Numbers teaching for preschoolers
Introducing Numbers To Preschoolers | Foundation Education
Having an understanding of numbers is crucial in our daily lives.
It is essential that kids are able to identify and understand numbers from an early age.
Understanding numbers prepares preschoolers for the more complex mathematical tasks that they will face in their school years.
Here are 6 teaching strategies that you can follow as you prepare to introduce numbers to preschoolers.
One: Make numbers a work of artOne of the early ways to get kids thinking numbers in a creative way is to get them painting. While this won’t get them comprehending numbers in any ordered form, that’s fine. They can see them, they can draw them, they can colour them in bright colours and repeat the number out loud as they have some fun with painting.
Two: Connect the dotsAn oldie, but a good technique is a game that you can create from a really simple three dots to ten dots, twenty dots, as your kids develop. With a simple chalkboard or plain paper, you can create any image you want and put the kids to the test.
If they’re counting to three, create a triangle and get them to draw lines between the numbers one to three in the right order. Make the drawings and numbers more complex as their counting ability grows.
Children with autism can face certain learning challenges. Find out how you can support a child with autism in the classroom in our previous blog article.
Three: Tidy up by numbersHere’s a great way to get your preschoolers cleaning up after themselves and learning to count at the same time. If your living area often resembles a toy shop after an earthquake, turn the clean up into a game.
Ask your child to put away three, four or more toys and count them out loud as they do. Cheer every correct number and relocation of a toy from floor to basket like its one less thing for you to do.
As their numbers ability grows, see how many toys they can correctly count into the basket until one lovely day, they can clean up the entire floor and pass preschool math.
No need to sit around inside with numbers games. Go for a walk and get your kids counting off letterbox numbers. If a bus passes, see if they can recognise any numbers on its front before it goes by. Parked cars have numbers too.
Make numbers an adventure and your kids will enjoy the learning process even more. As they see numbers in all kinds of different places other than chalkboards and exercise books, they’ll also start to see them as more than just numbers. In their own small way, they’ll start to get it that numbers are pretty important.
Five: Sing songs with numbersIf you don’t know any, YouTube will soon fix that as there are a million nursery rhymes and kid’s songs out there most of us even know about yet. Sit with your kids while you play the videos and sing along. Use your fingers to show the numbers for extra emphasis.
Six: Draw by numbersWrite a number on a blank page or chalkboard.
Then ask your child to draw apples matching that number. Or stick men, houses or trees, whatever your child likes drawing. The key is to get them drawing the right number. A nice creative and educational exercise.
If you like the sound of this and want to be part of helping preschoolers be the best students they can be, check out our range of Education and Care courses.
Become a Preschool Assistant or a Childcare Assistant with our CHC30113 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care. Fill out our Enquiry Form and one of our career advisors will be in touch with you to discuss your course options.
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Numbers Activities for Preschoolers - I Can Teach My Child!
Learning numbers is an essential of early childhood education. The following number activities for toddlers to preschoolers will provide fun and hands-on ways of teaching your child numbers and one-to-one correspondence.
From counting aloud to higher level math skills, number recognition is an essential preschool skill!
This is such a fun numbers activity that combines one-to-one correspondence and number recognition. Toddlers will enjoy putting the pumpkins in their slots and preschoolers will enjoy counting the dots and matching the correct numbered pumpkin.
Counting With StampsUnderstanding that numbers are not just symbols, but represent quantities, is an important concept for preschoolers to learn. Too often, children can recite their numbers, but don’t fully understand what the numbers represent. This combined numbers activity and matching numbers game can help children with understanding and comparing numbers.
Number Flashcards Anytime you can incorporate multiple senses into an activity, it is beneficial for your child’s learning. In this number recognition activity, your child will be using 2 of their senses, both sight and touch.
Make your own number flashcards with some sand and glue.
The idea for learning numbers with push pins came from Big Brother’s preschool teacher, who has been using this method for one of the alphabet stations in her classroom. It is super simple, great for teaching letter and number formation, and even helps your child develop the proper grip needed for writing.
Do A Dot NumbersThese Do-A-Dot Markers are so cool…and they’re especially wonderful for pre-writers. The thing I love about them is that they are so versatile and they allow your child to learn the correct formation of numbers before having to have the fine motor control to actually write them. Here’s a simple do-a-dot number activity you can do with them.
How To Teach Skip CountingUsing an abacus is an excellent way to make skip counting tangible for preschoolers. By adding the physical element of manipulating the abacus, children can comprehend the action of skip counting more accurately than teaching using only rote memorization.
After learning skip counting, teach your kids how to count big numbers (and teach place value in the process) on an abacus.
Dominoes AdditionBig Brother is learning to add, so we took the opportunity to turn a traditional game of dominoes into a fun math activity. This domino addition with dot markers can also be used to teach the concept of odd and even numbers using two different colors of dot markers.
Find The Mystery NumberLearning numbers is more fun when you get to dig for them! Before doing any directed activity with the birdseed, just give the kids some scoops, funnels, or cups and they will stay busy for a long time! While they are busy playing, you can get all your supplies ready for this mystery number dig.
Pumpkin Dot To Dot This Roll and Mark Pumpkin Dot Art number activity is super simple and perfect for preschoolers.
Combine number learning and number recognition in with pumpkin play.
Little Sister and I have been loosely working on one-to-one correspondence and number recognition lately. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for some Corduroy Math, inspired by this timeless book! Free teddy bear printables included for this activity.
Counting With LeavesWhat kid doesn’t love playing in a big pile of leaves? Get your kids outdoors and mix some number learning with hands-on play!
Number DetectivesInvite your kids to be number detectives and “capture” their numbers by squirting them with water. Have fun outdoors while simultaneously working on so many skills, such as counting, number recognition, gross motor, and fine motor skills.
Counting With Popsicle Sticks This simple number activity is great for number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and fine motor control! We used some robot stickers to make the activity even more appealing to Little Brother.
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How to teach a child to count to 10, 20, 100
How to teach a child to count
Many children come to the first grade already with counting skills, so it is important for parents to teach them in advance. Today there are many techniques that make it interesting and fun.
Do not impose learning to count, it should be easy: in the course of daily activities or games. Count familiar objects together, gradually complicating the tasks. For example, he easily visualizes two oranges or four plates, but hardly abstract sets. nine0007
When to teach your child to count
Most experts believe that the best time to teach kids to count is 3-5 years. It is at this age that the child begins to be interested in new things and learns to establish patterns between numbers.
However, everything is very individual. If the baby is actively exploring the world and is interested in mathematics earlier, you can start learning from the age of 1.5.
What methods to use to teach counting
We have collected proven methods that allow you to do this in a playful way that is interesting for the child. nine0005
- Finger counting . The technique helps to understand how to teach a child to count to ten. It will be difficult for a baby to remember all the numbers at once, so you can start with five and focus on the fingers of one hand. Introduce the child to their names, then connect the second hand. You can use finger games when one disappears or two or three fingers meet together.
- Use of study cards and sticks . You can lay them out one by one on the table and name the numbers, then move one part of the sticks to the right and the other to the left and ask how many sticks are in each part.
nine0022 - Number games . Teaching children to count can take place in a playful way. For example, the role-playing game "shop". You need to choose who will be the seller and who will be the buyer, and assign a currency. Selling or buying sweets and toys, the child will easily remember the numbers up to ten and even up to twenty.
- Montessori method . It's like playing shop. You can give the child different coins, for example, a ruble, two, five, and ask him to calculate the amount or change money. nine0022
- Doman technique . The author recommends using cards with red dots for counting. The color will attract the baby's attention.
- Hundred Account Nikolai Zaitsev suggests immediately showing numbers from 0 to 99. So the child will understand how many tens and units each number makes.
- Polyakov's method .
You will need cubes, a box with compartments according to the number of cubes and numbers. First, one cube is taken, placed in a cell and the number 1 is placed next to it. And so on up to 100.
How to teach your child to count to 20
To teach your child to count to 20, use two pairs of hands - yours and his own. You can also use cubes, cards, sticks or draw dashes - whatever comes to mind. Such an account is given as easily as up to 10. At this stage, the child needs to understand the composition of the number.
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How to teach a child to count up to 100
Tell your child that there are only nine tens, then name each tens: ten, twenty, thirty, and so on. Invite him to memorize 10 new digits of each ten every day. At the end of the day, ask what the child remembers and repeat what they have learned on other days. To simplify repetition, you can count the objects that are in front of you.
After the child has mastered the tens, invite him to play a game: write a series of numbers with tens and skip one number in the middle. Ask your child to complete the pass. nine0005
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You can also use Glenn Doman's method. First, the child needs to be shown cards with no more than five dots, then increase their number to 20, 50, and then up to 100. This method will also help train visual memory.
It is important to draw the attention of the child to the numbers from 11 to 19, as they are called differently from the rest.
Source: freepik.com
How to teach your child to add and subtract
To teach a child to solve examples, visualization is needed again. Bend and bend your fingers, remove and take out sweets.
Addition and subtraction are reciprocal operations. This connection needs to be conveyed to the child. That is, to demonstrate that 2+1 = 3 is the same as 3−1 = 2 and 3−2 = 1. If the child has mastered the principle, there will be no problems with other numbers.
To teach your child to add and subtract within 20, you need a number line. For example, 5+3. We find the number 3 on the beam and take five steps to the right. You can do the same with your fingers. So you can teach to count with the transition through a dozen and without. nine0007
Actions with the transition through ten have a peculiarity: you need to know the composition of the number and the pair of numbers that together form a ten (1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5). For example, 7+6. Seven to ten lacks three, that is, it turns out 7 + 3 + unknown. The six gave away three to ten, which means that there are still three left. Then it turns out: 7+3+3.
How to teach a child to count in columns
Explain that in addition and subtraction, all actions are performed in digits: tens with tens, ones with ones. For example, 31 + 12: a three is added to a unit, a unit to a two. nine0005
To simplify, you can do training exercises - for example, write numbers under each other.
Number 6 at the bottom, 12 at the top. It is important to explain to the child that six should be under the number 2, and not 1, as it refers to units.
Start with simple examples, where numbers add up to a number less than 10. Then you can move on to examples with a transition through ten: for example, 25 + 16. 5 + 6 add up to 11. Then we write the unit from 11 under the line, and we remember the unit as a ten. When we add the tens, we get 2 + 1 and another +1, which we kept in our heads. nine0007
In the case of subtraction, you should also start with simple examples, gradually moving on to more complex ones. For example: 25-16, in the column where there are ones, 5 less than 6, explain to the child that in this case we kind of “borrow” a unit from tens.
For convenience, you can use the symbols that are marked in blue in the figure. In the first case, a ten is added, in the second, a dot serves as a reminder of a “busy” ten.
Counting games and exercises
Lego
Build towers with a certain number of blocks to teach your child to count.
Later Lego will be needed in the development of fractions.
Fairy tales
Read to your child passages from fairy tales that contain numbers. He needs to clap as soon as he hears them.
Coloring pages with examples
You can teach your child to add and subtract through coloring pages, where an example is written in each cell, by solving which the child will recognize the color.
Board game "Strawberry paths"
There are two types of cards in the game: "Picking berries" and "Sharing berries". In the first case, you need to string a certain amount on your thread, and in the second, subtract, that is, give away. In the process, you need to count the berries and compare.
Dominoes with numbers
The principle is the same as with pictures. One domino with two numbers around the edges is laid out by the child, the parent picks up a die with one of the numbers. The one who gets rid of the dominoes first wins.
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