Summer Fun with Numbers

Make counting fun. We went tractor "hunting," counted the tractors and pretended to drive them. 

Summer is the perfect time to notice numbers.  Whether you are on a road trip, at the pool or just shopping at the grocery store, point out numbers to your child.  We just went on a road trip and I couldn't believe how many numbers my son found or the things we counted. Even if they can't read the number, just pointing out the number encourages young children to begin identifying numerals.  

Vacation Counting:

1.  Numbers at the pool:  My four-year-old loves to jump off the edge of the pool, so I asked him to jump from the number 3 (marked for 3 feet deep).  Once he found the 3, he wanted to jump from the 5. 

2.  Numbers at a hotel:  When taking the elevator I asked him to push the number 1 or any floor that we needed.  He noticed there was a number outside our room and matched it with the room key. 

3.  Numbers on the road:  We looked for speed limit signs.  Even though some of the two-digit numbers were hard for him to say, he could find one number he knew.  

4.  Things to count:  We counted trains and trucks at a construction site.   Anything that had multiples, we tried to count. 

5.  Numbers at the store:  We went to buy souvenirs and I asked my son to find the price tag on the train he wanted. He asked, "What does it look like?"  I said, "Little numbers on a sticker.  Can you find it?" He surprised me when he read, "It says 12, mom."

Only Way Back is Forwards

Only Way Back is Forwards

I am totally amazed at the amount of counting/math that is involved with finger patterns.  It begins on their fingers going forwards, then isolating a finger pattern to name the number, linking finger patterns to an actual quantity, instantly recognizing a finger pattern that is flashed and linking finger patterns to real life scenarios such as counting wheels on a car. 

Lately I have noticed my four year old using his fingers to help keep track of "things" such as presents at a birthday party.  I have noticed a confidence build inside him as he notices numbers everywhere.  Now that he has an underlying confidence and really understands forwards counting, I have been talking to him about counting backwards.  

Beginning to Count Back

1.  Tie the counting back into something fun, such as jumping into the pool or racing your child around the house.  I say something like, "When I get to 1, go. Ready 3, 2, 1, go!"

2.  Depending on your child's age and ability level you can start with going back from 3 to 1 and then build from 5 to 1 and eventually from 10 to 1.

3.  Have fun while counting back.  We were watching the space shuttle take off and my son noticed the countdown so we now say, "blast off" after we get to 1. 

Video of Blast Off

This first clip is counting back from 5 to 1 without finger patterns.

The second clip is counting back from 5 to 1 with finger patterns.

Finger Patterns and Days of the Week

Finger Patterns Monday to Sunday

Have you ever noticed your child confusing the days of the week? Do they constantly ask you "What day is it today?" or "When will it be the weekend?" My four year old always wants to know when his soccer game is so we started keeping track of the days of the week on his fingers. This is a great skill to get your child ready for pre-school, kindergarten or even first grade.  

There is so much learning inside the math. With this simple skill, he has learned the vocabulary for the days of the week, the sequence the days go in by keeping track on his fingers and how each day corresponds to a finger pattern. This is not the traditional calendar model, but allows your child to see the week on two hands.  Start the week on Monday.  Monday through Friday are on one hand and correspond to finger patterns 1 to 5.  This helps him understand that the school/work days are on one hand.   Saturday and Sunday are on his other hand and correspond to the weekend (finger patterns 6 and 7).

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

                                          

                                           Saturday

Sunday

(C) 2009 Kellie Merrill

How old are you?

FAWFP: Fun with birthdays

My nearly-two-year old has an advantage over his big brother. He has been watching him count, do finger patterns and talk about math since he was a newborn. He is very busy, as most are at this age. He loves to count along with his brother and play the tickle game (see previous entry) as much as picking up his favorite book. Just a few weeks ago I started telling him he had a birthday coming up and showing him on his fingers how old he was going to be. Not long after that he started making two and showing me two when I asked him "How old are you?" 

Please watch the clip below to see him hold down all his other fingers to show me two. Now that he has it down he loves flashing his two!

5 Reasons to Try Doubles

                                                                Double the Trouble

Finger Patterns/Doubles Review

A number of readers asked me to explain why doubles and finger patterns are important. Exposing your child to finger patterns and early counting is a crucial developmental step. Current research and theory suggests that "Children's number competence is supported by their daily experiences in the world." (Saxe, et all., 1997)  Doing these simple and fun activities with your child will encourage an early awareness to math that includes counting, finger patterns and a new vocabulary.

Doubles are a huge concept.  I don't expect my four year old to fully understand it but I am giving him the chance to practice, understand and have fun with doubles before he enters school.  Asking a child to fire away a double four can be confusing.  The correct response is to fire away a two and a two on each hand.  Remember the number you ask them to fire away is the TOTAL, not what they show on each hand.

Five Reasons to Try Doubles

1.  Doubles are everywhere.  We have doubles built into our bodies.  Why not show your child what a double looks like?  I have two feet, two sets of five fingers and two sets of five toes.

2.  Doubles open the door for more advanced strategies.  Doubles are the same as counting by twos. Counting by twos is groundwork for multiplying by two.

3.  Children of all ages can talk about doubles.  Young children can fire away a double from two to ten while older children can go past ten and do higher doubles mentally or on paper (6+6, 7+7, etc.)

4.  Kids love using the word double.  My son loves to say it when requesting his favorite food or treat!  

5.  Doubles encourage children to see numbers as a set or a group and move away from seeing numbers as going one by one.

2 Beds and 4 People

Seeing Double: Double Finger Patterns

This winter we went to Taos Ski Valley for a family snowboarding trip. When we walked into our hotel room, our 4-year old said, "Look there are two beds and four people so that means that two people will sleep in each bed." I was a little surprised, but excited to see how math had become part of his everyday. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to him about doubles. I showed him the doubles for two, one finger on my right hand and one finger on my left hand.

Finding Doubles

Point out a double to your child (two feet, two hands, two eyes) and challenge them to begin finding doubles. Once they understand the concept of doubles, you can show them the double patterns on their fingers. While getting into the car my son said. "Look there are two tires in the front and two tires in the back." I showed him how to make a double four on his fingers. It is important to use the word, "double" when you are making a double so your child knows to make the same number on both hands.

Below are pictures of the double finger patterns for two, four, six, and 10. Remember to tie real life surroundings in order for the "double" to make sense.

Double 2

Double 4                                  

Double 6

Double 8

Double 10

Ready, Set, Count!

Counting Past 10:
When I first started this blog, I wanted to focus on finger patterns. Most of the feedback I hear from people is that their child is now solid with their numbers from 1 to 10 and they want to know the next step.

Finger patterns are a tool that children use from a very young age through elementary school to help them make a number for quantity, keep track of counts for addition and subtraction and begin using finger patterns for even more advanced strategies such as early multiplicative strategies.

Finger patterns are not meant for your child to hold on to, but to help them see a pattern that runs through the number system. Now that your child is fluent with counting, showing without having to count, making and linking numbers 1 to 10, they are ready to count numbers past 10. Please be aware that the teens are tricky and require more practice than any other family. My previous blogs with games apply and here are few suggestions to have fun while counting past 10.

1. Count things. My son loves a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. We have a counting deal. He counts all the marshmallows before putting them in the cup. I start with a number in the range of 1 to 10 so he can practice pulling the marshmallows away from the other group and linking it to a number. The key skill here is to remove each marshmallow from the pile as it is counted. This “assigns” a number to it. Please see the example video clip.
2. Make mistakes. Numbers in the teens sound very different and do not have the same rules as the other families. 21 is “twenty” and “one,” but there aren’t hints for 11 and 13. When your child makes a mistake, start from the last number they said correctly and continue counting.