Read Aloud to Foster Counting Skills

Counting books cycle in our home; about every four years over the past two plus decades as little learners grow and start their quest to conquer the concepts and skills involved in counting. 

Noticing some of our favorites are disappearing from the library shelves, intentionality finds me adding to our home library so we don't lose our loves. 

How Many Snails? Rich, bold vibrant colors invite little learners to jump in and count! Though counting is the main skill reinforced, attributes, following directions, and processing fair well, too. One of our favorites! Author: Paul Giganti, Jr. 

M&M Counting Book. The familiar candies on the front draw readers to the content. Once opened, this book teaches counting through 12, counting sets, and beginning addition and subtraction. Author: Barbara Barbieri McGrath

Counting is for the Birds. The rhyming text makes this brilliantly illustrated counting-to-twenty book an all-time favorite of ours. Author: Frank Mazzola, Jr.

Cardinal Numbers: An Ohio Counting Book. Counting 1-14 with beautiful illustrations and real-world word problems on the last pages, this book is one of many in the Sleeping Bear Press series. A favorite for older children, too, as side bars on each page offer additional opportunities for curious learners. Author: Marcia Schonberg

Great Estimations. An intriguing look at estimating as an advanced counting technique. Great photography, fun examples, and helpful hints for counting objects in large numbers. Great for older learners, too! Author: Bruce Goldstone.

The Coin Counting Book. Counting takes another journey into the world of coin recognition and value. Great for beginner coin counters who have a piggy bank of coins waiting to be counted.  Another of our favorites due to the interest most kids have in money. Author: Rozanne Lanczank Williams.

Eating Pairs: Counting Fruits and Vegetables by Two. Reading and learning odds and evens go hand-in-hand with this unique counting book. We love that the numbers are written down the side bar of each page, begging for us to count along...again! Author: Sarah L. Schuette.

10 Little Rubber Ducks. Fictionalized counting story of a real-life event presented alongside the classic Eric Carle collage art. Bright illustrations and a intriguing story line. Great addition to the home library, for sure! Author: Eric Carle.

"There's Math in My Candy Bag!"

All that candy!

This may be a proclamation in your home this week.

If so, perhaps one of these simple adventures could add a fun twist to your learning.

Measurement (linear) 

Young children, generally preschoolers, often learn to measure in non-standard (inconsistent) measurements before they measure in standard (consistent) measurements. Non-standard units might be blocks or perhaps toy cars.

So, why not Snickers?  

Snickers, or any candy bar for that matter, can be a non-standard unit of measure.

How many Snickers high is Dad? How many Kit Kats long is the bed?

Draw a visual representation. 

Measurement (weight)

Weigh your candy on a kitchen scale. Did everyone collect the same weight amount? This activity offers opportunity for children to learn to weigh objects and read a scale. To extend this activity, have the children estimate the weight before placing on the scale. If the estimation and the actual weight are written on paper, demonstrate how to subtract to find the difference (how close the estimate was to the actual weight). 

Sorting and Counting

Skittles and M&Ms create wonderful opportunities for sorting, counting, comparing, and graphing. In fact, if you have an abundance of fun size bags, consider inviting another family or a a group of friends to learn too! 

Small candies work well for set creation, comparing and counting. We used Smarties and Sprees for counting by fives and tallying. 

Graphing 

Sort out two different types of candy bar from the collection. Ask each member which candy bar is his or her favorite. Offer each his or her favorite to eat. Save the wrappers to make a "favorites" graph. 

Fractions

Packages with multiple colors of candies--Skittles, M&Ms, and Starbursts--are great for teaching fractional parts. Count the total amount. Sort the colors. Make a visual representation of each color in relation to the whole. For example, if there are 16 Starbursts and 4 are orange, the written fraction would be 4/16. Taking a step further, 4/16 is equal to 1/4 of the package. 

Percentage

Halloween behind us, stores in our area are posting opportunities to use practical math, for example 50% off $6.99, 75% off retail, and buy-one-get-two free. Take photos of these while out and work the math when you arrive home. OR, do it in the store to determine whether the sale is a "deal". 

Operations and Equations

My older children love to use math to determine whether or not they are getting a "sweet" bargain. We figure out cost (If a bag of candy costs $3.99 and the sale is 50% off, what will be pay?) and cost per unit (If the bag of fruit chews costs $2.19 and there are 50 chews per bag, what is the cost of each individual chew?). I also make up additional hypothetical scenarios (If you have a $10.00 bill in your pocket and the candy is $3.29 per bag, how many bags could you buy and how much change would you receive from your purchase?) This often leads to conversation about sales tax, taxable and non-taxable items, and cost per pound.

These yummy math ideas (and more) are compiled in my Flip Three Pancakes With One Spatula book, a resource I put together after years of hands-on math activities. Yes, my children love to eat their math. 

Ideas from the Flip Three Pancakes book. 

"It's All Yours!" : A Money Counting Life Lesson

"Mom, Josh gave us all the money he found in his car. And, he said we could have it if we could count it!"

There's power in words. 

Twenty-six years ago, a four-year-old, math-savvy preschooler cleaned great-grandpa's pockets. 

"Josh, if you can count it, you can have it!" Great-grandpa quipped. Little did he know his pockets would be empty when he left the family Christmas Eve gathering.

Josh counted every coin and left $6.72 richer.

Even more important, a relationship spanned and deeped across three generations. Josh made a connection. The words—the challenge—fueled the learning.

Would he really give all he had? 

A challenge and some change made an impact. And, it repeated itself.

"Mom, Josh gave us all the money he found in his car. And, he said we could have it if we could count it!"

I inquired.

"What?"

"Josh gave us all the money he found in his car and we are counting it. If we count it, we can keep it."

I heard correctly and immediately remembered the similar day, Christmas Eve long ago.

Dimes, in piles of ten, for 100. Pennies in piles of ten for ten. Methodically organized for a simple LAST count. 

$34.15

"Mom, is he serious?"

"There's $34.15 here!"

"Did he know how much was here?"

I bet he did.

Josh wasn't worried.

He gave, but he also inspired. His heart for the relationship—his memory of what had been given him—extended to give another GIFT!

I was thankful for the counting practice, but honestly, what made my heart swell was what the girls experienced.

Someone freely gave to them, not worried about the amount. Just gave. 

"It's all yours!"  meant much more than a pile of change. 

Will they pose the same challenge one day?

I bet they will! 

Multiplication Turkeys

Multiplication can be tough. In fact, I get frequent inquiries requesting fresh methods and fun ways  to teach, learn and memorize the facts often associated with, "I had such trouble with these when I was in school." 

This week one of my little learners was laboring over the "harder facts". As we worked together it became evident she needed work on most of her 7s. 

She had an idea! Having seen a counting turkey online, she felt it could be modified "to be more colorful, more helpful."

Love their creative, problem solving minds. 

"Let's take a paper plate and fold it in half. Then, you know all that colored paper out on the art shelf? I will cut colored feathers out of paper. Then, on each feather could you write the facts for 7s? I will put a craft stick on the bottom so I can hold it like a puppet. Then, I can hold it up and read the facts over and over. I will learn them that way!"

Going on her lead, I gave her the high five and she was off to create, and master!

And she did!

Every day she held up the Times Table Turkey (sometimes a catchy name is all little learners need to be encouraged!), set the timer for two minutes and said the 7s aloud. There was visual and auditory reinforcement to her learning.  

Have younger learners excited and eager to have a learning turkey, too?

We did! Littlest learner colored her turkey plate and made a face on the head. She wanted numbers 1-10. Another learner decided to count by 500s! In the end, three learners, three turkeys! Learning together, and excited!

The Times Table Turkey had multiplied from just learning facts to solving problems, sharing ideas and sibling relationship building.

Mastered? Yes, and much more!

Old Magazines and Math