Angel in FL Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 What are your best suggestions for preschool math? I was thinking of the M&M Counting book since I have that from when my boys were younger. Anything else you can think of? I'm open to workbooks, games, etc. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Pattern blocks. Anything with patterns, including stringing beads. I found out about these from WTM, and they are fun. Counting. Sorting. I found two old 6-cup muffin tins at a thrift store, and we use them for sorting buttons and other things. Hi-Hi Cherry-o and other simple board games. The book "Preparing Young Children for Math: A book of games" by Claudia Zaslavsky is very nice, but is out of print (plenty of cheap copies still available, last time I checked). The book "Teaching Montessori in the Home" by Hainstock has some interesting Montessori-inspired ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 My dd4 really loved the Counting workbook from the Rod and Staff ABC workbooks. She felt like a big girl with her "math book." My older dd didn't use that one. We had a dry erase preschool math book ( I think it was called let's get ready for school) that she loved. Other than that we have used counting bears with walmart workbooks, candyland and chutes and ladders. For patterns we have used colored blocks, construction paper chains, & counting bears. Lots of games and things around the house. We did graphs w/boxes of m&ms and other candy, a weather graph, and a daily calendar time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I just saw this, and it looks interesting: Math Play!: Eighty ways to count and learn by Diane McGowan, Mark Schrooten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Cuisenaire Rods for seeing value relationships (and NOT counting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I'd just do every day math. Have her count cutlery, sing counting songs, talk about 1/2 when you cut her bread etc. It's all about daily life at this point. No special math time is needed unless there are learning issues. IMHO :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I just made manipulatives, used folder games, etc. We counted money, played store, learned how to read a clock (do kids still do that? LOL), used legos for simple addition and multiplication, etc. Basically, we just played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzannah Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) With both older kids we mostly just practiced counting to 100, skip-counting by 2s, 5s and 10s, reading and writing numbers. At some point I discovered the free themed worksheets from www.learningpage.com (which I love by the way, sign-up for the free membership, then select "funsheets" from the worksheets tab.) When DD was little she insisted on being included in school so she did TONS of those worksheets, plus I bought some "Funtastic Frogs." These are still a big hit around here for all sorts of play. Funtastic Frogs http://rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1245196210-777073&subject=10&category=2327 Edited June 17, 2009 by Suzannah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Some books from the library, http://www.livingmath.net has lots of reader lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Lots and lots of games! Some favourites here are card games like War, Go Fish, Crazy 8s, Concentration and Uno. We also play a lot of board and dice games including Monopoly, Yahtzee, Bunco, Shoots and Ladders, Dominoes, Bingo, etc. Then there's also puzzles, pattern blocks, cuisinaire rods, and a seemingly unlimited number of manipulatives that we play with. My kids are into workbook type things as well, so we also keep the dollar store books on hand for when they want to do something like that. I also print pages from http://www.worksheetworks.com when they ask for them. (My preschooler loves mazes in particular.) This is how we've approached math up until now, and our 6.5 year old is working at a grade 2-3 level from this foundation. Our preschooler (4 yrs) is also showing a great understanding of numbers and other math concepts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I love all the suggestions above and once they recognize numbers 1-20, I also enjoy the Making Math Meaningful curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Cuisenairre rods! I like casual math play for the early years. Little ones can see concepts in real life that a workbook cannot even begin to communicate for that age-set. When my ds was 4, I set him up at our kiddie table with c.rods, geoboards, counters, a balance.....his matchbox cars, legos, kinex.....a tray of lentils and measuring cups/spoons.....whatever;).....and let him play there while I nursed/changed/chased his siblings (he was UNinterupted by me LOL) and I think that was actually more beneficial (for him) than if I had of tried planning out lessons. Talk in math language at home. Setting the table is a popular time for math learning LOL! "We need 5 plates - 2 big plates for parents and 3 small plates for children..." Do sorting games when picking up toys (b/c we all know preschoolers gove plenty of opportunity for THAT:lol:) Puzzles and games - LOTS of them!!! That said - I am liking Singapore Early Bird for my dd4. She really likes workbooks and these workbooks seem to be just right for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Lots of counting objects -- legos are big here, but beans, beads, buttons..... Lots of free play with rulers (although they often get used as swords here once measuring is done). Lots of figuring out how many of an item each person in the family will get when we split things up. My ds loves puzzles, dd loved sorting at that stage. Kumon connect-the-dots books were a hit with both of them (and provided some fine motor practice). We have also used a lot of great picture books to reinforce math concepts, most of them from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel in FL Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Thanks so much for all of the replies. You all have given me great ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Critical Thinking co has a math for 3 yr olds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I'm going to start with Math on the Level for a spine and add all the kinds of stuff everyone else has mentioned. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Talk in math language at home. Setting the table is a popular time for math learning LOL! "We need 5 plates - 2 big plates for parents and 3 small plates for children..." I think this is such an important part of instilling a love and understanding of math! When you can see how numbers work in real life, it makes so much more sense. Math is quite magical! :) Also, my kids ask a lot of questions about 'how many' or 'how much is X and Y', etc. I always try to do the mental math for them out loud so they get a handle on the process I'm using to come to my answer. This provides many opportunities to discuss shortcuts and how we can shuffle numbers around to more easily find a solution. This is such a far cry from how I recall learning math, which was much more about memorization and less about understanding the relationship between the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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