Home Activities for Learning Mathematics: Preschool through Grade 1
Your home is a great place for you to begin to explore and "talk" mathematics with your child. Incorporating math activities and language into familiar daily routines will show your child how math works in his everyday life and provide him with a safe environment in which to take risks by trying new things.
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Rhyme and Sing
Preschool
| For titles of books that contain counting rhymes and songs, see the list of children's books in the Resources section at the end of this booklet. |
Young children love to hear, sing and say nursery rhymes and songs. Counting rhymes and songs can be both enjoyable for them and introduce them to basic mathematics concepts, such as number names and number sequence.
What You Need
- Book of nursery rhymes or songs
- Feather
What to Do
- Teach your child to the following counting rhyme.
Four Little Ducks
Four little ducks that I once knew,
Fat ducks, skinny ducks, they were, too.
But one little duck with a feather on her back,
She ruled the others with a quack! quack! quack!
Down to the river they all would go,
1, 2, 3, 4, all in a row.
But one little duck with a feather on her back,
She ruled the others with a quack! quack! quack!
- Say the rhyme with your child several times. When she can say the rhyme all the way through, have other family members join you. Give your child a feather and have her lead everyone around the room as you all sing.
- For the following rhyme, show your child how to perform the actions.
Five Little Speckled Frogs
Five little speckled frogs
(hold up five fingers)
Sitting on a speckled log
(sit on your heels)
Eating some most delicious bugs
(pretend to eat)
Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool
(jump)
Where it was nice and cool
(cross arms over chest and shiver)
Now there are four little speckled frogs.
(hold up four fingers)
Burr-ump!
(Continue until no frogs are left.)
- After saying the rhyme, ask your child to hold up the correct number of fingers to show how many frogs are in the rhyme at the beginning. Then have her hold up the correct number of fingers and count to five with you as you say each numeral.
- Teach your child any counting rhymes and songs that were your personal favorites when you were a child, or have your child ask her grandparents what rhymes they knew when they were children. Other counting rhymes, songs and games that you may want to teach your child include "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe," "This Old Man," "Ten in a Bed (Roll Over)" and "One for the Money."
Number Hunt
Preschool
| Sometimes younger children don't understand that counting means naming numbers in a specific order. This simple point should be reinforced often. |
By counting, using number names and learning to recognize differences in number values, children build a foundation for the development of number sense and mathematical reasoning.
- What You Need
- 3 plastic eggs that come apart (or similar containers)
- Buttons
- Plastic netting
What to Do
- In pieces of netting, loosely wrap different numbers of buttons and place one bag of buttons in each egg. With your child out of the room, hide the eggs.
- Call your child into the room and tell her that you've hidden three eggs and that you want her to find them. As she finds each egg, have her count aloud—"1," "2," "3."
- When she's found all the eggs, have her open each one and take out the bag of buttons (but not open it). Ask her to count how many buttons are in each bag.
Walk and Count
Preschool-Kindergarten
| Throughout the day, find ways to let children practice using arithmetic skills. Ask, for example, "How many magazines came in the mail?" "How many more letters will we need to get to have 10 letters?" "Which are there more of, magazines or letters?" |
Ordinary activities can be used to reinforce young children's number sense and introduce them to arithmetic operations such as addition and subtraction.
Reprinted with the permission of the U.S. Department of Education.
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