How do kindergarteners learn math

Compare any two numbers between 1 and 10, and tell which is greater than or less than the other. It's especially memorable to children when they can use their new math concepts in their everyday life.

Have your child arrange their favorite stuffed animals in a circle for a party and give two or three crackers to each toy. Have them add up the total number of crackers distributed. Ask them to predict how many more crackers they would need if one of their toy action figures joined the party. Then ask them to predict the total number of crackers needed with yet another guest. This gives them an opportunity to "add up" in their head and then see if they are correct when they actually add the next figure and counts up the new total.

The game can be played in reverse when one of the figures leaves the party, taking their crackers with them. The best kind of abacus has each five beads in alternating colors, like the abacus from Schylling you see on the right.

You can browse Amazon's abacus selection here. It is helpful to have concrete numbers plastic or foam that the children can touch. Other than that, games are again an excellent way to reinforce learning. The child will then find the same number make sure there are at least two of each number and does the same, calling its name out loud and gathering the number to himself. Then you reverse it so that it is first the child's turn to pick any number from the pile, call out its name, and put it to his pile, and you have to find the same number.

After all the numbers in the middle pile were gone, the task is to arrange the numbers you have in order. You don't necessarily need to purchase a specific curriculum for kindergarten math. To recognize shapes and practice matching, you can either use ready-made worksheets or workbooks, or make some of your own. If you make your own, you can just draw three circles on a page and then triangles on a page, and ask the child to match each circle with a triangle by drawing a line from shape to shape.

Vary the shapes and the amounts. Sometimes the amounts should be equal, sometimes not. Another variation is to ask the child to draw. First make some sticks, circles, squares, or other shapes on a page, and encircle them. Make for the child a big "bubble" to draw in, and ask the child to draw either the same amount, one more, or one less.

You can find lots of different kinds of basic kindergarten math workbooks at Amazon. You don't need anything too fancy to practice these concepts, so workbooks from many different publishers can work equally well. The whole series of Math Made Easy workbooks is quite good. Evan-Moore always publishes quality materials and their kindergarten workbook is no exception.

The familiar, hierarchical sequence of math instruction starts with counting, followed by addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. The computational set expands to include bigger and bigger numbers, and at some point, fractions enter the picture, too.

Then in early adolescence, students are introduced to patterns of numbers and letters, in the entirely new subject of algebra.

A minority of students then wend their way through geometry, trigonometry and, finally, calculus, which is considered the pinnacle of high-school-level math. She echoes a number of voices from around the world that want to revolutionize the way math is taught, bringing it more in line with these principles. Worse, the standard curriculum starts with arithmetic, which Droujkova says is much harder for young children than playful activities based on supposedly more advanced fields of mathematics.

This turns many children off to math from an early age. It also prevents many others from learning math as efficiently or deeply as they might otherwise. They recall how a single course—or even a single topic, such as fractions—derailed them from the sequential track.

They also lead the way into the more structured and even more creative work of noticing, remixing and building mathematical patterns. They also learn how to use common nouns and prepositions. By the end of kindergarten, most children can learn to read age-appropriate books by themselves, and your child might like to have you listen while they read out loud at home. In kindergarten math, children learn the names of numbers and how to count them in sequence.

They begin to become familiar with numbers 11— They should also be able to count objects and begin an introduction to geometry by learning to recognize and name shapes such as triangles, rectangles, circles, and squares. Kindergarteners begin to learn the concepts of addition and subtraction, respectively, as "putting together and adding to" and "taking apart and taking from," according to the Common Core State Math Standards.

In addition to math and language arts, which are a major focus of kindergarten, children also learn science , social science , and usually art, music, health and safety, and physical education.

Socialization skills, such as taking turns, waiting to be called on by the teacher, and being kind to others, are also emphasized in most kindergarten classes. The best way to find out what your child should know before starting kindergarten is to contact the school that you plan to send your child to—be it a public, private, or parochial school.

Many schools have a kindergarten screening session a few months before school starts. This is designed to identify children who need extra help or who are gifted and need extra challenges, and sometimes, there is a tour of the school or the classroom.

If your child's future school does not have this system, try to set up a meeting with the school administrator or with the head of the kindergarten curriculum.

If you meet in the spring or summer before the school year begins, you can use this time to make sure that your child is on track or to get some professional help with school readiness. Most children are enthusiastic about getting ready, and it can also be a time to prepare your child by talking about being away from you for a period of time during the school day, especially if your child has not been in preschool.

Gifted children are often advanced, and you might want to inquire if it's possible for your child to enroll in a more challenging kindergarten program if you are concerned about your child becoming bored in school or acting out in class. Even if your child is academically advanced, skipping kindergarten isn't necessarily your only option. Accelerated courses or extracurricular enrichment are also possibilities.