K Math: Counting to 100

[roxanne23]

DD is almost 6 and she is just not getting this. I'm using Horizons Math with her, and it just won't click. She's memorized counting by 5's and 10's, but just plain counting is beyond her. I don't think I'm teaching it to her correctly, or at least in the way she needs to be taught. She understands that counting is going 0-9 over and over again, but she can't apply it. She can confidently count to 30, but after that she either starts counting by 10's or just guesses. She was doing quite well with counting to 100 (she had done it with her abacus several times) until she learned skip counting, and now it's a mess. That tells me that she didn't really *know* it before, she just memorized it.

Any suggestions on ways to make this fun? Because it's not fun. It's tears and walking away and not getting done.

[ByGrace3]

We used Saxon this year and I was amazed how well simply counting to 100 everyday using a 100 number chart worked. Seeing it, using her finger to go to each number. repeat. have you tried having her count using a number chart where all the numbers are there for her?

[roxanne23]

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Edited January 4, 2023 by roxanne23

[twoxcell]

I use a 100 hundred chart to teach counting. I have my dc practice counting with me aloud and pointing to the numbers as they go.

[Chelli]

We also use Horizons although I've not used K yet. I wouldn't teach a child skip counting until they could count to 100 well (we didn't start skip counting until 1st). If the TM told you to teach skip counting, then I would ignore it for now. We are using Horizons 1 right now and they will relearn all of that skip counting in first so just forget about it in K, IMO.

 

When I did K math with my daughter all we worked on all year was counting to 100 using the 100 wall chart. We did that for 18 weeks (1/2 the year) EVERY DAY!!! Boring, yes, but it was just how we started every math lesson, then we worked on our math lesson.

 

The last half of the year we played this game from pbs kids on the computer to really cement number order.

 

http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/games/glass_palace/

 

In the beginning I would sit by her while she played this game and we would talk about how to figure out where the number goes. By the end of the year, I would just set the timer for 5 minutes and let her play over and over until the time ran out. Starting this year in 1st, we are learning our skip counting starting with 10's then 5's, then 2's and then in order from there (3, 4, 6, etc.). We use our CC cd's to learn the skip counting songs.

[Garga]

Wow! I've had the EXACT SAME ISSUES!!!! And I've wondered who to call to ask if it is normal. My son is 6, he's in K and it's been such a struggle. I think we're just a little tiny bit farther down the road than you are, so I'll tell you what we did. It wasn't elegant, but it's starting to cement.

 

 

I used flashcards to teach him how to read numbers. He would get 42 mixed up with 24 (for example). I would tell him over and over to say the first number first, then the second (42= forty, then two), but then we'd run into the teens. The teens were SUCH A BUGGER!!

 

For the teens, I told him that once he sees the 1, to say the second number first (16= six, then teen.) But that doesn't work for 11, 12, 13 or 15, because they have made up names (It's not five-teen. It's fif-teen.) No wonder they get mixed up!!!

 

I picked out all the teen flashcards and all the 41, 51, 61, etc flashcards (to try to trip him up--not to be mean, but to give him practice), plus a few regular numbers, and we would do those flashcards once or twice a day. We didn't do all 100 numbers in our flashcards, because they it was too tedious (just the pulled out teens, 41, and a few regulars.) We did that for weeks on end, and he finally has it down. A bit shakily, but we're still working on it.

 

Then, I realized he couldn't count to 100 and here we are, only 2 months till the end of K.

 

I made a number line by cutting paper into strips, taping the strips together, and writing 1 - 100 on it. Then I borrowed an idea from Rod and Staff, Math 1. They say that each 10 (10, 20, 30, etc.) is the Father and then the other numbers (21, 22, 23, 24, etc,) are the children. I taught him over and over about how the numbers are just 0 - 9 repeating, with a new father each time. And the fathers all line up in order, from the 10 father to to 90 father. (Numbers 0 -9 are orphans. No father.) We did that for about 3 weeks and he's actually starting to get it.

 

I'm starting to think that this just takes lots and lots of time. I was so confused about why he didn't get it quickly. My oldest immediately saw the pattern and I never really taught him his numbers that much--he just seemed to "get it" from the start. For my 2nd, it's been a lot harder, but with a lot of time and doing it EVERY DAY, he's almost got it. He's just still a little shaky. We'll keep doing it until he's firm.

 

 

 

The number line works well when you have to explain how far it is to another number. He has already learned how to count by 10's and 5's (by osmosis, I think), but next week we're starting on counting by 2's. He's struggled with this in the past, so having a number line will allow us to jump from number to number. To get from 2 to 4, we'll have to "jump" two times. So...counting by 2's means to "jump" 2 times. The number line helped my oldest, so I'm hopeful it'll work with my youngest, too.

Edited May 2, 2011 by Garga

[Spy Car]

Try working on (how many Tens?) and (how many Units or Ones?) are in each number instead.

 

Give numbers "math names": 1-10 2 Units for "Twelve", 2-Tens 4-Units for "Twenty Four." And then also discuss the English names. Better the child "understand" the numbers and what they represent than having her simply memorize counting as a "song."

 

Bill

[Karen in CO]

Kumon also makes some fun books for numbers with lots of dot-to-dots and other activities.

[roxanne23]

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Edited January 4, 2023 by roxanne23

[Spy Car]

:grouphug: Thank you for your post. I'm so glad I'm not alone.

 

The biggest issue she has is going through the 9-0-1 sequence. And she mixes up 14/41 15/51 ect. She's able to identify many numbers, but putting them in order and counting is just giving her anxiety.

 

Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone.

 

The sort confusion caused by numbers like fourteen and forty-one, and fifteen and fifty-one, are exactly the kind of confusions we can expect a child to have with the irregular naming conventions we have in English.

 

They cause anxiety because they don't really make sense to a young mind. So, really, try "math names." Work on what the numbers represent, and she will learn the English vocabulary as you go.

 

Bill

[ChrisB]

Try working on (how many Tens?) and (how many Units or Ones?) are in each number instead.

 

Give numbers "math names": 1-10 2 Units for "Twelve", 2-Tens 4-Units for "Twenty Four." And then also discuss the English names. Better the child "understand" the numbers and what they represent than having her simply memorize counting as a "song."

 

Bill

I was going to say something similar. We start with the "math" way of saying numbers before we introduce the regular way to say numbers.

 

14 = one ten, four (you can say four ones (or units) if you'd like)

36 = three ten, six

53 = five ten, three

 

you get the picture. And maybe an abacus would help her concretely feel and see how the numbers relate to each other.

 

ETA: I missed that you are already using an abacus in your original post. Sorry.

Edited May 2, 2011 by ChrisB

[ChrisB]

The sort confusion caused by numbers like fourteen and forty-one, and fifteen and fifty-one, are exactly the kind of confusions we can expect a child to have with the irregular naming conventions we have in English.

 

They cause anxiety because they don't really make sense to a young mind. So, really, try "math names." Work on what the numbers represent, and she will learn the English vocabulary as you go.

 

Bill

:iagree: again :tongue_smilie:

[Spy Car]

I was going to say something similar. We start with the "math" way of saying numbers before we introduce the regular way to say numbers.

 

14 = one ten, four (you can say four ones (or units) if you'd like)

36 = three ten, six

53 = five ten, three

 

you get the picture. And maybe an abacus would help her concretely feel and see how the numbers relate to each other.

 

:iagree:

 

This simple thing made a huge difference for my son. Even when he was "beyond" this he would occasionally make computational errors that were "semantically" based and if I said "how many Tens and How many Units?" it would trigger an immediate understanding of where he'd gone wrong.

 

As I'm sure you know, but others may not, there has been a strong case made that part of the reason students in Asian countries seem to excel in math is because the Asian languages have "regular" naming conventions, things similar to 1-Ten 2-Units or One-Ten 2, rather than names like "Twelve."

 

Bill

[ChrisB]

:iagree:

 

This simple thing made a huge difference for my son. Even when he was "beyond" this he would occasionally make computational errors that were "semantically" based and if I said "how many Tens and How many Units?" it would trigger an immediate understanding of where he'd gone wrong.

 

As I'm sure you know, but others may not, there has been a strong case made that part of the reason students in Asian countries seem to excel in math is because the Asian languages have "regular" naming conventions, things similar to 1-Ten 2-Units or One-Ten 2, rather than names like "Twelve."

 

Bill

:iagree: I just couldn't resist.:D

[Spy Car]

:iagree: I just couldn't resist.:D

 

:lol:

[jengjohnson]

My third dd is getting this slower than my first two also. I wanted to agree with an earlier poster about the Kumon dot to dots. We have the book that goes to 100 and it's helped a ton. She would do several a day if I let her, it's so much more fun than just plain counting.

[Aurelia]

Professor B has a number strip that you write out and the child touches. It really helped Ariel count easily.

 

1__2__3__4__5__6__7__8__9

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

 

So the student touches 1-10 and says the number names, then for eleven they touch 10 and 1 quickly and say the number name, then 10 and 2 quickly for twelve, etc.

Edited May 2, 2011 by Aurelia

[Ellie]

:001_huh: It did not occur to me that a 5yo needed to know how to count all the way to 100 before she was 6. :001_huh:

 

FTR, both of my dc aced their college-level maths, so I'm pretty sure that counting to 100 before they were 6--neither could do that--was not a vital part of their math education. IOW, it would not be something that I'd say was worth so much effort.

[asmall]

Both of my girls struggled with learning to count. These are the things that we did that helped. First I didn't push counting to 100 until 1st grade. (When counting ends in tears everyday, it's not worth it!)

Then we used songs, we made up a counting tune. We only focused on a few numbers at a time, counting 10-20, until they were well known before we moved on to 20-30, and so on. We counted while marching, and clapping. Something about movement helps kids to remember better. After they could count to 100, we worked on our own number book. Both my girls loved making their own book with all the numbers 1-100 in it. Because they had already learned to count, reading their books was easy, and they did so over and over again. The last thing we did, was after the girls learned to count to 100, we would march up to 100 and then march and count down to 0. This really helped them to learn their numbers.

I think the best things that helped the girls were singing and moving, while learning numbers.

AL

[kalanamak]

I had a big colorful abacus from IKEA and we'd start the math day with a run through of counting. I didn't always start with 1. Then we did twos, then backwards, then backwards by 10s, etc. Just a few minutes a day, and when something sank in, fine. I elected not to frustrate the two of us with "mastery" as a goal before moving on.

HTH.