by Sarah Major, M.Ed
I hear from parents on a regular basis who have children that struggle to recognize numbers and count. One way that numbers are traditionally taught is to display a chart of 100 numbers in rows of ten and count that chart daily. Repetition over many passes through that chart will eventually work… most of the time. However, there is a much more effective way to get this done, especially when teaching a beginner.
I believe that if a child is attracted to learning, learning will happen! If the task is boring and drab, results will be mixed. So what attracts the brain to learn? Patterns, color, hooks for learning, story, and all those right-brained teaching elements which are so underutilized in traditional classrooms!
I also believe that memorization and drill is the least effective way for children to take in and remember knowledge. Telling children what you want them to know is another ineffective way to impart knowledge. Instead, attract them to the learning process through fun, humor, color, play, puzzles to solve, and novelty. If we utilize the giftedness of the child, results will be remarkable; especially if we use their built-in mental camera, then snap! They have it!
Following is a good strategy for teaching a young child to count that you can do today.
1. Download the 5 Frame document (see link at the bottom of this article), print it, and cut out the charts and tape end to end to make a chart long enough to accommodate 100 numbers (or as many numbers as you want).
2. Write the numbers in the boxes. You can take turns with your child to keep this from being a tedious activity that makes their hand tired; alternately you may write all the numbers in yourself.
3. Supply the child with crayons or markers to use for color-coding.
4. Do pattern discovery together. Point out that in each column, a pattern emerges when we look in the 1’s place and also in the 10’s place. The child might want to choose five light-colored crayons to use for color-coding. In the first column she could draw a line straight down from the 1 in the top, left box that connects the 1, 6, 1, 6, 1, 6 that appears in the 1’s place. In column 2, the pattern in the 1’s place becomes 2, 7, 2, 7, 2, 7, etc.
5. After color-coding, practice counting together as you or your child point to each number you say.
6. Sometimes the teens cause problems. One idea to help with this is to make the 1 in each of the numbers from 13-19 into a “teen” – a stick figure teenager. So when you count those numbers, you would point to the number in the 1’s place first and then finish by pointing to the teenager.
7. When you come to the infamous numbers, 20, 30, 40, 50 and so on, consider using the visual of a tea cup and share with your child that the beginning of those numbers sound a whole lot like the numbers they are used to counting already! You could actually make each zero in these numbers into a teacup (“thir-tea”).
From this point forward, when you practice counting, use your 5-Chart to be the visual reminder of the numbers. Before long, your child will be able to count independently of the chart and the visuals. Note that this same chart can help him learn to count by 5’s and 10’s!
Download a free 5 Frame pdf at http://child-1st.typepad.com/files/5frame.pdf.
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
PO Box 150226
Grand Rapids, MI 49515
I hear from parents on a regular basis who have children that struggle to recognize numbers and count. One way that numbers are traditionally taught is to display a chart of 100 numbers in rows of ten and count that chart daily. Repetition over many passes through that chart will eventually work… most of the time. However, there is a much more effective way to get this done, especially when teaching a beginner.
I believe that if a child is attracted to learning, learning will happen! If the task is boring and drab, results will be mixed. So what attracts the brain to learn? Patterns, color, hooks for learning, story, and all those right-brained teaching elements which are so underutilized in traditional classrooms!
I also believe that memorization and drill is the least effective way for children to take in and remember knowledge. Telling children what you want them to know is another ineffective way to impart knowledge. Instead, attract them to the learning process through fun, humor, color, play, puzzles to solve, and novelty. If we utilize the giftedness of the child, results will be remarkable; especially if we use their built-in mental camera, then snap! They have it!
Following is a good strategy for teaching a young child to count that you can do today.
1. Download the 5 Frame document (see link at the bottom of this article), print it, and cut out the charts and tape end to end to make a chart long enough to accommodate 100 numbers (or as many numbers as you want).
2. Write the numbers in the boxes. You can take turns with your child to keep this from being a tedious activity that makes their hand tired; alternately you may write all the numbers in yourself.
3. Supply the child with crayons or markers to use for color-coding.
4. Do pattern discovery together. Point out that in each column, a pattern emerges when we look in the 1’s place and also in the 10’s place. The child might want to choose five light-colored crayons to use for color-coding. In the first column she could draw a line straight down from the 1 in the top, left box that connects the 1, 6, 1, 6, 1, 6 that appears in the 1’s place. In column 2, the pattern in the 1’s place becomes 2, 7, 2, 7, 2, 7, etc.
5. After color-coding, practice counting together as you or your child point to each number you say.
6. Sometimes the teens cause problems. One idea to help with this is to make the 1 in each of the numbers from 13-19 into a “teen” – a stick figure teenager. So when you count those numbers, you would point to the number in the 1’s place first and then finish by pointing to the teenager.
7. When you come to the infamous numbers, 20, 30, 40, 50 and so on, consider using the visual of a tea cup and share with your child that the beginning of those numbers sound a whole lot like the numbers they are used to counting already! You could actually make each zero in these numbers into a teacup (“thir-tea”).
From this point forward, when you practice counting, use your 5-Chart to be the visual reminder of the numbers. Before long, your child will be able to count independently of the chart and the visuals. Note that this same chart can help him learn to count by 5’s and 10’s!
Download a free 5 Frame pdf at http://child-1st.typepad.com/files/5frame.pdf.
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
PO Box 150226
Grand Rapids, MI 49515
