EASY AS PIE: 8 WAYS TO TACKLE THE 1-2-3S Counting past his tenth finger can be a daunting task for a five-year-old. But learning to count is a fundamental stepping stone for all children. “Parents’ involvement with learning math is just as important as their involvement with learning to read,” says Richard E. Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center. “You frequently hear people making light that they are not good at math. The message we are giving to our children is that you don’t need to know math to be an adult.” Bavaria says parents need to motivate and encourage their children when it comes to practicing math skills. And most important, be a good role model. “When you are at a restaurant, instead of passing off the bill to someone else, figure out the tip and do it out loud,” he says. “Whether it is watching sports, grocery shopping, cooking, measuring wood or calculating mileage, show children that math is an important part of daily life.” Here are several ways to help ease your children into counting and help them master their 1-2-3s. Sing songs or recite rhymes that involve counting. Many songs and rhymes involve counting and numbers. Songs with hand gestures are particularly fun to sing. This approach will make counting fun for young children and inspire them. Play games involving numbers. Try playing Chutes and Ladders, darts, hopscotch and other games that use counting and calculating. Games are a great way to trigger a child’s interest in math. Incorporate counting into daily activities. With a little creativity, you can help strengthen your child’s counting skills without sitting her down at a desk. Bath-time, for instance, is a chance to teach counting. Ask your child to fill two measuring cups with water and compare the amounts. Use a thermometer and take the bath water’s temperature. Find number-related items for your child's toy collection. Collect items such as coins, dominoes, dice, tape measures, playing cards, rulers and timers for your child. Playing with these objects will develop his understanding of counting. Watch and play sports. Watching a football game on television can be exciting. Use this as an opportunity to help your child count. Playing sports that involve scoring, timing and measuring is another fun way to teach counting. Ask your child questions. One of the most important aspects of counting is being able to associate actual items with numbers. Ask your child how many brothers, sisters, cousins, pets, etc., she has or ask her to count her socks. This will help her to understand what counting means rather than simply memorizing a sequence of numbers. Teach your children to count using money. Give your child pennies, dimes and nickels to count. Take him to a candy store and help him count money to pay for candy. This will not only illustrate the benefits of counting, but it can boost your child’s confidence. Allow your children to learn through self-discovery. Math class and homework are not the only way to learn how to count. Allow your child to learn to count through his own experiences and encourage him to ask questions about counting. By Payal Uttum K-3 Worksheet 1. Fill in the missing number: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, __, 9 2. What number comes after 56? 3. If Bob the turtle is 55-years-old and Sam the turtle is 66-years-old, which turtle is older? 4. Fill in the blanks in this pattern: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, __, 16, 18, __ 5. If Jane is 34, Rina is 29 and Leena is 51, Who is oldest? Who is youngest? Write their ages in order from youngest to oldest. 6. If Olivia and Sebastien are running around in a shallow pond, how many feet would you be able to see if you looked into the pond? 7. How many S’s are there in Mississippi? 8. If you looked into a window and there were 10 people in a room, how many noses could you count in the room? 9. If Maria has two bags of candy in each hand and one fell on the floor, how many bags of candy is Maria carrying? Answers 1. 8 2. 57 3. Sam 4. 14 and 20 5. Leena is the oldest; Rina is the youngest; 29, 34, 51 6. 4 7. 4 8. 10 9. 3