As a math teacher I often get questions on how to help children with the basics such as adding and subtracting. Concrete learning at this stage is best. Have them count socks, count the cups in the dishwasher, count plates, count toes!! Count something, count anything!! Also consider getting the Learning Resources 2-Color Desktop Abacus . It’s a great resource. I like this particular Abacus because is separates the colors after 5 beads helping students to count quickly.
You can extend counting to measuring. Which is bigger? smaller? You can also teach geometric shapes by saying things such as “Please get the round ball”, “What shape is this plate?” or “What shape did I cut your toast into?” On a side note, the toast question is a great way to teach the relationships between rectangles and triangles since their area formulas are related. The area of a rectangle is A = length x width, the area of a triangle is HALF that of a rectangle because when you cut the rectangle in half from corner to corner you get a triangle so the area of a triangle is A = 1/2 x length x width. How much jelly you spread on the toast could be considered the area of the toast. Can you believe you can get all of that from cutting a piece of toast!!!
SonLight Education Ministries also have some great tips on how to explore math in a hands-on stress free way. Check it out at Guidelines for Pre-School Math.
I hope you found these quick tips helpful!
I want no mommy to be left behind when teaching math to their kids 🙂