I think I'm going to lose my mind.

[ChristusG]

My DD is 5 years old. When should they be able to recognize numbers? She is doing well in math....simple adding, simple subtracting, patterns, counting to 100, counting by 10's to 100, counting by 2's to 20, learning odd/even numbers, etc. But as far as recognizing numbers go, she's just not getting it!

 

We are doing Horizons Math for Kindergarten. I'll point to a number (23 for example) and say "what number is this?" She'll reply with something like "fourty-two". We have gone over and over and over this. As for the teen numbers, I'll ask her "what comes after 13?" She's say "14." I'll ask her to write it....she will say that she has no idea how. I'll say "look at the number 13 in the book." She looks at it and I'll remind her that the teen numbers always start with a 1. She is still confused. I'll tell her to listen as I say it. I'll say "FOURteen" with emphasis on the four. Hear that? FOURteen...what number do you think is in FOURteen? She still has no idea.

 

I am sprouting gray hairs because of this back and forth that we do during math time LOL. She can recognize numbers up to ten, but after that she seems to be just guessing. I'm not continuing in math until she can recognize numbers because in the Horizons book, they do a lot of number recognition.

 

Is this normal for her age? Should I be doing something differently?

[Caribbean Queen]

Is this normal for her age? Should I be doing something differently?

 

 

Normal. Not something to be upset over, at all.

[Mama Lynx]

Yes, this can be perfectly normal for her age.

 

For now, stick to the single digit numbers, and show her that those numbers mean concrete things - do adding with pebbles or marbles, for example. Or get an abacus and play with numbers, adding and subtracting on that.

 

Place value requires a more mature mind. The teen numbers, especially, are confusing for children. IMO, at this age, it's more important that the child be developing a good understanding of what numbers represent in a concrete way, than that they can recognize and name bigger, but abstract (to her), numerals.

[nono]

Did you ever realize how illogical our Enlgish number system is once we get to 10? Who named the numbers starting with 11?? My dd 6 and I were just talking about it today. I mean why not one-teen, two-teen, three-teen?? And why go from -teen to twenty-, thirty-...it's amazing any of us can count or recognize numbers! :D

Edited January 4, 2010 by nono
Ha! Forgot she just turned 6!

[ChristusG]

Did you ever realize how illogical our Enlgish number system is once we get to 10? Who named the numbers starting with 11?? My dd 6 and I were just talking about it today. I mean why not one-teen, two-teen, three-teen?? And why go from -teen to twenty-, thirty-...it's amazing any of us can count or recognize numbers! :D

 

I agree! After ten, the numbers should be tenty-one, tenty-two, tenty-three....and so on!

 

And don't get me started on the English language LOL. How in the world can close mean two different things? Why is herd and heard pronounced the same but mean different things? And why is the plural of dog dogs, yet the plural of mouse is mice? LOL

[Chris in VA]

I was just reading your other post about imaginative play. Perhaps you can use that interest in some way to provide the repetition she may need to get the numbers. It's probably mostly maturational-just give her time and plenty of practice.

Sorry it's so frustrating.

[nukeswife]

Perfectly normal IMHO. My dd just turned 8 in mid Nov and finally has her numbers squared away. Until about 6 months ago she still confused her 6s and 9s.

[TKDmom]

Take a look at Right Start's website. She talks about using different math language when the kids are young (ten-on, ten-two, instead of eleven, twelve). I'm not using RS math, but reading over the philosophy of it gave me some insights on teaching math.

[FO4UR]

I agree it's normal, and I would work "sideways" in another curric (or just real life activity) for a while.

 

MEP is a fantastic curric for a challenging step sideways.;)

[ChristusG]

Thanks so much for assuring me that it is completely normal. Just frustrating for mommy LOL. We'll have to find a different way to approach it for a while. :D

[Myra]

Try living math books yahoo group........here's the link.....they're an active bunch of people with all sorts of ideas/methods/suggestions on teaching any math concept. I've used them a lot whenever I have any math question...

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LivingMathForum/

 

the moderator of this group has also made extensive lists of library books that teach the math concepts within the storyline - a great resource and another way to teach math.

 

Myra

[Carol in Cal.]

Every day, point to each number as you count out loud, working up to that day's date. Then say, "Today is Monday, January 4, 2010." Then look out the window at the weather and start to fill out a simple bar chart with pictures. This is what Saxon 1 does to start teaching some of these recognition skills. They also use a number chart and add a new number each day--that way you can say that it's day 12 for the school year or something like that.

 

This takes a long time! In K's they typically make a big deal about 100's day, and that isn't until after the first of the year! Kids this age need more repetition than I would have believed possible. I really needed Saxon to hold my hand for this. And, BTW, a lot of parents use Saxon 1 in kindergarten. I think you could just start it now and it would be really helpful.

[Osaubi]

Take a look at Right Start's website. She talks about using different math language when the kids are young (ten-on, ten-two, instead of eleven, twelve). I'm not using RS math, but reading over the philosophy of it gave me some insights on teaching math.

 

:iagree:

 

I use Right Start and this really helped my ds when we went through this stage. She has them start this way and then transition over to teen numbers once they have this down.

[FairProspects]

 

I use Right Start and this really helped my ds when we went through this stage. She has them start this way and then transition over to teen numbers once they have this down.

 

:iagree:Right Start's way of thinking about place value completely solved this problem for ds.

[Tracy]

My DD is 5 years old. When should they be able to recognize numbers? She is doing well in math....simple adding, simple subtracting, patterns, counting to 100, counting by 10's to 100, counting by 2's to 20, learning odd/even numbers, etc. But as far as recognizing numbers go, she's just not getting it!

 

We are doing Horizons Math for Kindergarten.

Is this normal for her age? Should I be doing something differently?

 

I just thought I would point out that Horizons K Math is a rather advanced curriculum as K math curriculums go. I am using with my gifted 4yo, and we chose it specifically because it was said to be advanced. If she is having trouble with recognizing numbers, she is going to struggle in the second semester when they are introducing double-digit addition. You might want to look at a program that is less number intensive.

 

BTW, we are ditching Horizons K for CSMP. We found Horizons to be just too much drudgery.

[kalanamak]

Normal. Not something to be upset over, at all.

 

Lose your mind. Don't worry, you will find it again.

[Sahamamama]

I think it's normal, I also think there are things you can do to help your daughter (and yourself). Don't lose your mind! :lol:

 

1. You can make some flash cards on very LARGE cardstock, with very LARGE numerals. I wouldn't require your daughter to know these, but to simply look at the card and repeat after you. At first, go in order: 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7, and so on, up to about 30. After she can easily repeat these in order, mix them up, and still have her repeat what you say. You are GIVING her the information; time and repetition will help it to sink in.

 

2. Work together with a number chart, 1-100 (or 0-99). Don't ASK your daughter for information she doesn't have. Simply SHOW and TELL her what you observe. Talk about columns (down) and rows (across). Go down the 10s column, counting by tens. Have your daughter color all the 10s one day. Another day, count by 5s. Have your daughter color all the 5s. Another day, do the same with 2s up to 50.

 

There are many patterns in a number chart. I think that many times we overlook the potential power of this simple tool. Look for patterns and talk about them. "Look! All the numbers in this row BEGIN with 4. All the numbers in this column END with 4. Isn't that neat?" When you think about it, it really IS neat. :D

 

3. Sort. Just quit doing numbers for now and have your child SORT. Do you have blocks? Sort them out by different attributes. You could use attribute blocks, these are great for talking about size, shape, thin/thick, colors.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Attribute+Logic+Blocks+in+Self-Storing+Case/007935/1262701299-926893

 

You could also sort color tiles into piles, then count them into bowls. Observe to be sure your student counts one-to-one for each object. One possibility (if you can spare some tiles) is to write the numerals from 1-10 on some red tiles, then 11-19 on yellow tiles, then 20-29 on green tiles, or whatever. Have your student sort the tiles by color, then within that group, put the tiles in order. She will be able to move them around until they match up with the number chart or number line you provide.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Color+Tiles+-+1%94+Plastic+%28Set+of+100%29/018746/1262701299-926893

 

You could also sort color cubes in much the same way.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Color+Cubes+-+Wooden%2C+1++-+Set+of+102/007908/1262701299-926893

 

4. Another thing that seems to help a lot of children understand what a numeral represents -- and that has no written "numerals" in sight -- is so simple and easy to do, but very powerful. It's counting OBJECTS. Dried kidney beans are great for this, and so are dried chick peas. Children seem to like the idea of being allowed to play with "food," LOL.

 

We get a large (18 egg), styrofoam egg carton, wash it out well, and put little green dots on the left side (with a Sharpie) and little red dots on the right side. Green means "Go" and red means "Stop." SHOW & TELL the child how to fill the little cups from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, in a pattern you choose. First, it's good to practice with "one bean in each cup, top row, middle row, bottom row, left to right." Then you can do "one bean, one chick pea, one bean, one chick pea" or "one bean, one chick pea in each cup." The important thing is that the child is learning how to MAKE a pattern by herself, not just random beanings. :D

 

IME, practice and mastery in making patterns helps with recognizing the patterns that ARE in numbers. But you have to give it time. HTH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have younger children, please keep track of the beans/CPs. They are choking hazards. (Sorry, I know this is obvious, but I'm still freaked out by last night's thread on the baby who was choking on a penny. I'm so glad he's okay, I hope his mommy is, too!).

[ChristusG]

Thanks for all of your suggestions and ideas!

 

I decided that we're going to take a "sort-of" break with Horizons. We're still going to work through some of the stuff. She enjoys learning about measuring, adding, etc. So we'll continue working through the book with those things, but as for the number recognition, we are going to go back and work on it more.

 

This week I'm taking numbers 11-20 and we will work on those until she knows them. Even if it takes a month. We'll just find some fun ways to do it.

[StephanieZ]

My DD is 5 years old. When should they be able to recognize numbers? She is doing well in math....simple adding, simple subtracting, patterns, counting to 100, counting by 10's to 100, counting by 2's to 20, learning odd/even numbers, etc. But as far as recognizing numbers go, she's just not getting it!

 

We are doing Horizons Math for Kindergarten. I'll point to a number (23 for example) and say "what number is this?" She'll reply with something like "fourty-two". We have gone over and over and over this. As for the teen numbers, I'll ask her "what comes after 13?" She's say "14." I'll ask her to write it....she will say that she has no idea how. I'll say "look at the number 13 in the book." She looks at it and I'll remind her that the teen numbers always start with a 1. She is still confused. I'll tell her to listen as I say it. I'll say "FOURteen" with emphasis on the four. Hear that? FOURteen...what number do you think is in FOURteen? She still has no idea.

 

I am sprouting gray hairs because of this back and forth that we do during math time LOL. She can recognize numbers up to ten, but after that she seems to be just guessing. I'm not continuing in math until she can recognize numbers because in the Horizons book, they do a lot of number recognition.

 

Is this normal for her age? Should I be doing something differently?

 

What I would do is put away the math books, paper, pencil for a while. Pull out the magnetic numbers for the fridge. . . Or wooden numbers (I had a cool box of wooden numbers and arithmetic symbols). . . and play with those. Do things like put a couple numerals (you could make "flash cards" out of index cards if you don't have anything on hand) and then put a pile of counters (identical items: beans, pennies, beads, whatever). . . Play matching games. . . As in put a pile of 12 beans on the table and ask dd to find the matching number (out of just a couple choices). . .

 

Make the game very easy to start. Increase challenges slowly.

 

If you have numeral magnets or wooden things, you can assemble larger numbers by putting the 1 and the 2 together to make 12. . .

 

Also, if you are dealing w/ numbers larger than 10. . . dd needs to understand that 13 is just a ten and a 3. . . I found that using bundles of tiny stirrer straws worked well. . . Buy a big bag of them. . . make a pile of bundles of 10s (bundle with rubber bands). . . Show dd that you count 1,2,3. . .. 10, now make a bundle!! (DO together). . . So, to count 13 you can either count out 13 singles or take a 10 and add 3. Practice making numbers (teens first). . . Then 23, then 33. . . Later you can put 10 little bundles together into a larger bundle of 100. . .

 

Have FUN!

 

Play with hands on things. Count them. Match them. Divide them.

 

I found a lot of good ideas on these topics by reading up on Montessori methods and by browsing the Montessori catalogs for ideas I could copy on the cheap.

[kmacnchs]

Teen #s are hard...I don't know if this is right or wrong but I taught my daughter how to think through the process:

#23 for example

1. what #s do you see? (dd "2 & 3")

2. Which is 1st? "2"

3. So it's in what family? "twenties"

4. So the # is...? "23"

SLOW, I know. But this is how we did it until she was able to see a # and say "23".

 

I'm not trying to make it difficult; I'm just trying to help her know how to think...

[RanchGirl]

I wouldn't be worried at all but there is no need for a workbook at this age and she's clearly not ready for it. (I love Horizons but we skipped the K and just did fun stuff at that stage!). I would put away the workbook for a couple months or maybe a year. Do fun things instead for the next 100 days with a "number of the day" (like Sesame Street!)

 

100 counting bears -- 1st day count out 1 bear. 2nd day 2, 50th day 50 bears, 100th day = 100 bears. And find the corresponding number of the day on the 100 chart (print out free online, just google)

 

Watch LeapFrog's Math Circus DVD, it's fun!

 

Count stairsteps out loud together whenever you go up or down.

 

There are lots of printable number activities here:

http://www.dltk-teach.com/numbers/index.html

 

Age 5 is so fun, don't bog her down with a workbook and make yourself crazy at the same time!