[quote=UCGal]We weren’t formerly teaching math – but we were doing counting – and getting the 1-1 correlation between the number word “three” and three items around age 3… Both boys could do simple adding by age 4 (single digit addition). And both boys picked up simple subtraction before 5… which was ahead of their peers… We didn’t formally teach it – just did goofy games around the dinner table… (You have 5 green beans… You ate two – how many left.).
Both hubby and I are math nerds though, we enjoy math, puzzles, etc. – the boys are showing signs of having the same math ability and love of nerdly stuff.. They even started doing sudoku in kindergarten.
That said – different kids have different aptitudes… some of their classmates were reading at a much higher level, but not as strong at math… I imagine they’ll all even out at some point.
I know some of the signs they look for in “kindergarten readiness” is being able to count to 20, and having that one-to-one correlation between the number word and the # of items. (My sis the teacher made sure the boys were ready.)[/quote]
What UCGal said. ^^^^
The most important concepts to teach around this age (IMHO) are:
-one-to-one correspondence (verbally at first)
-then number recognition
-then being able to count and identify the written number visually (counting items and then choosing from a series of written numbers how many items).
-At this point (or before), you can count (manipulative)items and ask simple addition/subtraction questions like, “if we add two to these three, how many will we have?”
-Then, counting and writing the numbers for themselves.
-Then, basic written addition and subtraction facts through 5, then through 10, then through 20.
-I think it’s important for them to learn how to count up from certain numbers (especially from 5 and 10) as well — “if we have these five (use fingers) and add two more, how many will we have?”…then have them count up from five or ten (and then from other numbers.
-I also like to teach basic place value, just to the tens place, using manipulatives, so they understand that we only have numbers 0-9, and it’s the position that changes value. (base 10 system concept)
-Somewhere in there, they can learn how to order numbers through 20 as well.
Of course, if your child can do all of this fairly easily before entering kindergarten, they’ll likely be ahead of many/most of their peers, depending on which school they go to.
