What are you doing with your 2 year olds for math?

Early Learning Teaching Your Child Math
21

My son is a bit of a math nerd. I will catch him throughout the day setting up his little tray to do math activities.
We use a Right Start Math approach. Focusing on subtitizing rather than counting for addition and subtraction.

We use Math Start books by Stuart Murphy to reinforce concepts. I have started making activities to accompany the books.

I just ordered miquon Math, still waiting for it to arrive. It is cheap and it looked like I would like the cuissinere rods. I liked that Arvi said they are complementary.
I like right start. My son it is hit and miss. He hates music it seems. And yellow is the Sun turns him off. :slight_smile:

We also just freestyle it. We do a lot of addition and subtraction up to 10 with manipulatives. More often than not I use Cheerios so he can eat them when he gets them correct. Or I use coins because he enjoys putting them in his money pig.

22

Kerileanne…

I just realised our kids are born 2 days apart. Dec 10 2009.

23

Koralle4kq-
You are absolutely right! How fun is that!
I have been preoccupied with health issues but we are off and running again. (or should I say, I am, as the kiddo never stops. lol )
We are currently using a variety of math programs as it still seems as though she can’t get enough. We also love the MathStart books by Stuart Murphy in this house, although if I have to read some of them even ONE MORE TIME! I just might go crazy lol Monster Musical Chairs is SO not amusing anymore…
Alex does a lot of JonesGeniuses work as we really like the ideas for quantifying, memory work, speed reading, etc…
For concepts, we Daily use the EarlyBirds Math by Singapore… Awesome, and a nice supplement to almost any program, even Right Start and other programs utilizing an abacus. They have a series of math readers that are nice, and even an EarlyBird Science program that we use often!

It is very hard to quantify exactly which program has been the most effective for her as we incorporate so much math into the day…she counts on the trampoline, the climbing wall, does addition and subtraction in games, and is currently OBSESSED with the MathTacular DVDs. If you havent seen them and your child likes math? TRY THEM! But be prepared to play never ending bouts of Go Fish!
That being said, Alex learned to pair, group, double, and began to understand multiplication from one little game, so I shouldn’t complain!
Then, take a look at the Multiplication in Minutes Info, originally posted by Mandabplus3 (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!) although it took a bit of work to get the idea of multiplication across, it is shocking how easily they pick it up with the pictures/stories! I think Nadia0801 taught Cammie in about three days!
So happy to have other toddlers Alex’s age that love math as well!

24

Oh, I forgot to mention one of Alexs favorite games is called Turtle Math Learning Mats by Scholastic. It comes with about 20 turtle shaped mats, double sided. On the carapace are either addition facts or subtraction facts. You do the problems and put a corresponding answer piece on top to complete a sort of puzzle. I never showed her that the pieces are shaped to help, because I didn’t want her to just try to complete the puzzle…even now, she will pick up a correct answer in the wrong shape!

I have no idea how to put a YouTube clip into a post, but there is a short clip of Alex playing Turtle Math on her YouTube channel…most of her videos are private, but there are a few public…
Her channel is called BabyBibliophile…

Here is the link to the learning mats:
http://www.amazon.com/Addition-Subtraction-Mats-Kit-Grades/dp/B007WBB2Z2/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1338823570&sr=1-1-catcorr

Hope it helps, and your kiddo can ‘meet’ mine!

25

I just wanted to say a big thank you for recommending the mathstart books. My 3year old is quite a challenge to engage in any organised activity - no matter how fun it seems to me! She much prefers planning her own role play games (and with her own strict rules!!). We are not making huge progress with Jones Geniuses, she rarely agrees to play any structured games with numicon or cuisinnaire rods, bored with iPad, hates videos, we try to include marshmallow math activites but it’s still a challenge! I’d love to do rightstart but I don’t think we are quite ready.

But today we read monster musical chairs and then replayed the activity twice with toys on chairs, counting both (to the soundtrack of Benny Hill does the Night Garden - don’t ask lol )

Anyway, I know it sounds like such a miniscule event compared to all the amazing varied activities that most of you are doing daily but for us it was a big step! so thanks again and I hope we can find similar fun activities for the other books!

26

All the mathstart books we have read so far have fun activities. My son responds so well to them.

http://www.mathstart.net/activities/activity_ideas.php

This list of other books might be of interest to your child also.

http://www.mathstart.net/books/math_bibliography.php

27

I just saw this too… It might be useful if you are looking for some structure.

http://www.didax.com/shop/productdetails.cfm/Keyword/Hands-On%20Math%20and%20Literature%20with%20MathStart/Sort/Item/Order/Asc/StartRow/1/ShowAll/No/ItemNo/2-195.cfm

28

Korrale4kq-
Thanks for the previous link… Alex enjoys the MathStart series and the extended activities that I am sure she (and I!) will welcome additional and fresh ideas!

It occurred to me that it might be useful to some of you if I shared the activities we used as as a bridge, knowing we would eventully use more of the RightStart program…if you already have the RS program and have spent some time with it, you may well be past these activities, but they greatly helped us to get ready…

A few things the RS program begins with:

Teach the rhyme:
One, two,
Buckle my shoe
Three, four,
Shut the door.
Five, six,
Pick up sticks.
Seven, eight,
Lay them Straight.
Nine, ten,
A big fat hen.

Whilst the plan is to not need counting every time per say, they need to be able to use their fingers to represent numbers…
So first, teach them to represent up to five on their fingers.

Then teach them the RS song “Yellow is the Sun” to count to ten…it is on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5w8gulQPlY

But basically, you are teaching them how to count on their fingers to ten, using th left hand (as we read left to right) to act as the unit five just like the RS abacus…
“Yellow is the Sun,
Six is Five and one.
Why is the sea so blue?
Seven is five and two.
Salty is the Sea,
Eight is Five and Three.
Hear the thunder roar,
Nine is five and four.
Ducks will swim and dive,
Ten is five and five.”

That being said, since Alex is already doing addition and subtraction, I altered the song to sing ‘plus’ rather than ‘is’ and it greatly enhanced her understanding of how the addition part came in to play!

One other very simple game that has become an absolute favorite?

Playing ‘Go Fish!’ if you have not done this with your toddlers, I can’t recommend it enough! Numbers, pairing, sets, patterns, addition concepts, beginnings of multiplication, so many ideas packed into one little game! I got the idea from the ‘MathTacular’ DVDs, and I swear we play it for about two hours a day, off and on!!!
Plus, at the end, to determine the winner, you have to count up how many pairs each player has and ‘compare’ to see who has more/less/ the most/etc! You can really stretch the concepts in about $3.00 worth of cards and endless learning/family time!

And, as I previously mentioned, take a look at the ‘Math Turtles’ mats by Scholastic, seen here
http://www.amazon.com/Addition-Subtraction-Mats-Kit-Grades/dp/B007WBB2Z2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1339040192&sr=8-3

I think this is a YouTube link of my kiddo briefly playing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCMIOlCVIcI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Hope these ideas are helpful…

29

Kerileanne99,

Loved your ideas! Thank you for sharing. :yes:

30

Thank you all so much! You are inspiring me! Now I’m looking into some of the curricula that have been mentioned, and I’m a little confused. Please help!

Rightstart looks so cool, since I know nothing about abacus but would like my daughter to. But it seems to start at a first grade level. How hard is it to adapt to a toddler? We’ve done Doman math but she doesn’t show that she “gets it.” Which book did you start with, at what age, and how long did it take?

The Earlybird Math has also been recommeneded all over and looks nice, but I can’t figure out what I need. Pattern blocks? Textbooks? Activity books? And I’m seeing Level 1A and Level KA and Standard Edition - evidently they’ve changed the program a few times. Which books exactly did you use at which age? The teacher’s guides are hugely expensive - are they necessary? And what about those pattern blocks?

Thank you all again for your help.

31

I personally disagree about rightstart staring at a first grade level. I may have adapted it a little, but it is well suited for my son. I don’t follow the script but I take the premise of the lessons.
I have some video somewhere I will see if I can post it here.

32

Thank you for the comment! I should have been more clear - their website claims that the the Level A starter kit is for children age 5 and up. Like most parents on this site, I don’t put too much faith in suggested ages. But I wondered if most parents using Rightstart with toddlers had any trouble or had to adapt heavily to start younger. Some programs use concepts as illustrations that are too advanced for my 20-month-old, like talking about school or just using words that are too hard. I wanted to know if anyone had any problems like that with Rightstart. Thanks for letting me know that you didn’t!

33

I actually jumped onto rightstart because I remember reading somewhere on their site that it very easily adapted to younger children. Most compaines would say that.
There is a placement test too. And there are sample lessons so you can see how simple the early lessons are. I expect to spend several years going through RS. My son is 2.5.

34

We currently have 2 toddler math threads going…Thought I would add my videos here also. Below is a link to some videos of math fun that I do with James aged from 25-29 months.

http://littlemanlogic.wordpress.com/math/

35

I prepared many hundred charts with colorful patterns for my toddler. I was mainly inspired by Marshmallow Math (focus on counting), Montessori ( finding symmetry, patterns, etc.) and Right Start Math (chunking by five’s). These are best used if laminated with a chart on one side and the corresponding questions on the other. You can download the file below. Please let me know what do you think so we can improve them!

36

Cool! Thanks. I was looking for a good hundreds chart for the wall, didn’t like any I found. Yours will be perfect. To make them perfect I think the count by 3,6,9 one might be a bit complicated, with all the different CPU ours. I was thinking if the darker ones were first ( then defending CPU our intensity) it might be easier to follow. but that’s just my opinion…

37

We also tried lots of hundreds charts until we found this one:

http://www.learningresources.com/product/hundred+pocket+chart.do?sortby=ourPicks&sortby=bestSellers&&from=Search

It is actually a pocket chart with 100 transparent plastic sleeves for the numbers to fit it- the coolest thing is that it comes with number cards in different colors, so say you want to teach skip counting? Swap the colors of the numbers you want to focus on! Right now we have it set up with red numbers to mark fives and bile colors for tens…
It is a nice size with the insertible cards on tagboard that are about 2 in by 2 in…

It has been utterly fantastic for teaching number concepts and we have created a ton of games… Hint, take them all out, mix them up, and let the kiddos put them back together…Alex recognized patterns from this without me having to show her that I probably would have mucked up if I had tried a lesson on it…it is very much a math lab.
We also take them all out and play a family game with it. Start at zero, take turns rolling a die and ‘adding or subtracting’ to that number–a much more basic version of this was used to teach counting on…

We also put quantity cards in them that are sold separately if you want to change it up a bit

Right now she likes the RS Abacus and tallying so much that ( after a kiddie party where she discovered ‘Pin the Tail’ and BEGS for it!) we turn her around with her eyes closed, she pins a little sticker on the chart, and after looking, shows me that number on the Abacus…

Anyway, take a look if you are interested…

38

@Manda:
I thought of the same thing too. The 3,6,9 chart is quite complicated. I’ll try to edit the file and post it as .doc instead of .pdf, so anyone can adjust the colors and make more charts.

@ Keri,
Thanks for the link! Actually, I was also inspired by this chart to make mine (in addition to RS, Montessori & Marshmallow Math). Also, it has been on my Amazon wish list for a while lol. I like the Learning Resources material in general (We have the number line 1-20 recommended by Dr. Jones and we’re having so much fun running forward and backward on it: http://www.learningresources.com/product/step-by-step+number+line.do?sortby=ourPicks&sortby=&&from=Search ). As of now, I don’t think my almost 21 mos toddler can use the pocket chart properly, that’s why I’m showing him laminated charts instead :slight_smile: We also have a 100 Montessori board with very small tiles that I am keeping for later to use with more advanced concepts ( http://www.amazon.com/FAC-Montessori-Hundred-Board/dp/B0070XZ03M ). I think the “problem” with Montessori philosophy is that intellectual abilities and fine motor skills often go together. But I don’t think I can wait till my toddler is able to manipulate those tiny tiles to teach him how to count to 100, skip count, etc. We love Montessori though and I recently bought a large math/ sensorial kit. I am just mixing it with other approaches to fit my son’s learning pace.

39

You know I have often thought that about Montossori too. I look at their hundreds chart with the little tiles and think there is no way my children will put that together more than once each. Those tiny tiles just make it all too much like hard work. Bigger (1 inch or more) tiles would be so much more likely to be used. less fiddly and difficult. I know they want fine motor skills improved but I can’t see why it needs to be in everything. Sometimes they offer a large size for something, but usually I go looking for an Asian produced knockoff that is bigger. It seems the Asian parents demand the extra size and reusable quality. Plus it isn’t as taboo to teach concepts early there so often we can get products suitable for a younger age. They are never quite as beautiful and natural as montossori though.
I will use your hundreds charts just as they are. My kids are old enough to get used to it quickly. We need to do more skip counting these will help. Thanks :smiley:

40

So, Friday nights in our house are ‘Friday Family Nights.’ we make popcorn and play games. The last few weeks it has been endless games of Go Fish …as I have previously posted, this game is deceptively easy with multitudinous ways to incorporate math ideas such as pairs, beginning multiplication, and so many other concepts!
For example: Alex now believes that it is part of the game to organize the cards in her hand from smallest to largest values…we make pairs, and at the end SHE is the one responsible for counting each players pairs, then comparing them to announce who has the most (I.e., which is the biggest number…also have her decide 2nd and 3rd place, further practice and ordinal numbers to boot!)
Now, as she loves to tally, she is responsible for tallying and counting up total! Shocking for $3.00 worth of cards!

So today, two new games arrived. Chutes and Ladders, which has SO many adding and counting opportunities I can’t wait to play more!
And a lesser-known game called Sum Swamp! We LOVE it! Again, deceptively simple. We actually use the RS Abacus alongside the game, but you must roll the dice with a plus/minus die to progress!
http://www.amazon.com/Sum-Swamp-Addition-Subtraction-Game/dp/B00004TDLD
Couldn’t wait to share after more than three hours on Friday, and further time on Saturday! Hope you enjoy as much as we have…