A is for Apple A- A- A

One of the games we played today was a math game with apples trees.  Each tree has a number at the bottom of it.  We talked about the numbers and then tried to put the correct number of apples on each tree.  Recognizing numbers is great but our goal is to know what that number means in quantity.  Have you ever had a friend say ” My child can count to 100!” I hear parents and grandparents say it all the time but what is even more important is  ” Can my child hand me 5 crayons or count out 7 crackers when she is eating ?”  Rote teaching is memorization.  Memorization of numbers an important early math skill but lets learn 1-10 rote and then work on actually knowing what 5 or 10 objects looks like. Things you can do at home to help your child is counting games.

1.  If you are giving your child a snack of crackers or grapes ask them how many they want and then count them out one by one to them.

2.  Cleaning a room can be fun and quick if you use a math game .  Lets see how much we can get picked up before I count to 20 ! 1 2 3 4 5 6 ……

We use numbers all day every day.  Just take those opportunities to teach your child !

I was in a meeting yesterday and a man there said there were kids coming out of preschool not knowing how to count to seven . Well, I do agree having a academic foundation is important  and something we should all strive for.  Bright Beginnings KIDDOS leave armed with a great foundation of basic skills but, I feel this is important.  The two pictures above are about relationships – social skills- knowing who we are ( children ) and being happy enough with it that we can love others.  I see things like this and it makes my heart smile.

Lyndee experimenting with the mud kitchen.

We also played a pattening game today… what comes next.

Several of the children were working on their names today and that gave me a chance to do a little observation time for proper pencil grip and guess what I found out! We have atleast two LEFTIES!  Did you know when children are learning to write you are not supposed to take the writing tool and place it in their hand ? You lay it on the table or hold it in front of you to offer it and they grab it with the hand they are more predominate with.

Friends again !

Ms Dallas played Hi Ho Cherry-O with the kids today.  ( We pretended they were apple trees;)  Games are great for children.  They learn math, learning to take turns and following directions  among other things.

It has been another great day. DONT FORGET TOMORROW IS RED DAY! WEAR RED !!!