Preparing Your Child for First Grade Math During the Preschool and Kindergarten Years
Parents are so busy with care, feeding, developmental milestones, birthday parties, family, and friends from the time a child is born until he or she attends first grade, that it is very easy to overlook developing math concepts to prepare the child for first grade. Most parents realize they should read to their children, and the more books the better. But with the constant demands and work of parenting, some parents neglect to help a child develop math skills beyond counting and perhaps some flashcards.
Why do I say this? As an experienced teacher of 28 years including thirteen in first grade, I have seen many children enter class so very ready for reading, while not being adequately prepared for math. Am I suggesting parents do math worksheets and workbooks? No not at all. When parents proudly tell me they have their child do worksheets, I so badly want to tell them math is not ”naked numbers” as teachers sometimes call that kind of preparation. There is a place for work pages, but not while the child is very young, and worksheets do not hold a candle to the natural math opportunities in everyday life.
FIrst Grade Here I Come
For instance, here is an easy idea if you are a parent who reads to young children: on a second or third or fourth reading of a favorite book, begin to point out the numbers at the bottom of the page. Ask your child what number comes next? After the child can predict 1 though 10, what about the number after 19, 29, and 39? It is so valuable for your child to be able to recognize the written form of the number, as well as seeing an actual use of numbering at the same time.
Here are some more authentic ways to incorporate money math into everyday life, so it is meaningful to the child. Let your child have some experience with shopping and change (with coins not dollars). How can parents do that when we round everything off to the nearest dollar and use credit or debit cards?
• Let your child spend 50 cents or so at a garage sale. You may have to toss whatever is dragged home, but the math learning is invaluable.
•A lemonade stand or something similar will also provide some experiences with coins. Even if the only customers are the family and a few others, coins (and math) will take on new meaning and importance.
•A mother told me this great tip: she let her child have the change when she used cash and if the child could count the coin change, he could keep it. If not, she explained how to count it and the little brother got half the money. In no time at all, her child could count coins.
•Play family games like Yahtzee or Life where math is used. Board games can teach many skills. Just think about Yahtzee, it is really multiplication readiness, even if you help count.
•If you drop a coin just say, “Please pick up the nickel,” rather than “Could you pick that up for me?” Such a simple thing helps children learn if we remember to be precise in our speech.
•For children who can add and subtract, think about easy multiple step problems. For instance, if two children go shopping, each has $10, one spends $8 and one spends $9, how much money is left over in all? How much more does one have than the other? Multiple step math problems from actual life experiences will have meaning and show the child a reason for math.
Coins are a big part of the first grade math lessons and involves skip counting, counting on, counting back, and so on. Many math homework pages from programs like Everyday Math have dozens of worksheets involving coins, during the early grade years. When children are tired from their first full days of school and growing socially and emotionally, it is difficult for parents to try to introduce new skills like counting coins. Children who enter first grade able to do this are ahead of other children in math class.
For preparing to tell time, children need some awareness of the different kinds of clocks and telling time. Don’t expect your child to answer questions like when will grandma be here if she arrives in 3 hours and 40 minutes. Instead:
•Point to clocks when you say it is a certain time and do not expect the child to understand at first.
• Mention that the digital time is the same as time on the analog clock . . . it is never 300 o’clock!
•Have your child look and tell what the time is on the hour when he or she is ready.
•If you need your child to be quiet a minute, time it with a second hand, and let your child watch.
Some children can read numbers but don’t realize what they stand for. Don’t expect time to the minute but begin pointing out clocks and time to the hour and half hour during the kindergarten year. This will be in the first grade curriculum and children who can at least tell time to the hour will be better in math. Even better, try to use the terms quarter to and quarter after the hour as it seems those terms have disappeared from our language. Those terms are covered second semester of first grade.
The more ready your child is for math in first grade, the more progress he or she will make during the school year. First grade is a time of amazing growth and learning, and the better prepared child will go further.
There is a program called Cognitive Guided Instruction (CGI math) which is a child-development friendly math philosophy from the University of Wisconsin. The book is intended for teachers, but parents of young children may find it helpful. Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc., 1999, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. Here is a review of the program from the Promising Practices Network: http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?programid=114
And finally, here are all my free theme based problems on TpT for teachers and parents:
By the way, the National Council of Teachers of Math have wonderful online math activities for pre-School through 12th grade. At the following NCTM link, check which level you would like and then choose from the activity options. http://illuminations.nctm.org/activitysearch.aspx
Graphics licensed through The Graphics Factory and Lettering Delights, do not distribute electronically or otherwise use. Thanks, Carolyn
