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Teach kindergarten math


6 Tips to Teach Kindergarten Math Without Curriculum

This year, I’m teaching my daughter kindergarten math without curriculum. Kindergarten is the perfect time to “play” school, and kindergarten mathematics is the best place to start with making learning fun.

When my oldest was beginning kindergarten, I excitedly bought a variety of curriculum for him so I could find the best. I had more teacher’s manuals than I could count on one hand. As a result, there were many tears. I persevered. He loved learning (especially math), so he survived the year of double math (among other things).

But each child is different. I knew that if I forced a the same methods and curricula on second child, it would only cause her to hate school time. I needed a new solution. To my surprise, our best result has been to completely drop the kindergarten math curriculum. Here are some tips to make sure your kindergarten math time nurtures your five- or six-year-old child’s natural love for learning.

Use games. Playing card games and board games helps my daughter gain basic number recognition as we count around a board, recognize doubles, and recognize common number pairs. Our current favorite game to play during math time is Skip-Bo, which builds on number sense in great ways!

Read great books. I love reading with my kids. Much of the time, a great picture book can introduce a mathematical concept to a kindergarten-age child in a way that is more memorable than any worksheet-based curriculum could do so. You could even make up your own stories as you go about your days.

Make it real. My daughter loves her analog watch. It helps that it is Minnie Mouse that shows her the time! As we make a schedule and set timers, she learns about passing time, time in general, and reading the time (very generally, at least, in terms of hours). She also loves getting money and shopping at a garage sale with me. Since garage sales deal with small amounts of money (and we can usually find something for a quarter), this is great practical experience. Consider having your child help cook to learn fractions, and counting the bottles of tomato sauce on a grocery run. Even things as simple as helping set the table (How many plates? How many knives?) can count as kindergarten math.

Get moving.  My daughter loves anything involving running or jumping around! Use your trampoline to practice counting by tens, or make your math practice a dance party.

Play with toys. In teacher talk, a “manipulative” is something that a child can hold (or manipulate) to help solidify a concept. In your home classroom, anything can be a manipulative! We play with beads, marshmallows, paperclips, pom-poms, mini-erasers, stuffed animals, snap cubes, small plastic jumping frogs. Anything goes! If you can count it, it can be used for math learning. I love the math curriculum-provided manipulatives too, like Cuisenaire rods (also called centimeter rods).

After Planning. As a new homeschool mom, I know would have panicked if someone had suggested ditching the curriculum. Kindergarten is the best place to do so, though, as many states do not require it anyway. In addition, kindergarten concepts are basic enough that you probably cover them on a daily basis. Any gaps that remain are certain to be reviewed in first grade mathematics. To keep track of what you’ve done, sit down after the day is over and write down in your planner what you did. I call this my “after planing” method. I don’t usually plan out our day before we start: I let her choose what we do and we live life. Chances are you can find some way those things relate to math!

Here are the basic concepts commonly addressed in kindergarten math curricula for a whole year. I hope as you read through this list, you’ll think of more ways you can play games, read great books, get moving, make it real, play, and after plan to do your kindergarten math without a curriculum together. It’s more fun than you’ll believe!

  • Count to 20. (Start with counting to 5, then go from there).
  • Understand how to count to 100.
  • Add and subtract within 10 (using manipulatives or images).
  • Add and subtract within  5 (fluently).
  • Compare numbers (greater than and less than) under 20.
  • Count on from a number (…5, ___, 7, 8 ….) rather than starting at the beginning (up to 20)
  • Identify missing numbers in a sequence (up to 20)
  • Draw pictures or use manipulatives to show addition (5+2=7)
  • Find a number to make ten when given a number between 1 and 9 (number ten bonds)
  • Understand that teen numbers are 10 + a number between 1 and 9.
  • Compare sizes, such as length and weight, in general using words such as taller, bigger, or shorter.
  • Identify, compare, sort, and create basic shapes and make new shapes from them.
  • Recognize the hour and half hour on the clock.
  • Identify values of pennies, nickles, and dimes.

Rebecca

About the author

Rebecca is a homeschooling mother of three, “Raisin” born in 2007, “Strawberry” born in 2012, and “Kitty” born in 2015. Before she stayed home with her children, she was a professional proofreader. Now that she is home with her kids, she seeks to make learning fun! She loves to incorporate literature, games, and interactive learning in to the homeschooling day. When she's not homeschooling, she loves reading, especially classical literature and history.

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Awesome Math Strategies for Kindergarten and the 6 Questions to Ask Your Small Group – KindergartenWorks

By Leslie Simpson · About 3 minutes to read this article.

Teaching math strategies in kindergarten may be easier than you think. Here are the top math strategies for kindergarten that you can use in your lessons and the questions you should be asking.

I've got everything I'm sharing with you today wrapped up in my Guided Math Pack for kindergarten. That way you can use these math strategies for kindergarten easily.

What are math strategies in kindergarten

You should know that these math strategies for kindergarten came from the Kindergarten Common Core Standards. There is a whole section called "Mathematical Practice" that lists the standards below.

Now hang with me. Here are the standards as they are written out. They are {ahem} super exciting so I won't be offended if you just want to jump past this list.

  • Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  • Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
  • Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
  • Model with mathematics.
  • Use appropriate tools strategically.
  • Attend to precision.
  • Look for and make use of structure.
  • Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Now, if you ask me - these are hardly kindergarten friendly.

But, as I planned out my guided math curriculum for kindergarten I realized that I needed to make use of them. I was supposed to be teaching them, after all.

How I made them kid-friendly

In order to make use of those silly-stated standards, I desperately needed to make them more kinder-friendly. So each standard got rephrased into a strategy or approach that we could actually use.

For example,

  • "Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others" became "tell and explain"
  • "Attend to precision" became "check my work"

And those kinder-friendly phrases became go-to things for me.

I'm not kidding. Since I was introducing and using them during small group lessons, I was able to refer to them regularly and prompt students with them.

How you can use pictures to teach strategies

Since I work with beginning readers and non-readers in kindergarten, I made icons or symbols for each strategy. This works on the same principle as illustrating guided reading strategies.

I turned each strategy into posters and cards.

These were integrated into the math prompts my students did in our math journals. They would practice one strategy each time - at the same time as working on content.

Questions to ask your small math groups

What do these math strategies mean for teaching in small groups?

Well, that meant I had questions I could ask.

  • "How can you show what you are thinking?"
  • "What tools did you use to figure this out?"
  • "Tell us about your thinking. What did you notice?"
  • "What would make good sense?"
  • "What could you try?"
  • "What do you notice?"

Rather than tell my students what to do - or how to solve - I could ask questions to help direct their thinking.

I added these math strategies for kindergarten right into my lesson plan templates too.

If you like these math strategies for kindergarten all done for you - you can get the:

  • strategy posters and cards
  • guiding questions to ask based on the strategies
  • math journals prompts with strategies listed
  • lesson plan templates with strategies listed

all in the Guided Math Pack!

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

More Guided Math

  • Differentiate Math Easier with the Guided Math Pack for Kindergarten
  • How to Start Guided Math
  • 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Getting Started With Guided Math
About Leslie Simpson

Leslie is the teacher behind KindergartenWorks. She believes in teaching kinders how to be pretty incredible along with teaching them to read, write and think for themselves. She enjoys drinking hot tea, making mud pies with her three kids and sharing what she's learned with teachers.

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Publish and download methodological developments for a preschool kindergarten teacher in mathematics in preschool education. Publication of interesting and necessary materials for a teacher on teaching children mathematics in a preschool educational institution with a free certificate of publication in the media.

The section of mathematics in preschool education in kindergarten contains:

  • NOD in the senior group
  • Development of logical thinking of preschool children
  • Kindergarten Mathematics Presentations
  • Synopsis of the open GCD in the middle group according to FEMP
  • Abstracts of classes in mathematics in kindergarten
  • Mathematical leisure
  • Lesson in mathematics in the 2nd junior group
  • Abstract of a lesson for children with disabilities in mathematics
  • Synopsis of GCD for FEMP
  • Journey to the Land of Mathematics
  • Abstract of the sensory class
  • Abstract of the integrated lesson in mathematics
  • Lesson on FEMP in the 2nd junior group
  • Consultation for the educator
  • Summary of the lesson on the formation of FEMP
  • Summary of the final lesson on the formation of elementary mathematical representations
  • Construct for the formation of mathematical representations
  • Graphic dictations in the formation of visual-motor coordination
  • Interactive Math Game
  • Mathematical game library
  • Summary of GCD in mathematics in the middle group using innovative technologies
  • Methodical development of a lesson on the development of mathematical and sensory abilities in children
  • Technological map of GCD for FEMP in the senior group
  • Synopsis of OOD on the development of quantitative representations in children
  • The development of mathematical abilities in children through play activities in the context of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standard DO

The development of speech, logic and mathematics can be carried out in a playful way and perceived by the baby as a fun pastime. nine0003

Mathematics in kindergarten begins in the second junior group, where they begin to carry out special work on the formation of elementary mathematical representations.

The development of mathematics by preschoolers plays an important role not only in preparing for school life, but also for the formation of logical thinking skills, the development of intelligence and understanding. Mathematics for preschoolers is usually included in the traditional developmental curriculum in kindergarten.

Here you will find lessons, notes, tests, presentations, plans, activities and other useful materials for the work of the teacher and the education of the student. nine0003

Journey to the Land of Mathematics

"Journey to the Land of Fairy Tales" Educational tasks: 1. Fix the ordinal and quantitative score within 7 2. Fix forward and backward counting within 7. 3. Improve knowledge of geometric shapes 4. Consolidate knowledge of color. 5. Complete ...