https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:06:11 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-764759 Tue, 07 May 2013 06:43:41 +0000 Andrea 764759@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@googly-eyes: we are! :-)</p> <p>@808love: thanks, I will tape a few episodes and check it out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-762050 Sun, 05 May 2013 15:48:43 +0000 808love 762050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I want to try Candyland too! If you let LO watch tv, you can stream Team Umizoomi. Awesome math reinforcemng geometry, patterns, real counting, even measurement. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-762006 Sun, 05 May 2013 14:18:49 +0000 googly-eyes 762006@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Andrea: You should be proud! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-761618 Sun, 05 May 2013 06:09:40 +0000 Andrea 761618@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@googly-eyes: According to that site, she is actually advanced mathematically as well then .... she's been doing a lot of these things for about a year. Looks like my understanding of where she should be at is way off. Ooops. Thanks so much for letting me know! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-761218 Sat, 04 May 2013 15:46:51 +0000 googly-eyes 761218@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Seems like she's ahead of the game though, at least according to kids I've worked with and this:<br /> <a href="http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/three/mathematics.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/three/mathematics.html</a></p> <p>So I wouldn't push it if she's not interested, but if she is, I like the idea of counting books. I used to just count with my mom in the car for fun when I was little (~4)...I always wanted to impress her with how high I could count! Also, just incorporating it into daily life, for example counting steps, counting pieces of mail, etc. Just the fact that she has the 1:1 association to add/subtract is good though; I've seen kindergarten students unfortunately struggle with it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-761163 Sat, 04 May 2013 14:32:39 +0000 Andrea 761163@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@googly-eyes: she is 3! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-761161 Sat, 04 May 2013 14:31:31 +0000 googly-eyes 761161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How old is your dd again? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-761152 Sat, 04 May 2013 14:27:18 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 761152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlepenguin: ah I should have said we use sandwiches for 1/4s! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-761140 Sat, 04 May 2013 14:19:15 +0000 looch 761140@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlepenguin: that is an excellent point, I hadn't thought about that. </p> <p>Measurement is also another way to expose kids to math. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760762 Sat, 04 May 2013 07:11:48 +0000 T-Mom 760762@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlepenguin: we have hi ho cherry o as well! Great counting game for my DD (buy we have to keep it away from DS since The pieces are so small. </p> <p>We pay games like UNO, candy land and zingo. The are all great for math concepts. </p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-7703-ThinkFun-Zingo/dp/B0032UKTXI" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-7703-ThinkFun-Zingo/dp/B0032UKTXI</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760742 Sat, 04 May 2013 06:47:32 +0000 autumnlove 760742@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Andrea: Haha, yes! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760733 Sat, 04 May 2013 06:23:30 +0000 littlepenguin 760733@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Fractions don't alway have to be circles. You can use bars sandwiches and Hershey bars etc. you can also use discrete objects ( five stickers out of the ten are pink). Something else I thought of that uses numbers is time. </p> <p>I would recommend talking about different types of numbers too. Telephone numbers (nominal numbers) vs ordinal first second third vs counting numbers. </p> <p>If you want to know more about the developmental stages of counting and some other areas in number sense elementary teachers look at let me know. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760724 Sat, 04 May 2013 05:57:50 +0000 looch 760724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Another way to talk about math is fraction activities, like making and cutting pizza or pie. Math is everywhere! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760711 Sat, 04 May 2013 04:57:01 +0000 Andrea 760711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlepenguin: that cherry game sounds fun for her. We just started playing Candyland. I guess that involves math, too! We are probably already doing more things that involve math than I think! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760654 Fri, 03 May 2013 23:00:29 +0000 littlepenguin 760654@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd say encouraging her to count is a good way. Counting the number of m&amp;m's or birds or pennies etc. I'm sure drawing shapes or finding shapes would help too. </p> <p>I'm not sure how old your daughter is, but I'm sure board games can be fun. Like High-Ho Cherry-Oh. Where you need to count cherries have add some to your basket, put some back. Then you can ask questions like "how many do you have now?" Games that involve dice and counting how many spaces are also great. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760390 Fri, 03 May 2013 17:09:07 +0000 Andrea 760390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: DD subtracted her underwear yesterday. Whatever works! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760308 Fri, 03 May 2013 16:12:52 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 760308@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We found hat Lala understood addition and subtraction through treats. If I had 5 treats and I took away 1, how many would I have. We work on fractions with pizza. Amazing what they can understand! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760305 Fri, 03 May 2013 16:12:02 +0000 keiki_mama 760305@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cowgirl: Thanks for your suggestion. LO is only 13 months but I'm going to start applying some of the principles you mentioned above. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760301 Fri, 03 May 2013 16:10:17 +0000 keiki_mama 760301@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've learned something new about Kumon today! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-760183 Fri, 03 May 2013 15:03:00 +0000 Andrea 760183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Twine: @banana: @honeybear: @spaniellove: @Mrs. Cowgirl: @VanillaBean: such great responses from everyone! I am definitely looking for more environmental learning activities and opportunities at this point. You've all provided me with lots of new inspiration. Thanks!</p> <p>@autumnlove: eeeek about Kumon. LOL. Glad we know now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759948 Fri, 03 May 2013 13:26:12 +0000 VanillaBean 759948@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Andrea, Mrs. Twine couldn't have said it better. I just wanted to add that when it comes to teaching your child (preschool-age) it is important to teach according to what his/her interest is. Teaching is built around your child's interest (pertain to all subject matters, not just math), say for example, your DD loves playing with dolls, then you can use her dolls to teach one-to-one correspondence, sorting, patterning, etc... she will more likely respond to math in that sense than some random teaching out of the blue that is not of interest to her. :) </p> <p>As for kumon, my opinion is that it is not for everyone and it focus more in memorization rather than actual understanding of math. I couldn't agree more with spaniellove. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759937 Fri, 03 May 2013 13:23:52 +0000 Mrs. Cowgirl 759937@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnlove: @spaniellove: I agree, I hate kumon! It's all skill and drill and rote memorization!</p> <p>@Andrea: I would just count a lot -- the stairs; the cars on the road; the trees in the park; the number of slices in a clementine; books in the basket, etc. and give her a purpose for counting so she can understand 1:1 correspondence -- count out 3 forks and 3 spoons to set the table; put 5 toys in your bag to bring to grandma's, etc. </p> <p>If she likes reading, read books about numbers. Amy and Ivan is one of my favorites, chicka chicka 1 2 3 is also good, and you can find counting books about just about anything. </p> <p>Also, patterning and sorting are really good for building number sense and mathematical thinking which will be the foundation for addition, subtraction and beyond. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759836 Fri, 03 May 2013 12:56:05 +0000 spaniellove 759836@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnlove: I'm sure they were already good at it before the program! The way it's set up, no one is actually teaching the kids so if you naturally have great math skills and are coming from a strong foundation, you can possibly teach yourself as you go. But if you're struggling at all, their system makes a learner even more frustrated and won't teach real skills. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759818 Fri, 03 May 2013 12:52:04 +0000 autumnlove 759818@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@spaniellove: Good to know! I never went but DH and his brother did and they both excel at math. I 'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with Kumon! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759806 Fri, 03 May 2013 12:49:00 +0000 spaniellove 759806@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Looking at their site, it seems like the program is pretty much the same - kids repeat a worksheet over and over until they get everything right. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759788 Fri, 03 May 2013 12:43:48 +0000 Anagram 759788@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@spaniellove: oh,, interesting! my nephew goes and loves it! He talks about it all the time. Maybe they've changed things? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759763 Fri, 03 May 2013 12:38:07 +0000 spaniellove 759763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnlove: No, Kumon is horrible :( My mom sent me as a child and I learned nothing. It's all drill and kill and teaches absolutely nothing about real math and number sense, which is so important for developing good math skills. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759704 Fri, 03 May 2013 12:18:28 +0000 honeybear 759704@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do 60 minutes of differential calculus or algebraic topology every morning before breakfast. Roaarrr! (Tiger mom reference, in case that wasn't clear...)</p> <p>Just kidding. :) LO has a numbers book that is Montessori-esque that he likes. The numbers are tactile, so you trace them in addition to counting the pictures of surfboards or ducks or whatever. We also count everything we see--birds in the sky, crackers on the plate, cars on the road, bumps on LEGOs, etc. And we sometimes just count out loud for the heck of it while in the car, a practice that we spice up by shouting some numbers and whispering others, saying some in a funky accent. LO repeats them after us. Cooking and baking are really good ways to count stuff too. </p> <p>We also do a lot of shape-finding as we go about our day: Where's the sphere in this picture (in a non-geometry book)? What shape is that sign? (I end up answering most of my own questions while we do this, but I figure he absorbs the information.) </p> <p>Not sure if this technically "counts" (har, har), but we also do a lot of origami. (By which I mean, <i>I</i> do a lot of origami, and LO watches and then plays with the stuff I make.)</p> <p>I sometimes add/subtract things for him as we go about the day, too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759645 Fri, 03 May 2013 11:49:41 +0000 banana 759645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @mrs.twine! We have the opposite problem. My son's verbal skills are delayed but his math skills are a bit ahead. I found that he learns best through his environment. For example, if I ask him to count to 10, he won't do it on demand (only sometimes). But if I ask him "how many apple slices do you want?" he'll say "10" and then count them one by one as I place them on his plate. He loves playing with measuring cups too. I'll ask him to fill up his juice cup (a measuring cup) to the number 5 line and he'll do that. I think most kids learn through their senses so environmental learning opportunities stick the best. Since your daughter isn't too into toys (like my son!) maybe she'll naturally gravitate towards more environmental type of learning opportunities? I'm sure she'll pick up tons of things at her new montessori! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-encourage-the-development-of-math-skills#post-759570 Fri, 03 May 2013 11:16:50 +0000 Mrs. Twine 759570@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I like this resource, and similar: <a href="http://www.livingmath.net/LearningIdeas/LearningMathNaturally/tabid/270/language/en-US/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.livingmath.net/LearningIdeas/LearningMathNaturally/tabid/270/language/en-US/Default.aspx</a> I find that teaching anything too aggressively can create more problems than it solves, assuming that the child is not an engaged and willingly active participant. Now if they are begging you for more opportunities to learn about whatever it is, that's a totally different story. Much of early math comes from the environment. Household tasks like shopping, cooking, folding clothes, putting away toys, etc. offer many rich opportunities for building math skills like counting, sorting, and measuring. Often learning in these organic, or environmentally intrinsic, ways are the most powerful because they link visual, auditory, and often kinesthetic, inputs. </p>