At 28 months old, Jett recognizes and can name numbers 0 to 100. (He says "ten-ten" for one hundred, for some reason.) He does count with me, but I have no idea if he has a concept of numbers yet. (Maybe he understands one, two and three? He seems to get those right...) He does know triangle, square, circle, rectangle and oval. At 34 months, he knows the concept of 0-10. He says "empty" to explain "zero." And he knows all his shapes, even complicated ones.
In addition to supplementation to improve Jett's cognition and memory, we do lots of educational activities. Here's a collection of blog posts (from blogs We Can Do All Things, Bill and Ria, Elaine Ng Friis, Hannah's Shenanigans, Counting Coconuts, A Super Baby, The Pinay Homeschooler and more) as well as links to help you teach your child understand early math concepts such as:
To begin, I'd read this article from RightStart Mathematics on Math and the Young Child. It's a 2-page overview on how to introduce math concepts early. You'll find a presentation called The Future of Primary Math that has no sound, but if you click through the slides, you'll get the idea of what they mean.
- Shape Recognition
- Number recognition and formation
- Counting, including skip counting and “counting on”
- Pattern identification and creation
- Sorting and classifying
Activities that Support Early Math Concepts
Shapes
Oatmeal Banana Bars (Cooking with Shapes)
Numicon free printables including the numicon shapes.
Shapes with Popsicle Sticks
Numicon free printables including the numicon shapes.
Shapes with Popsicle Sticks
Sorting
Number RecognitionA Tree Dice Game
Understanding the Concept of Numbers
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| Jett placing colored dominoes on chalk letters. |
The Abacus
At 34 months, we started using one. It's a great way for kids to visual numbers and math problems in their head. Jett loves the abacus!
The best type of abacus should have the first five beads colored differently from the next five. Like this or this one for $12 from Amazon. If you already have a Melissa & Doug abacus or one that needs 1/2 the beads, painted, here are some nontoxic paint choices to fix the problem.
Here is the overview on how to introduce the abacus.
You can get free sample lessons from RightStart Mathematics.
Or you can purchase their entire program. Kay Ness, Jett's neurodevelopmentalist, highly recommends it.
Activity
To teach number concepts up to 100, play this simple game: You say a number and slide the beads across to show it on the abacus. Next, you say the same number and ask your child to slide the beads across. Then, if old enough, your child can say a number for you to show on the abacus. (Careful not to underestimate your child or bore them. In my first lesson, I was showing Jett how to move "1" bead across and I said it was his turn. So he used the palm of his hand and moved ALL of the beads in all the rows in a couple of swipes leaving 1 bead on each row. He pointed to each "1" that was left and quickly said: "One, one, one, one!" and was done with the lesson for the day.)
Using this method, your child will easily recognize 6, 7, and 8 beads without counting, just by visualizing. Also, let's say you choose 6 beads on one wire and 8 on the next one. You can show how the five and five on those two wires makes ten, and some are left over for early introduction to subtraction and addition.
Number Puzzles The Learning Journey International has two and three-part puzzles called Match It! Counting and Match It! Numbers. They are large, self-correcting and Jett enjoys putting them together. You can control the level of difficulty by giving more or less choices for your child to choose from when solving the puzzles. I got the two-part puzzles when Jett was 30 months and the three-part puzzles when he was 32 months old, both from Ross for about $5.
Counting
Easy DIY Counting Cards
Counting using Bead Stairs
Counting Numbers 0 to 9 using Coins, Sticks and Beads
Counting 11 to 20 using beads
Counting by Tens with Legos
Counting to 100 with little cards
Counting Six Different Ways
Counting using Bead Stairs
Counting Numbers 0 to 9 using Coins, Sticks and Beads
Counting 11 to 20 using beads
Counting by Tens with Legos
Counting to 100 with little cards
Counting Six Different Ways
Pattern Recognition
Marbles and Tweezers
Shape Shuffle
The Learning Journey International has Match It! Shape Shuffle which has 88 shape pieces and 17 double-sided cards that teach shapes and patterns with progressing difficulty. Jett started this at 32 months old and likes it a lot. The first card has pictures of the shapes on it and the child simply puts the shape on top to match. The other cards have pictures made from the shapes and the child places the matching shape piece on top to make a colorful object. Not good for children who still put things in their mouth since the shapes are smaller and made of cardboard. It would be better if these shapes were a bit sturdier because if your child sweeps his hand/arm across it, it does shift. If you find something better, let me know.
Activity Resources
The Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County's (DSFOC) "The Learning Program"
offers materials for free on their website. Registration required. They
have an "Everyday Math" handout with plenty of activity ideas for
prenumber concepts and early number concepts such as
sorting, comparing objects and patterning. Early number concepts
include rote counting, counting with meaning and number symbol (numeral)
recognition. - from Bill and Ria's Blog.
Worksheets
Jett loves doing worksheets in his Crayola dry erase "folder." I enclose it so that he can write all over it and we can reuse the sheet as needed or give it away to others when we are done. If I forget, he follows me around insisting on his "worksheets."
Free kindergarten math worksheets from School Sparks.
Free Counting Pages from Early Learning Activities.
Free Counting Pages from Early Learning Activities.
Free P-K math worksheets from TouchMath.
Free Shapes Worksheets from Kids Learning Station.
Free Preschool Pattern Worksheets from Kids Learning Station.
Free Preschool Numbers Worksheets from Kids Learning Station.
At the Dollar Store and Big Lots, they have lots of worksheet workbooks to choose from. Here are some that are appropriate for early math skills:
Free Shapes Worksheets from Kids Learning Station.
Free Preschool Pattern Worksheets from Kids Learning Station.
Free Preschool Numbers Worksheets from Kids Learning Station.
At the Dollar Store and Big Lots, they have lots of worksheet workbooks to choose from. Here are some that are appropriate for early math skills:
Disney Shapes and Sizes (Dollar Store)Teaching Tree Colors & Shapes Pre K/K (Dollar Store)Little People PreSchool Vol.2 (Dollar Store)Teaching Tree Counting Kindergarten (Dollar Store)Sesame Street Let's Learn Beginning Math (Big Lots) $2Sesame Street Let's Get Ready for School (Big Lots) $2
Math Songs and Videos
You can check out/subscribe to my youtube channel "andiandi222" and see the over 700 short educational videos I've collected. There are a lot of videos that show shapes, songs, numbers and other math concepts as well as reading support.
Math Programs
For a more multi-sensory approach to learning math using manipulatives, there are teaching resources like Numicon, which was developed in the UK and is available at downsed USA's online store. - from Bill and Ria's Blog. Here's Numicon's resources for children 3-5 years old.
- What is Numicon? by Beth at Hannah's Shenanigans
- What does Numicon include? by Beth at Hannah's Shenanigans
- Video of child with DS using Numicon by Beth at Hannah's Shenanigans
- Numicon free printables, including the numicon shapes.
Nathan Purdy's mom, Barbara, says that the Math-U-See program is the one curriculum she highly recommends for learning math.
The man who developed it has a son with T21 so he understood the need
for making the abstract concepts concrete. It isn't specifically for people with disabilities, but seems to work especially well for many of
them. We also did Touch Math prior to Math-U-See and I found that
to be very easy for Nathan to learn adding, subtracting and multiplying
although it wasn't until the Math-U-See that he began to understand
what he was actually doing, even though he was able to get the right
answer with Touch Math.
2+2 Free Math Software your child can work with when s/he is able to use the mouse. Counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Books
Teaching Math to People with Down Syndrome and Other Hands-On Learners by DeAnna Horstmeier has many activities for learning
prenumber and early number concepts.
Number Skills for Infants with Down Syndrome (0-5 years old)
This free e-book includes a brief discussion of the five main components of any basic math program including graphing. In addition, this e-book includes time-tested tips and strategies
(plus 38 worksheets).
Math TV Shows
Team Umizoomi is on Nick, Jr. and is the first preschool show that focuses on early math skills. It's a half an hour long and features counting, pattern recognition, shape recognition, search and seek, puzzles and sorting and classifying--all in a fun way. At 37 months, Jett loves the show and excitedly participates to answer their questions. He even eagerly wears his "TV glasses" (therapeutic glasses) in order to be allowed to watch it--even putting the glasses on himself!
Some reviews:
Commonsensemedia 4 stars
About.com Parents give an average of 4.8 stars
There's even a Team Umizoomi math kit. Here's a review of it at Ourkidsmom.com. You can purchase it at ToysRus for about $20. Looks very interesting!
Math TV Shows
Team Umizoomi is on Nick, Jr. and is the first preschool show that focuses on early math skills. It's a half an hour long and features counting, pattern recognition, shape recognition, search and seek, puzzles and sorting and classifying--all in a fun way. At 37 months, Jett loves the show and excitedly participates to answer their questions. He even eagerly wears his "TV glasses" (therapeutic glasses) in order to be allowed to watch it--even putting the glasses on himself!
Some reviews:
Commonsensemedia 4 stars
About.com Parents give an average of 4.8 stars
There's even a Team Umizoomi math kit. Here's a review of it at Ourkidsmom.com. You can purchase it at ToysRus for about $20. Looks very interesting!
Math Apps
Math Apps List and Reviews for Pre Schoolers
Kindergarten Level
According to Homeschoolmath.net, this is a list of objectives and goals kids should be able to do by the end of kindergarten:
- Count by rote at least to 20, but preferably a little beyond.
- Know the concepts of equality, more, and less
- Count backwards from 10 to 0.
- Recognize numbers
- Be able to write numbers
- Recognize basic shapes
- Understand up, down, under, near, on the side, etc. (basic directions)
- Have a very basic idea of addition and subtraction
- The should also be exposed to two-digit numbers.
At almost 37 months old (just turned 3), Jett's only missing these kindergarten skills:
- Know the concepts of equality, more, and less (he uses the words: empty, full, half and a lot appropriately so we are getting close)
- Be able to write numbers (we are working on this--his fine motor skills are improving!) and
- Have a basic idea of addition and subtraction
Large Numbers
Large Numbers and Bead Activities
Addition
Addition with Beads and Bears
Chicks Addition Game
Addition Boxes
Advanced Shapes
3D Shapes
Time
Clock Faces and Time
Learning how to tell time
Graphing
Dinosaur Egg Graphing
Measuring
Learning how to Measure with Fruit
Related Posts
2 comments:
Andi, this is a great list, thanks for adding us as a link, I am going to add this post to our collaborative Ds math board on pinterest. Are you on pinterest I would love to add you to the board so that you could also add more of your reading, math and homeschool stuff
Andi, you're great! ;) thanks
Meg
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