I need advice on how to teach number recognition to ds6 1/2

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

He will be 7 in Oct, he will start 1st grade in Sept but we are only on lesson 39 in Horizons Math K. I am not to concerned about him only being halfway through the first book. I know its partially because for a while we did not work on math because he was not ready, and I know horizons is a bit advanced, so I have no problems slowing it down. I LOVE Horizons. I will add in Singapore 1a in Sept. Ds can not recognize numbers beyond 11, and sometimes 11 is questionable. Any tips on how to help him with this? We do math with MUS blocks. He LOVES his MUS blocks. I also have MUS Primer that we started using but when we started Horizons, MUS Primer stayed on the shelf. I think I may add that back in (he LOVES math and really has a great sense of numbers and arithmetic concepts)

 

So-- what can I do to help with number recognition that is not boring? Ds LOVES music and hands school. Thanks in advance!

[PeterPan]

I just had this horrible realization, reading your post, of what could happen with ds, mercy. But anyways! For your ds, have you tried doing gross-motor formation while using music? I'm thinking like a large pad on an easel, a big marker, and singing the formation as he writes it. Then play what we called in RS the station game. Write the number on the board (that's your first station), then form it with the rods (your 2nd station), then form it from a pile of m&m's (your 3rd station). I mean you could keep going with that or invent on it as much as you want. But you're connecting between the real or whatever he does know and the medium abstract forms (dots, abacus beads, rods), and most abstract (written numbers). Also, there was some discussion years ago on the RS yahoo group about RS being slightly better than MUS for a spectrum child. But I don't remember the whole strain of logic. It was just an interesting post.

 

Have you looked at something that uses more modalities like Shiller? Even if you don't want to change, it might give you a breakthrough to carry over some of the techniques. Or it might be that something more hands-on would help him get over the hump, and then he'd be fine with the abstract curriculum you like.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I just had this horrible realization, reading your post, of what could happen with ds, mercy. But anyways! For your ds, have you tried doing gross-motor formation while using music? I'm thinking like a large pad on an easel, a big marker, and singing the formation as he writes it. Then play what we called in RS the station game. Write the number on the board (that's your first station), then form it with the rods (your 2nd station), then form it from a pile of m&m's (your 3rd station). I mean you could keep going with that or invent on it as much as you want. But you're connecting between the real or whatever he does know and the medium abstract forms (dots, abacus beads, rods), and most abstract (written numbers). Also, there was some discussion years ago on the RS yahoo group about RS being slightly better than MUS for a spectrum child. But I don't remember the whole strain of logic. It was just an interesting post.

 

Have you looked at something that uses more modalities like Shiller? Even if you don't want to change, it might give you a breakthrough to carry over some of the techniques. Or it might be that something more hands-on would help him get over the hump, and then he'd be fine with the abstract curriculum you like.

 

 

I had asked about RS before but the majority had said it was to much stimulation and to distracting for dc on the spectrum. Maybe I will re-look at it though. I had about a month where I was trying to decide to buy it or not and I decided against it but maybe I will re-look into it.

 

I have not done anything like your multisensory suggestion, but I am thinking right now of what I can use to make a hands on station like that! I LOVE that idea! Ok so I have play-doh to roll out the letters with, beans we can make it with, finger paint.... we used to have sandpaper letters, maybe I will make sandpaper numbers also. What else would you recommend? Shaving cream? (for a wet texture- well, kinda wet, maybe :001_huh:) I love that idea! Thanks

 

Shiller, I have heard of it but never looked into that. I am off to do some research. I have so many- SO MANY manipulatives I think I need some sort of guide to teach me how to use them all :lol:

[peacefully]

I'm linking directly to a pdf from the Math Their Way Summary Newsletter, that has directions for many activities that are similar to Elizabeth's wonderful ideas. The focus is for numeral writing, but it probably will be awesome for numeral recognition too. Tons of ideas here.

http://www.center.edu/pub/docs/chapter6.pdf

 

The rest of the MTW Summary Newsletters also have lots of great station activities.

http://www.center.edu/NEWSLETTER/newsletter.shtml

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I'm linking directly to a pdf from the Math Their Way Summary Newsletter, that has directions for many activities that are similar to Elizabeth's wonderful ideas. The focus is for numeral writing, but it probably will be awesome for numeral recognition too. Tons of ideas here.

http://www.center.edu/pub/docs/chapter6.pdf

 

The rest of the MTW Summary Newsletters also have lots of great station activities.

http://www.center.edu/NEWSLETTER/newsletter.shtml

 

 

 

Thank you :D

[EKS]

Be sure to emphasize place value. Once he understand that, recognition is a piece of cake. I've never seen MUS Primer, but if it has the lesson on decimal street, do that and just drill it until he gets it. If it doesn't, I think it might be one of the samples on the website. I know it is on the demo DVD they sent me.

[Critterfixer]

Well this won't be fun, I don't suppose, but it did help my hFA ds learn his numbers. When he was 6 we went through Saxon K. Every morning, tedious as it seemed I would have both boys count using a hundred number chart. Because they could already count pretty far, I would have them each count individually, and I would tap a pencil on the number while they would tap the number with the pencil while they counted it. Pretty low tech, I guess, but it worked, and place value problems did not result. It did not seem to distress him because the charts were quite bland visually, just yellow and blue to show evens and odds.

I would also have him go through cards laid out on the table to pick out numbers as I called them out. It just took time with him. His brother picked up the numbers faster, but if I had to pick the better mathematician now, I would have to say it would be his hFA brother.

[Julie of KY]

Not specificallly what you are asking for... but you might be interested in Kitchen Table Math put out be Art of Problem Solving - it has great ideas for all areas of math including number recognition.

[SailorMom]

I highly recommend sandpaper letters and numbers (google them). Also - print out the numbers (however many you want to work on) in a huge, bold, thick script (taking up almost a whole page). Then help him make snakes out of play-doh, and arrange the play-doh in the shape of the numbers on top of the print outs. Have him repeat the numbers over and over while he is doing it.

[Carolina3]

Not sure if these ideas will help or not but my son was the same way. Here are some things we did:

 

I created number bingo boards (20 numbers at a time up to 100) and we played every day.

 

We also played a memory matching game where we would have a set of blocks (hidden under a tissue) that made the number (like 34) and then cards with the numbers. I think this really helped him understand place value and what the numbers represented.

 

The other thing he liked was that we would bounce a little bouncy ball back and forth. If you missed the ball you had to do five number flash cards. If you got it, you only had to do 1. We would go back and forth until we got through all the flash cards.

 

Finally, we used to have air writing contests with the numbers. One of us would flip over a card and whoever said the number and air wrote it the fastest won. My son is very competitive and I usually let him win so he loved doing this as well.

 

Good luck!!

[Critterfixer]

Kitchen Table Math put out be Art of Problem Solving - it has great ideas for all areas of math including number recognition.

 

These books are great! I bought all three to use in Math this year as a supplement with Saxon. Another thing that might be fun if running up and down is something he likes would be a number retrieving game of some sort. Draw a chalk line on the sidewalk or driveway, or carport and chalk the numbers on the line, or put a number card where the numbers should be. Call out the number and have him run to get it.

[EKS]

One other thing. You can get place value cards from Singapore Math that work really well to solidify understanding. I used the MUS blocks first with index cards with the numerals 0-9 on them (in green, blue, and red) to start the process and then when he was good with that, I switched to the more abstract base 10 chips (foam circles with 1, 10, 100, and so forth on them) combined with the place value cards.

 

Here's a link to the cards: http://www.singaporemath.com/Place_Value_Strips_4_Digit_1_3_p/mnpvs-4d.htm

 

And a link to the chips: http://www.singaporemath.com/Place_Value_Disks_7_Digit_1_6_p/mnpvd.htm

 

Another thing you can have him do once he understands the concept of place value is to make a hundred number chart. However, *don't* do it the way that it always seems to be done in the commercially produced charts. You want to do it in a way that reinforces place value (I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record). First line: 0-9, second line: 10-19, third line: 20-29, and so forth.

[HiddenJewel]

Can someone post a link to Kitchen Table Math please? Thanks!

[Dobela]

Using a calendar daily is an easy way to review numbers in a natural setting. Most preK and early elementary classrooms do calendar activities daily for reinforcement and teaching of number concepts including identification. Essentially every day you add a number to the calendar. After adding ther number you can count the days by pointing to the numbers, predicting what tomorrow will be, cover the days of the week, and more. By the end of the month they have seen each number (except 30/31) many times. It helps teach patterns of numbers, rhythm, and more.

 

http://www.center.edu/pub/docs/Chapter4.pdf has some calendar ideas you can add to the routine. There is a lot of information here. I would scroll down to page 4.11 or so just for calendars or start at the top to better understand the math concepts being presented and why. Many of the activities are just for public school (like graphing birthdays and numbers of teeth lost), but many can also be used at home.

[Julie of KY]

Kitchen Table Math - series of three books - here's the amazon.com link

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Wrights-Kitchen-Table-Math/dp/1934124036

[PeterPan]

I don't know if this would inspire you or give you any ideas, but Michele and I have been gabbing about this today. http://www.halo-soma.org/learning_videos.php?sess_id=a5184b7f4e16f2c3ceb8b7e5bd969da9 I had heard about it last fall from a mom I met at speech therapy whose then 11 yo old son has autism. She has been doing this for years with him. Even if it's not exactly what you need, watching the videos sort of shifted my paradigm for how info goes in and how and how we have to communicate about what we know. She said the book is even more fascinating, with all kinds of info about how to assess their open "window" at that moment and shift your methods on the fly to fit where they're at. It was really fascinating.

[HiddenJewel]

Kitchen Table Math - series of three books - here's the amazon.com link

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Wrights-Kitchen-Table-Math/dp/1934124036

 

Thanks.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Thank you so much ladies!!! :D