This is an online version of this resource. When you buy the course it is provided in a printable PDF format with some online content.
Term 1 – Numbers and Counting
Counting helps to ensure that your child knows where one number occurs in relation to other numbers. Counting, particularly skip counting, also helps to prepare them for the concept of multiplication. Many young children love to count because the idea that a symbol (the numeral) represents a number of something is exciting. It connects two ideas in their mind, just in the same way that, when learning to read, they discover that the letter “a” is the sound in “apple”, “aunt”, “avalanche” and “Annie”.
Week 1 – Numbers 1 – 10
Please Note: You will need coloured pencils for this lesson or you may like to use stickers if you have some on hand.
Start by asking your child to count from one to ten and then backwards, ten to one. If you like, even take it in turns, one of you counting the odd numbers and the other the even numbers.
Then, look around the room you are in and ask them to count various items, though not counting more than ten at this point. Say, there may be 9 pencils on the table, 8 books on the shelf, or 5 mugs on the kitchen bench. Adapt it to what you have around you, continuing to practice counting items.
In your child’s Maths Notebook please find a blank page and, using a pencil or pen, simply draw lines to divide the page into quarters. In each quarter write one number between 1 and 10. For example, you may write 4 in one quarter, 7, 5, and 1 in the others. Then, ask your child to use the stickers or pencils to show how many that is. For example, they may then draw 4 circles in the correct quarter, place 7 gold stars in another, 5 stickers in the next, and draw 1 tree in the last quarter.
Living Books Bonus:
Families may wish to enjoy Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews and/or Fish Eyes – A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert as a part of this lesson. You can find these in the Picture Books Links section of your Virtual Cupboard.
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews is a great book to enjoy when exploring counting from 1 to 10 (3:10 mins):
Fish Eyes - A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert is a great Living Maths Book. It not only emphasises counting but also has some fantastic descriptive words in it for Kindergarteners to enjoy. Lois Ehlert is a Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator and this book is a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. It is available as a read aloud here (3:10 mins):