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Learn about Central America Mayan Numbers!

In today’s lesson, we will learn about the Ancient Maya number system

This color-by-number activity will bring to life the Temple of the Grand Jaguar at the Tikal ruins in Guatemala! The Ancient Maya used a counting system that was able to represent very large numbers by using only 3 symbols:

a dot to represent the number 1
a stick or bar to represent the number 5
and a shell symbol for zero, or completion

Check out the Mayan numbers chart and see if you can write your age in using Mayan numbers. See if you can also write out your favorite number in Mayan numbers too! Then, visit the ruins of Tikal, an ancient Maya City found in the rainforests of Guatemala near the border of Belize! The ancient Mayans lived in the southern part of Mexico and northern Central America, including Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador.

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Ask a Bilingual Expert

Raising a bilingual child? On this page, our very own Director of Learning Design and Efficacy, Sophia Espinoza, addresses some of the most common questions, concerns, and curiosities around the benefits of bilingualism. Get the scoop below!

Sophia Espinoza is a career educator and curriculum designer with seven years of experience teaching in private and independent schools across the country. She is an expert in 21st-century education, including technologically-powered personalization, multilingual and multicultural curriculums, and social-emotional learning.

Sophia began teaching in Chicago Public Schools through Chicago Teaching Fellows, learning to support both English Language Learners and students with neurodiverse needs. Among her proudest accomplishments is launching the AltSchool Spanish Immersion Program, with the mission of creating bilingual global citizens who are socially conscious and environmentally aware. Sophia holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and M.A.Ed. from Dominican University.

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