Early literacy has long been a major focus of parents and educators of young children, and there are many products designed to promote reading skills. But have you ever thought about the toys in your home that are designed to build early math skills? Let’s take a look at exactly what concepts are considered early math skills and how we can use technology to reinforce them with our little learners.
According to About.com, early math skills include the following:
• Using numbers to express quantities of objects
• Recognizing numbers expressed as spoken words, written words, and written symbols
• Using words to count forward and backward from one to ten
• Counting objects from one to ten
• The concepts of addition and subtraction using objects
Parents should also be aware that these concepts-none, more, less, most, smaller, smallest, bigger, biggest-as well as being able to identify common shapes (circle, square, triangle, and rectangle) are among early math skills as well. Sorting objects by size, shape, and color is yet another skill children will acquire as they learn basic math concepts.
There are so many ways to teach early math in our daily activities. Shapes and colors surround us, and there are countless opportunities to, well, count! (Pun intended.) My family moved into a new home around the time that my son BT was just beginning to count. Soon after he could easily count from one to seventeen. Why seventeen, you ask? Because that’s how many stair steps lead from the main floor to the upstairs. Every time we went up together, we would count each step. We still compare sizes of fruit when we eat snacks (“Which strawberry is the biggest/smallest?”), and we think about subtraction as he devours his goldfish crackers (“How many crackers are left now?”). We look for numbers everywhere we go. For those of us with Apple-based tablets and/or smart phones, there are numerous apps designed to promote math skills at all ages and ability levels. Below are two of BT’s favorites.
Monkey Math School Sunshine has a user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars and can be installed to both your iPad and iPhone for 99 cents. The app is appropriate for children ages 3 to 6, and it features nine interactive games that teach sequences, patterns, counting, addition and subtraction. It is a brightly designed, uninterrupted game that rewards correct answers with animated celebrations and prizes for the user to place in an interactive aquarium.
Bugs and Buttons also has a user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars and is available for both tablets and phones for $2.99. While much of this app centers on imaginative play, there are also aspects of basic math such as counting, identifying patterns, and sorting. Plus, the app has really cool audio, which BT loves.
If you’re interested in free, web-based tools that promote early math skills, consider these sites:
It is very important to know what skills students should be practicing. I appreciate the list of math objectives.I think as teachers we are well aware of the objectives, yet forget to share them with our students and their families. Personally, I keep a space on the board with the day's objectives. So not only do I stay on track, but any one that enters my room knows what our plans are!
ReplyDeleteI'm not able to comment for some reason, but it is letting me reply. I interned in a kindergarten class and the children loved monkey math and monkey lunchbox. Lunchbox taught shapes, colors, and counting. It is great for children to play on tablets or smart phones.
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