Math

Face of the Presidents

Happy President’s Day to you! I like to celebrate Presidents, with little ones, by talking about several well known Presidents like Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, etc. and the current President of COURSE. One great teaching tool for talking about the Presidents is coins. Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, and dollar bills provide a visual of former presidents for children, as well as introduce other significant concepts that may be taught to older little ones.

I like to teach a few facts (about the Presidents AND coins) and then let little ones make their own interpretations by playing with their new ideas….one example is a coin face drawing. Simply put the coins down on drawing paper and allow your little one to draw the body and maybe even add details to their picture.

Comparing Quantities

I am NOT fancy; simple is more doable for everyone

 Here is a SIMPLE activity to practice counting, comparing, and using a chart/table to record information.

You may notice that I went with “take one” here haha.  I have a reason for that, I am not trying to impress film-makers or people who give presentations regularly.  I am a mommy teacher myself and I am just sharing ideas from one mom to another and I want it to be as authentic as possible

However, I did forget to mention one thing in the video!  If your little one doesn’t know which number is greater or smaller then there are ways to help them figure this out….turn the activity into another teachable moment:

Show your little one a number line and explain that one is the smallest number amount and the amount grows as the numbers get higher.  Show your little one using skittles or something they would rather have the greater number of.  So, would you rather have 1 skittle or 2 skittles….probably the pile with MORE skittles!  And then explain that 12 skittles is more than 11 skittles.  I will write a post soon about how to teach more or less so that your little one will gain experience with comparing quantities

The Random Toy Collection

Doesn’t it seem like toys come out of the woodworks to find their way into your playroom and toy chests?

I am assuming every household has an assigned place for random toys, or maybe you make frequent trips to your local donation drop-off.

But, I have found that there are definitely uses for your toy bin (full of happy meal toys, childhood toys, birthday presents, and more.)

Here are a few ideas….all sorting activities:

(Remind yourself that I am NOT a photographer and I am NOT fancy)

1.   Write down the beginning letters that the majority of the items in the box start with on project paper or a sketch pad.  Before you ask your little one to help you sort the beginning sounds TALK about the items and name each one first.  For example, “here’s a /d/ /d/ duck and a /s/ /s/ swing, what is this (picking up a new item)?”  Then, TALK about each letter: “This is the letter “S” it stands for the /s/ sound….are there any toys in our bin that start with that sound?”

2. Write as many color names as you want on a sheet of paper and name each color or ask your little one to help you sound out the color names that are listed.  Then ask your little one to sort/group the items by their color.  Ask questions about the “data” afterwards: “How many orange toys are there?  How many more red toys than yellow?”

3. Write one digit numbers and their number word in a clear and organized chart.  Ask your little one to find something (a person, a car, an animal) that has more than one of it’s kind in the toy bin.  Give an example first like ”There are only 2 cars in this toy bin so I will take them out and place them in my “two” square to show that there are two of the same kind of toy in my bin.  Can you find something else in our toy bin that has a match that would make a pair?”

4.  Write down size words in an organized chart, choosing whichever words you want to focus on such as “big/little,” “small/medium/large,” “tall/short,” etc.  Then 1) demonstrate an example, 2) have your little one “help you” find another example, and 3) have your little one come up with an example on their own.

Have fun creating your own sorting charts and ALWAYS feel free to share photos of your mommy teacher “style” of doing things with The Mommy Teacher Fan Page

Simple Number Search Round 2

The other day I posted a template of the numbers 1-5 so that your little one could carefully concentrate on, and color, one number at a time.  Well, I wasn’t lying when I told ya I’d post numbers 6-9 soon, and I even threw in “0″ just because I love ya!

So, here are the simple number search “puzzles”:

Simple Number Search 6-9,0

If you didn’t get a chance to read the first Number Search Post for a little more explanation and directions- click HERE

And just a reminder….the “answer sheet” will look something like this:

September Weather Tracking!

I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana so I am already experiencing Tropical Storm Lee and will be all weekend. 
Being that I am rained in, and thinking of all of the mommy teachers who might be, I decided to make a freebie for you this morning

A September 2011 Printable Calendar!

There are sooo many skills you can teach using a calendar, and this month specifically, try to focus on teaching calendar skills by using a “weather calendar.”  Just place the calendar on your fridge (or on display in the playroom), and ask your little one to help you be a weatherman (or woman) this month!

You can teach:

1. prediction: “What do you think the weather will be tomorrow? What do you think the weather will be like later today with a dark, cloudy sky this morning?”
2. patterns – “Do you see any weather patterns this week?”
3. picture graph data - “How many sunny days have there been? How many rainy days?  Have there been more/fewer sunny days or rainy days this week/month? What kind of weather have we seen the ‘least’ of this month?”
4. vocabulary – monday, tuesday, sunny, cloudy, most, least, etc.

Your little one’s calendar might look like this:

 or you might record the weather every morning and afternoon and in that case it will look different, but just do whatever is most age-appropriate for your little one… maybe your little one will only draw the pictures, maybe your little one will only write the “s” for sunny, and maybe your little one will only write the sight word.   But as always , make this experience fun for them. 

Simple Number Search

A friend asked me the other day for more number activities to introduce to her little one who is unfamiliar with numbers, though she said her little one is familiar with letters.  This is sort of common because we are so eager to teach our little ones their ABCs we initially neglect their 123s.  However, it is just as important to teach number recognition as it is to teach letter recognition, and today I made a little printable so that you can reinforce/teach numbers to your little one.  The final “answer sheet” will look something like this:

I use this number search printable as a means of providing an example  of what number your little one is looking for as well as requiring them to find that same number and color it in, focusing on the formation of the letter as they color it in.  Then the little one will color in every other number that is not a “5″ a different color.

Click on the PDF link below for the numbers 1-5 activity sheets, I will try to make numbers 6-9 soon

simple number search 1-5