Number Fun

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This post is part of the preschool series.

Part one is here.

Part two is here.

Part three is here.

Preschool math really is all fun and games.  Learning to count, learning one to one correspondence, even beginning addition and subtraction never need be tedious.  And at this stage of the game, math really can be manipulated all the time. 

Starting at the bottom of the shelf, a collection of Montessori geometric solids can be presented using the Three Period Lesson. After it's been presented, the child can choose that particular work on her own any time.  Learning the names and properties of solids is simple and sensorial.

Next up is the hundred board.This is used by placing numbered tiles on the appropriate squares. Later, skip counting can be represented here as well.Katie can’t really do it alone, but Nicholas and/or Stephen are generally eager to help her.I got mine at a certified Montessori school.It’s a little worn and they were required to replace it with a pristine one in order to be re-certified. It was free!If you want to acquire Montessori materials for you home, it’s worth cultivating a relationship with a school directress.

My hands down favorite hands-on material is Cuisenaire rods.No question, these are versatile, brilliant materials. First a little history from the Cuisenaire UK website :

One of [Georges Cuisenaire's] inventions was a set of coloured wooden rods and some similarly coloured cardboard materials. He used these to teach arithmetic and found he achieved something rare with this subject. The standard of the results he obtained greatly improved and his pupils enjoyed and understood the work they did. Nevertheless this invention remained almost unknown outside the village of Thuin for about 23 years until a providential meeting of this teacher with another resulted in the use of this invention spreading to classrooms throughout the world. And in the 13 years since that meeting the proven success of Cuisenaire’s rods has made his name a household word.

Dr. Caleb Gattegno met Cuisenaire during 1953 It seemed, he wrote some years later as if all his previous work as an educationalist had been in preparation for that moment. For many years he had been a leading figure in the movement to bring improvements to mathematics teaching at the primary and secondary school levels. His firm belief that special teaching technniques coupled with the development of a hitherto unexploited intellectual ability in young children could produce such improvements, had already been demonstrated with encouraging results where his influence had been felt, In Cuisenaire’s rods he saw what many had already seen but found at once what few had been sufficiently prepared to understand Physically the rods behaved in the way numbers behave, providing the learners wnth an algebraic model for the study of mathematics. But perhaps more important still, he realised that they provided teachers with a means for making the lesson a personal investigation of mathematics for every pupil.

And so it is—personal guided discovery of all sorts of mathematics principles using colored wooden rods. The rods are stored on the shelves in sorting trays and I provide rod racks there as well. I present a lesson or two a week and then encourage them to practice the work daily. We start with The Cuisenaire Rod Alphabet Book.  From there, favorite resources for lessons include The Cuisenaire K-2 Super Source Book and Idea Book for Cuisenaire Rods. Eventually, this “play” leads to the use of Addition and Subraction with Cuisenaire Rods and Mathematics Made Meaningful.  Cuiseanire really has an entire curriculum of its own, or we might switch to Miquon, combined with Touchmath.  It really depends on how a particular child "sees" math.

On days when I don't present a Cuisenaire rods lesson, we might spend some time together Exploring with Color Tiles or creating with Pattern Blocks.  Both of these activities are almost guaranteed to draw an older sibling.

Early geometry is tons of fun.  My children can be happily involved with geoboards for long stretches of quiet concentration. I don't often do formal "lessons" here, but encourage lots of creative exploration.  And they pair up:  one child can create an orginal design and another can try to copy it.

The balance is a wonderful tool to use for several years.  It's amazing what you can learn using this:  time, money, measurement, addition, subtraction, Roman numerals, even fractions and decimals! Very cool "toy!"

Base Ten Blocks can be used with base ten lesson plans and they can also as a suitable substitute for Montessori Golden Bead material.  We have a set that snaps together.

From my oldest son's blog...

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I only have a year left before I'm on my own." I can't help but wonder, "Did I do everything right?" or, "Am I going to function on my own or just implode?"

That's funny; I sometimes wonder the same thing, though not nearly as often as I used to.  You see, dear boy, you don't have to do everything right and neither do I.  We just have to get the important things right:  faith and family. The rest is just details. And you will never be on your own, never truly alone, despite the way it looks right now.  You will always have those important things--your faith and your family--with you wherever you go and whatever challenges face you.  That is the real fruit of a truly happy childhood: you get to be a grownup knowing that God loves you without end and that we do, too...It's all good.

Language Arts for Little Ones

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This post is the third part of the preschool series.

Part one is here.

Part two is here.

(First, a disclaimer:  Please remember that my current three-year-old is the seventh child. There have been many gift giving occasions for all our children in the last eighteen years. And remember, that before I was a mom, I was a teacher in an early childhod classroom, where many of the materials were my own.  So, we have years and years of materials.  Certainly, not all of this is necessary.)

A Language Arts "curriculum" for little ones is really the air they breathe.  From the first time you hold an infant, you talk to her.  And so language acquisition begins.  Houses where children are educated at home tend to be print-rich environments where reading takes a high priority.  That's as it should be.

If we sit down to really plan a "curriculum" for the under-5 crowd, quality picture books must be its foundation.  For Katie, those books will come from three sources initially and then hop merrily off on rabbit trails.  The booklists are those found in the early years of the Real Learning list, and the ones found in the manuals of Five in a Row, and the list of books used in Catholic Mosaic. From there, we can go anywhere.

A child learns to read most easily when she has a reason for reading.  So, we give her one.  We open those books all the time and we share with her the excellent stories and pictures inside.  Doing so, we inculcate a strong desire to want to "own" those stories for herself.  She wants access to the richness of language without having to depend on someone else to bring it alive for her.  And so, with most children, the quest to acquire reading skills begins.

To help her along the way, we provide much contact with the letters and print.  Real contact for a three- or four-year-old is tactile.  Let's touch the symbols that stand for sounds.  Sandpaper letters and a moveable alphabet are the gold standard in a Montessori classroom.  We can use those certainly to present classic Montessori lessons. But I don't try to imitate a perfect Montessori classroom. Our language arts shelf is not limited to authentic Montessori materials.

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I include several different alphabet puzzles, both in wood and in Lauri foam.  There is also a chunky ABC picture block set and a magnetic ABC puzzle book. First and foremost, puzzles are fun.  They are engaging and appealing and can be used over and over again by the same child for several years. A puzzle with alphabet letters (and sometimes pictures representing sounds) serves several purposes.  It develops fine motor skills and fine tunes visual perception skills.  It allows a child to "get the feel" of the shape of a letter before attempting to make it abstract in the written form. Puzzles let children play with language from the very beginning and the best writers will tell you that composition is really playing with words.  Begin great composition at the very beginning:  nurture the sense of language play!

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Also on the language arts shelf is a wooden sign language puzzle. The pieces depict the sign language alphabet. Lift the pegged puzzle pieces and the print alphabet letters and an object wich begins with those letters are pictured below. This is the puzzle that began our sign language adventure. And it's this puzzle that led us to Signing Time and the wonderful DVDs that are a daily part of our language study.  So much has been written about the benefits of sign language to hearing children.  I'm firmly convinced that it is a valuable tool--not only for pre-speaking but for pre-reading.  It's a tactile, kinesthetic way to represent abstract words.  What could be better? The DVDs are engaging, endearing and effective.  Lots of moms need that half hour television break--these are far better than most "educational" televsion shows.  The only drawback?  Instead of scurrying off to empty the dishwasher or fold laundry while the wee ones are engaged, you'll probably find yourself watching, too.  Some Sign Babies flashcards round out our multi-sensory approach to signing.

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I really like Handwriting Without Tears' readiness program.  The wooden block letter pieces allow a child to construct a letter before ever attempting to write it.  Then, we can make letters out of dough.  When she's ready, she can practice writing letters on a magnetic screen like an Etch-a-Sketch and on a special slate. Finally, there are some workbooks:-)

The decision to use Handwriting without Tears was one I made under protest.  I loved the Italic handwriting that my oldest learned so easily.  But when Christian really struggled with that and every other traditional handwriting program, I saw that this program, while not beautiful, makes a great deal of sense for the child.  The letters are clear and legible and the entire program is laid out with the thought and care that an experienced occupational therapist can bring to the teaching of writing. For my children who can handle it, the switch to Catholic Heritage Curriculum handwriting books for copywork in the middle grades is nearly effortless.

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Not all of language arts can or should be confined to shelves.  Singing songs, chanting Mother Goose, sharing CDs in the car, and drifting to sleep while Mommy nurses the baby and we all listen to bedtime stories are all a part of the picture.  Don't forget lots and lots of Rhymes, Songs, and Fingerplays!  We only get to be little once, but when we're really, really blessed we can revel in the joy of early childhood and see the bright hope of a happy today and a happy tomorrow through the eyes of our own precious child.

Next up:  Number Fun!