Skip to main content

Mathematics: Numbers for Beginners

Hi!

It's time of the week for kids activity again!

I have been thinking 💭 and decided to rotate a number of categories, ranging from art and craft to math and the English Language. I am looking at including FUN PLAY too!

For this week, lets look at numbers.

WEEK 2: MATHEMATICS

TOPIC: NUMBERS

Note: This activity helps a child to understand the meaning of numbers better than just recognising the digits or reciting the numbers. 


PROJECT: DIY NUMBER CHART

Note: One chart for each number

1. Prepare the materials as in the picture below.

  • A3 drawing paper and prepare it as the picture below. 



NEXT, YOU WILL NEED (refer to the picture below)

Note: The followings are for the child to put on the above chart. 

  • labeling stickers (Write the numbers on the stickers. If you are teaching the number "3" then you need three stickers and write "1, 2 and 3" on the stickersDO NOT use different colours. 
  • pictures of the same objects (You can use the same objects throughout numbers 1-10 or different objects for different numbers but DO NOT use different objects in the same chart. Example, if you are teaching the number "3" do not use one flower, one leaf and one pot to teach the number "3" BUT you can use 3 flowers when you teach the number "3" and 4 leaves when you teach the number "4".)
  • glue stick (It is less messy. Alternatively, you can also use double sided tape. If you choose to use the latter, it is better to put them on the pictures or numbers before the activity. This way, the child will only need to peel it out like a sticker before pasting on the chart. 
  • numbers in big sizes. You can use foams, styrofoam or felt.
Note: the picture "十" in the picture below is the Chinese character for "ten" and pronounced as "shi". 


These materials are for the child to put on the chart. If you zoom in you'll see that I have put some double-sided tapes on the "0". 

The chart will look like this. It is like a "giant worksheet" for the child. You can put the chart on an easel for the child to work on.

HOW DID WE GO ABOUT IT?

1. I showed him the big number. In this this case, "1" and "0" which makes the number "10". If he can tell me what it is, GOOD! If not, then I would tell him that it's "ten".

2. Then I told him to stick the digits on the chart, above the word "TEN".

3. Since it was already the tenth chart, he would be able to count to ten already. I gave him the circle stickers and he would stick them accordingly (from 1 to 10) in the "black box".

4. Next, I gave him the picture of the rings and told him to count them and then paste it on top of the word "rings".

5. The last step is to put the "smaller" number "10" before the rings. So he would read: 10 (ten) rings.

6. I wanted to introduce the Chinese characters to him too, so we included the Chinese character in the chart, as seen above the word "TEN".






Here are two other charts my elder child did years ago. We did this activity up to the number 20. 





Important note: 
The teacher/parent is advised to guide the child/student along the way. Once the child/student has done it for a few times, he/she would be able to do it with minimal assistance. 



P/S: Hope you find this useful and do drop me a comment if you have any feedbacks. 😀




























Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Stress Free Mode

Now, as I typed on my laptop, my 5 year-old daughter sits in front of me, doing her own work. She is doing something on her own. Something that no one tells her to do. It is 100% at her own will. She is copying from a storybook. It is a Malay storybook she borrowed from school. And she is trying to read as she copies.  She is smiling as she tries to read the words and although she still struggles with many of the words, she is smiling while she tries. Once in a while, she would ask me how to pronounce a certain syllable.  And now, she is singing out the words she copies.  _________________________________________________ This scene, right in front of me, is the result of an important lesson I learnt a year ago.  I learnt that, for effective learning to take place, the learner should be in a "stress free mode".  And for them to be in that mode, it most probably has to be something they find interesting or rather, something they w...

Counting With Objects

It is crucial to let children count with real objects. I learnt this lesson a few years ago. My son could recognise numbers 1 to 10 at around 2 years old. I naively thought he understood what they meant. When he was 4 and struggled with addition, it finally dawn on me... What have I taught him about numbers? Nothing! So I came up with a series of counting activities for him. I could still remember we had at least one week of continuous counting lessons! WEEK 14: MATHEMATICS TOPIC: COUNTING WITH OBJECTS ACTIVITY 1 Counting the same objects Materials: Use similar objects from groups of 1 to 10. If your child/student is a beginner, you can start with 1 to 3 or 1 to 5, depending on the child. You can use straws, ice-cream sticks, lego bricks, etc. As long as you have enough quantity to carry out the activity.  If you have ready number pieces, use them. Otherwise use small pieces of papers and write down a number on each paper.  On the floor or the table...

Mongo Plant vs Garlic Plant

A few years ago my son was into growing plants and asked if he could grow some flowers. We did not have any flower seeds at home and I suggested that he plant some mongo seeds instead. The other reason I told him to grow mongo seeds is that they grow very fast and kids are not very patient at waiting for results.  So everyday, as we leave the house for school (he was attending kindergarten then) he would look at the plants and say, "Mommy! They are growing!" A few days after we planted the mongo seeds, I suggested that we plant some garlic. This time, unlike the mongo seeds that showed some growth immediately on the following day, the garlics showed none.  Two days after we planted the garlics, we went on a short vacation and when we returned, he saw some changes to the garlic plant and shouted, "Mommy, look! The garlics are growing!" Two weeks after that, we found time to do some detailed observations on the plants. We compared the roots and ...