and what they meant to her. Here are the six ideas that were represented on her hand drawn poster:

· I am 6 years old.

3+3=6

5+1=6

4+2=6

6+0=6

· I was born on this day….

· I have ___ pets.

· There are ____ people in my family.

· My favorite number is 3.

1+2=3

3+0=3

· I have lost 3 teeth so far.

The Montessori approach has many ways to create math learning. Dr. Maria Montessori was trained in Rome to become a medical doctor. Her early work was with children who were experiencing homelessness, as well as children with delays/disabilities. Her philosophy of education was revolutionary at the time, and she believed children had a right to high quality early learning experiences.

While I was in Italy, I had a chance to visit preschoolers in a municipal Montessori school. Children were learning about math using Montessori materials with their trained Montessorian teachers as shown in some pictures below.

Preschoolers in a municipal Montessori school in Italy exploring math concepts.

Montessori materials in a municipal Montessori school in Italy.

A picture of Dr. Maria Montessori hangs in every classroom at the municipal Montessori school I visited in Italy.

Two educators, Fred Rogers and Loris Malaguzzi, must have also had a love of numbers. Mr. Rogers, from United States, had his #143. It was his way of saying, “I love you” with math.

1 (I)

4 (love)

3 (you)

Loris Malaguzzi, from Italy, is known for his famous poem, “No Way. The Hundred Is There.” Some of the lines from his poem are:

“…a hundred languages

a hundred hands

a hundred thoughts

a hundred ways of thinking

of playing, of speaking.”

1+4+3= Fred Rogers

💯 + 💯 + 💯 + 💯 and 💯 more = Loris Malaguzzi

For the love of numbers and children, why not make some waves with math moments today.

Developmental Waves with Literacy

October 1, 2025 Marisa Macy

I was in the middle of painting my toenails when this happened. My little one and I created a story using our toes, a pen, and imagination. We can create embedded learning opportunities for literacy with children when we follow their lead.

Creating stories with our toes. Playful moments at the beach with language and story telling.

Polishing my toenails when the opportunity to create stories happened at the beach.

States across America have literacy standards for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. We can support literacy development with children when we use a high quality curriculum-based assessment (CBA). The AEPS-3 is a CBA that incorporates authentic assessment in literacy with a companion curriculum. It can be used to teach the targeted skills for children with and without disabilities. For example, Wyoming learning standards for children align with the CBA.

Authentic assessment of children’s literacy learning and development can inform goals (Macy, 2024). When assessing early literacy development, align the information to the child’s individualized goals and the early childhood curriculum. Child development is enriched with meaningful opportunities that are relevant for children (Slanda & Macy, 2022). Reading with children when they are little can be a way to create routines around language activities. Find times during the day to read with children and use literature that interests you and your children. When you enjoy what you’re reading, children see how much fun reading can be.

Early learning focused on reading should be enjoyable. Make reading fun with games for children (Macy & Macy, 2016). On a recent episode of the BUTTERCUP podcast episode 73, the University of Wyoming professor shared many ideas for supporting literacy. Dr. Tracy Spies shared how adults can nurture children’s language and literacy growth.

The third edition of the AEPS includes an area devoted to Literacy, as well as Math (Bricker et al., 2022). It took us 17 years to create these two new domains. We started in 2005 and the third edition was published in 2022. The reason we added preacademic content to the AEPS came from demand from the field. Teachers were asking for it. These newly developed areas (i.e., Literacy and Math) of the AEPS-3 are aligned with early childhood state standards in all states. I was invited by Brookes Publishing to write a blog about AEPS-3 Literacy (Macy, 2025).

Their invitation got me thinking about how to create fun ways to teach literacy and foster language development in children. When my daughter was little we had a toy with letters. The letters were about 2 x 2 inches that could be placed into a defined space that played a song about how to make the sounds for each letter. It went something like this: “B say buh. B says buh. Every letter makes a sound. B says buh.” This song varied slightly depending on the letter sound association. Alphabetic principles were made fun by playing with the sounds and music. It was a way to play with letter sound associations. Phonemes are units of sound. Think of root word “phone” and it is all about sounds we hear. Children start to develop phonemic awareness by listening and participating in story time, singing songs with repetitive patterns and physical movement, and more.

Alphabetic principles (e.g., identifying letters, making letter and sound associations, etc.) are part of emergent literacy development. These plastic letters in the picture above were made with a 3D printer in our school maker space. Every letter makes at least one sound. Some of our letters make multiple sounds in English.

Can teaching early literacy skills be like a day at the beach? Why not. Early literacy opportunities are all around us.

Lake Louise in Wyoming.
“*Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.*” *~Van Morrison*

Enlighten

September 1, 2025 Marisa Macy

Babies enlighten us with their capabilities. In Italian, dare alla luce means to give light. We can say this when a baby is born and they bring light to the world. Babies seek information from their social environment. They can orient to sounds, and their eyes can focus about 6 inches from their face which allows newborns the ability to stare into the eyes of their parent or familiar caregiver who is cradling them. Children communicate in ways that are developmentally appropriate for them. Adults can create embedded learning opportunities for children to develop their social skills (Macy & Bricker, 2007). Parents and educators might support children’s social development by reinforcing socially acceptable manners.

“Please.”

“Thank you.”

These are some examples of courteous words we teach our children to use.

Words like these can demonstrate etiquette when communicating with others. People show respect with verbal and non-verbal communication. Human interactions can be beneficial when we use polite words. Are machine interactions responsive to polite words too? I’m talking about how humans interact with artificial intelligence (AI).

I used AI to create Study Guides for episodes of the BUTTERCUP podcast for my classes. My students will use the audio or video version of BUTTERCUP episodes. Having both auditory and visual formats allows students access to course materials that can lead to increased accessibility of course content (Macy et al., 2018). For example, the iTunes format of the BUTTERCUP podcast has audio which can accommodate students with visual impairments or blindness. The YouTube format has visual information which allows the user to create closed captioning which could support learning for students with hearing impairments or deafness.

The podcast conversations are transcribed. I used an AI tool from the language rich conversations called NotebookLM to create Study Guides from the transcripts of BUTTERCUP episodes. When I created the AI prompts, I noticed that the words make a difference in the outcome. Generative AI seems to have sensitivity to tone and polite words when asking it to do things. I wrote about a related topic in an essay called, “Asking a Favor.” I described how I asked a favor once and the outcome. Research studies by Dr. Ellen Langer and her team reveal strategies for communicating with humans when making requests. What about machines? The tone of the request when creating an AI prompt could be considered.

Does a code of etiquette exist when using AI? Maybe yes. Etiquette matters with humans and perhaps machines too.

Can machines teach us how to be more civil with one another? Can AI enlighten us as we practice politeness with human beings? These are some things I’m wondering about as I learn to communicate with my AI digital assistant who is helping me create Study Guides using polite prompts from episodes of our BUTTERCUP podcast for the classes I teach. Some lessons I am learning are:

~AI can shed light on politeness (Cavalier, 2025),

~AI tools could have a fee, or they could be free of charge (Cavalier, 2025), and

~AI can impact teaching practices, as well as interactions (Lim, 2023; Nikolopoulou, 2024).

Politeness strengthens human interactions, and maybe machines too. Using kind words is a practice worthy of consideration. Courtesy for others is a way we can model good manners for our children.

Sources

“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.” ~Emily Post

Cavalier, J. (April, 2025). Applied AI for business and education: From prompts to powerful workflows. University of Wyoming.

Lim, E. M. (2023). The effects of pre-service early childhood teachers’ digital literacy and self-efficacy on their perception of AI education for young children. Education & Information Technologies, 28(10), 12969–12995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11724-6

Macy, M. G., & Bricker, D. D. (2007). Embedding individualized social goals into routine activities in inclusive early childhood classrooms. Early Child Development and Care, 177(2), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430500337265

Macy, M., Macy, R., & Shaw, M., (2018). Bringing the ivory tower into students’ homes: Promoting accessibility in online courses. Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, 11(1), 13-21. https://doi.org/10.18848/1835-9795/CGP/v11i01/13-21

Nikolopoulou, K. (2024). Generative artificial intelligence in higher education: Exploring ways of harnessing pedagogical practices with the assistance of chatGPT. International Journal of Changes in Education (IJCE), 1(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022489

Kiss-and-Go Lane

August 1, 2025 Marisa Macy

Some of my favorite conversations happen in the Kiss-and-Go Lane. My little one and I have some of the best talks in the car on our way to and from school. Arrivals, departures, and waiting in the Kiss-and-Go Lane are routines during the day when we share with each other. Some might call it “small talk.” Personally, there doesn’t seem to me anything “small” about connecting with another human over talk. From the cashier to the baby in the stroller, I’m that person in the grocery store line who is talking with others. I love to talk with people. Having conversations is what we do as educators and students. We learn from one another.

I had a chance to talk with people about podcasting at the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) annual meeting (Macy, 2023). It was such a fun conversation that I went home and wrote a paper based on a podcast I use in the university classes I teach. If you’re interested in using podcasts with coursework and curriculum follow the link to the Macy (2025) paper: “Let’s give them something to talk about: Podcasting as a form of pedagogy” (clink on the bold title for link to article).

One of my favorite things that students tell me is how they listen to the “audio only” of the BUTTERCUP iTunes show in their cars. I too listen to the BUTTERCUP podcast and others in my car. As I leave the Kiss-and-Go Lane waving goodbye to my little one, I am tuning into conversations about early childhood topics.

This year marks ten years that I’ve been doing the BUTTERCUP podcast. The exquisite researcher and author of many best-selling books, Ellen Galinksy, was my first guest. Hard to believe that was ten years ago. I’ve learned some things about conversations since I started the podcast in 2015. Here are a few.

Be prepared. Before every conversation with a guest of the BUTTERCUP podcast, I try to read everything I can that my guest has written. I become a student of that person. I can hear it in my voice and see it in my eyes when I watch the podcast how impressed I am with the person. I’m mesmerized by what each of them has accomplished, but most importantly for who they are. Each one is inspirational and worth knowing and learning from in this platform.
It’s okay to make mistakes. It is acceptable not knowing something, or making a mistake. Vulnerability. Sam Donaldson talked about being vulnerable when he was on the podcast. He shared this wisdom with me and said, “The more you let someone in to your life, the more they'll let you in to their life.” He has had many convos in his years as an award winning journalist. Check out his episode 12 (below) if you want to hear more things from Mr. Donaldson.
Edit or cut content, if necessary. There is only one take per episode of the BUTTERCUP podcast. Professional podcasters and producers may have multiple takes and/or tools for production. I’m not a professional or have any formal training in podcast production. My husband, Robert, is the producer and he too has no formal training in podcasting. Everything we know about podcasting is what we have taught ourselves from trips to the library and YouTube videos, as well as professional advice and tips from our friend Garrett Weinzierl (episode 5 below). There is only minor editing of the BUTTERCUP podcast. I try to keep it as organic as possible, but sometimes editing/cutting is necessary. For example, I have terrible habits of fidgeting and saying “Umm” when I get excited and the ideas come faster than the words out of my mouth. If it is too distracting, we cut it from the podcast.

I make the BUTTERCUP podcast for my college students, but the audience has grown to parents and teachers. Last time I checked the analytics, there were over 12,000 listeners who have tuned in since 2015. All I can say is…Thank You! With immense gratitude to my guests who share their work and time, as well as the people who listen to our conversations. Thank you.

Can “small talk” make a difference in someone’s day? For me it does. I hope listeners take something good away from listening to podcast conversations. I’ve got a hunch… good conversations with our children can make a positive impact.

I took this picture on a rainy day in Lombardia with sunshine playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. I was here for an international conference where I did a presentation sharing the podcasting topic with an audience of higher education faculty. I won an award for best paper presentation (Macy, 2025).

Podcast paper appears in the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education (JECTE).

I’m honored to join the JECTE editorial board and begin my four year term.

Thank you to the amazing guests who share their work and stories on the BUTTERCUP podcast. I am grateful for our conversations and your trailblazing work in our field. Click on the person’s name if you would like to hear the conversation.

1. Ellen Galinsky

2. Toni Linder

3. Stefano Bagnato

4. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak

5. Garrett Weinzierl

10. Craig Ramey

11. Frances Page Glascoe

12. Sam Donaldson

13. Matt de la Pena

14. Jane Squires

15. Jean Feldman

16. Lou Mongello

17. Laurie Berkner

18. Steve Songs

19. Andrea and Cristina Lou Pepper

20. Natasha Wing

21. Diane Bricker

22. Rick Kubina

23. Hill Walker

24. Anna Eskamani

25. Shantel Hebert-Magee

26. Marie Tourell Soderberg

27. Jennifer Goldfinger

28. DJ Eagle Bear Vanas

29. Paul Dworkin

30. David Lawrence Jr.

31. Amanda Wilkerson

32. DeShawn Chapman

33. Shalander Samuels

34. Julie Wei

35. Harris Rosen

36. Chuck Dziuban

37. Arthur Sims

38. Bill Isler

39. Zibby Owens

40. Sylvia Acevedo

41. Celeste Headlee

42. David Dotson

43. Jennifer Ledford

44. Michael Linden

45. Olivia Okolue

46. Tony Orengo

48. Rhian Evans Allvin

49. Bo Stjerne Thomsen

50. Natalie Danner

51. Chrisanne Gayl

52. Walter Gilliam

53. Timothy Almon Askew

54. Al Spain

55. Iheoma U. Iruka

56. Michelle Kang

57. Emer Ring

58. Edward Melhuish

59. Scott McConnell

60. Robin McWilliam

61. Alessandra Landini

62. Danila Crespin Zidovsky

63. Emily Wiklund Hayhurst

64. Ann Anderson Berry

65. Ilene Schwartz

66. Micki M. Ostrosky

67. Anne Hillerman

68. Scott Chamberlin

69. Junlei Li

70. Sarah Browne

71. Ehichoya “Ehi” Edokhamhen

72. Jessie Brewster

73. Ruth Troyanek

74. Kine Melfaldn Tveten

75. Isabel María Gómez Barreto

76. Carlos Montoya-Fernández

77. Ana Maria Seranno

78. Denise Luscombe

79. Demet Gülaldi

I have a favor to ask you. Yes, YOU! If there is a topic or person you’d like to appear on the BUTTERCUP podcast, please reach out to me and share your thoughts.

P.S. If you are coming to the DEC conference this fall (2025), pretty please stop by my session entitled, “How can we use podcasts with implications for pre-service professionals?”

References

Macy, M. (2023, October). Airtime for professionals via podcasting. National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) conference in Omaha, NE.

Macy, M. (2025). Let’s give them something to talk about: Podcasting as a form of pedagogy. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 46(2), 243-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2024.2410000

Macy, M. (2025, May). Using a podcast to increase engagement in professional development and implications for early childhood workforce development. International Conference on Online Learning and Teaching (ICOLT - 25) in Milan, Italy. Award for Best Paper Presentation.