I been trying to think of fun suggestions for parents to do with Kindergarten aged kids at home. We work on a model of Play-Based learning while continuing to strive for academic excellence. At the same time, I feel time might be better spent focusing on a few basic concepts rather than trying to teach new material. By this time of year we have been working ALOT on counting. We start right in September and focus on counting concepts throughout the year. We are checking in with students all the time to see how they are learning and developing and make guide groups in class to work with students at their individual levels.
When going through my Twitter feed I came across the perfect activity/challenge to do at home with Kindergarten aged children while schools are closed.
Counting Collections – Click on the hyperlink and watch this video. I am trying to find another way to share it and will post as soon as I am able. The video outlines the many, many skills children develop as they count collections of things, in and around their home. I encourage you to try this with your children. Have them count collections of their favourite things. Let them explore how numbers work.
One of the professional resources I have been exploring is called ‘How Children Learn Number Concepts’ by Kathy Richardson. It is amazing the number of skills children are learning just by counting objects:
- Counts one item for each number.
- Keeps track of an unorganized pile.
- Notices when recounting results in a different number.
- Spontaneously checks by recounting to see if the result is the same.
- Knows “how many” after counting.
- Counts out a particular quantity.
- Estimates while counting.
These are just some of the things your child’s teacher is working with them on while they are counting.
Try out the challenge. If you share on social media remember to tag @UCLAMathProject as it is their challenge but also tag me @KEMmommy so I can see your amazing work. Also feel free to email me photos or videos if you would like me to post them (or just to share privately.)
Mommy's Lessons 