Mrs. Adamski's Class: Math

Interested in helping your KINDERGARTENER with their math?

The following are great resources:

What you can work on at home:

(from http://www.dreambox.com/parent-tips-kindergarten)

GIVE YOUR CHILD PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO COUNT

Play number games during everyday activities, such as counting the number of steps, the number of trucks you see while driving, or counting the number of items going in the laundry.
Read the calendar, and determine the number of days until an upcoming event.
Young children can count the number of items that you bought at the store. If you buy multiples of 1 item (such as 10 cans of cat food), practice counting by 2’s, 3’s, or higher numbers
Have your child count the change needed to pay for an item.
Watch your child play to understand her mathematical knowledge. When your child counts, does she touch each object once? Is his voice in sync with his tag?
Have your child distribute cookies or toys to family members, with each person getting an equal number

At the grocery store, ask your child to find items that are triangles, circles, rectangles, and other shapes.
Ask your child to recognize or stack the groceries you bought by container shape or organize by size.
Organize a scavenger hunt where your child has to find objects of different shapes
Make snowflakes using symmetry. Fold a square piece of paper in half diagonally to make a triangle, then fold in half 2 more times. Cut out small diamond or circular shapes from the edges, and then unfold it. Experiment with different numbers of folds and shapes.

Look around the house to find groups of 2 objects, like pairs of gloves or socks. Look for groups of 3’s, 4’s, and on up to 10’s.
Have your child help sort the laundry by various categories — by color, or by whom an item belongs to.
Take measurements for a project around the house.
Using paper of different colors, make a paper chain with paper strips and tape. Encourage your child to create patterns by repeating colors and numbers of rings in a regular order. This can be done in connection with reading the calendar and counting down days to a special event.
Collect objects in nature— leaves, rocks, shells and the like. When you get home, sort them by color, size, or type. How many different categories can you find? How many objects are in more than 1 category?

Help your child think about the permanence of a set. Put 6 pennies in a row, and then change the arrangement. Ask “did the quantity change?”
Kindergartners love repetition and patterning, which fosters mathematical thinking. Clapping patterns help your child discover sequences and predict what comes next.

Many card games require counting and score keeping.
Dice games and dominos help kids learn to quickly recognize groups of dots from 2 to 12.
Play board games that involve counting squares, such as Chutes and Ladders.
Tic Tac Toe and Connect Four build recognition of rows of 3 and 4 counters.
Tangrams
Mancala