Research shows that most kids come to school with untapped mathematical knowledge that they have learned by watching and participating in activities at home. What is most important, and yet most basic, type of knowledge will provide your kids develop a solid foundation in math so they will be successful in the future? The answer: NUMBER SENSE. Number sense is the ability to understand the correspondence that when you see one object that it is one, many teachers call this one-to-one correspondence. It is different from rote counting, which is also an important skill, but it is the understanding that you can count things to know how many there are. This basic understanding of numbers is fundamental and highly necessary in order to be successful in math in school. I have listed some activities that you can do with your children that will help their mathematical understanding and, particularly, their number sense:
1. Rote count to 100 or higher.
2. Count objects with your children.
3. Make and identify color, number, shape etc. patterns.
4. Share everyday math stories using simple addition and subtracting; e.g., I have 2 bananas and 1 cherry, how many pieces of fruit do I have?
If your children are in kindergarten, then do some of these activities as well:
5. Skip count by 10s, 5s, 2s, 3s
6. Show a number chart to 100 and look for patterns in the numbers and their placement.
These are all activities that anyone can do as long as they dedicate the time to do them with their kids. This type of number sense will start your children on the right track to mathematical understanding and success in school.
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