Teaching Maths and Writing to Children

I had a brainwave this morning, and cut out some little cloud shapes out of colourful paper, and wrote numbers on them from 1 to 10. I got the boys to choose from the clouds I held in my hand, and they put them down on the rug. I gave them some assorted buttons, and their task was to count out the buttons and put the correct amount on top of the clouds.

It's a good game to get them to practise counting.

JJ counting out buttons

It was pretty easy for JJ, and SamSam wasn't concentrating - but they were very enthused by this new game. Next time I will have higher numbers for JJ to count out, and I will more closely supervise SamSam!

I keep all my activities and paper that I can reuse in a folder with plastic sheets. It helps to be a bit organised!


Spelling and Writing for Kids
JJ has progressed with leaps and bounds in his writing ability. Since he can now write the majority of the alphabet, I am venturing out to create more advanced worksheets.

The worksheet I made up today has words with missing letters at the beginning, along with a picture of the word. JJ (3.5 years old) got a crayon, and SamSam (2.5 years old) got stickers with the missing letters written on them.

JJ writing in the missing letters

 

SamSam having a go at sticking in the letters

Maths Worksheets For Kids

Recently the boys have been doing maths worksheets about counting that I have made myself. They are so easy to make in Word.

The worksheets have rows of things they have to count eg. giraffes, monkeys etc. Since they can't write numbers yet, I write the numbers for them on blank stickers. All they have to do is peel off the correct number and stick on the worksheet. The sticker system works so well, and the boys really enjoy the worksheets.

The nice thing is because I make them myself I can choose to cut and paste things to count that most interest them :)

After they complete the worksheets, I like to have them watch as I go through and check all their answers. I use a red pen and put a big tick next to each answer and say "correct!!".

After that I give them a special sticker to put on the top of their worksheet. It makes them feel proud of their work :)

Interactive Nursery Rhymes

I've discovered a new interactive way of singing nursery rhymes and songs with the boys. I use props as we sing!

For example, for 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm', I put some of their farm animals into a bag, and before we sing the next animal, I get them to name the next animal by putting their hand in and grabbing one out. It makes it a bit more fun :)

Other songs which I've used props:

'There Were Five in the Bed' - I use five little people on a book, and roll them over and off the book as we sing the verses. The boys think it's very funny when one falls off.

'Farmer in the Dell' - I put together a man, woman, baby, nurse, and a dog in a little circle. They do a little dance together as the group gets bigger and bigger. The boys think it's great!

'Five Currant Buns in a Baker's Shop' - I use anything for buns, even Lego! Actually, the visual subtraction is an excellent method to teach maths.