Kindergarten

Tips for Helping at Home

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Questions to ask:

What is it that you don’t understand (have

the student be specific)?

What about putting things in order?

Can you guess and check?

Does this make sense?

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Look for things in your everyday life that you can

count with your child. How many kittens are in the

picture? Could you put ten crackers on this plate?

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Keep in mind that children this age vary widely in

what size quantities they are comfortable count-

ing—between 10 and 15 may be about right.

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Look for chances to compare amounts: Are there

the same number of forks and spoons on the ta-

ble? Are there more kittens or more puppies in

this picture?

Mathematical Emphasis

Investigation 1—Counting and Measuring

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Counting up to about 20 objects

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Representing quantities with pictures, numbers

and words

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Repeating a non-standard measure

Investigation 2—Six Tiles

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Becoming familiar with combinations of six

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Recording strategies for counting six things

grouped in different ways

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Determining the larger of two amounts, up to about

20

Investigation 3—Story Problems

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Making sense of stories that involve combining

and separating

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Developing strategies for solving story problems

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Finding the total of two quantities up to about 6

(with totals up to about 12)

Investigation 4—Blue and Red Crayons

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Finding combinations of 5, 6, and other numbers

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Using pictures, numbers and words to record solu-

tions to a problem

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Finding the total of two or more single-digit num-

bers

Websites

http://cms.everett.k12.wa.us/math/Kinder

Color Counting

http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/colorcount.html

Count Us In Game 3

http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game3.htm

Counting and

the Number

System

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Counting is More Than 1, 2, 3

Counting is the basis for understanding our

number system and for almost all the num-

ber work in the primary grades. It involves

more than just knowing the number names,

sequence, and how to write each numeral.

Counting is actually quite complex and in-

volves interplay between the following con-

cepts.

Rote Counting

: knowing number names

and sequence

One-to-One Correspondence:

counting

accurately means a student must know that

one number name stands for one object that

is counted.

Keeping Track:

another part of counting

accurately is being able to keep track of

what has been counted and what still re-

mains to be counted.

Connecting Numbers to Quantities:

using

numbers to describe the quantity of objects

counted.

Conservation:

understanding that three is

always three, whether it’s three objects

pushed or linked together, objects spread

apart in a line, or some other formation.

Counting by Groups:

counting a set of ob-

jects by equal groups.

Kliman, M. Investigations in Number, Data, and Space:

How Many in All? Dale Seymour Publications, 1998.

Vocabulary

Comparing—determining which is more or

greater, how much more

Number combinations—identifying numbers

that combine to make another number, for

example: 2 + 3 = 5 and 1 + 4 = 5

Combining—putting two or more numbers

together

Separating—breaking numbers

apart

Non-standard measurement—

measuring with cubes, paper

clips, etc.

Glossary

http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

Game

Counters in a Cup

Materials: Cup and counters (6—10)

Players: 2

Object: Determine how many of the count-

ers have been hidden.

One player secretly hides some of a set of

counters in an overturned cup. The other

partner uses the remaining counters to de-

termine how many have been hidden.

TOTAL NUMBER: _______________

IN

OUT