Category: Number Books

From Numbers to Counting to Math

6/20/2020

*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.

ABC’s and 123’s. The first lessons of childhood. In our experience it seems that children grasp the concept of numbers more quickly than letters. Perhaps it’s because when children are young, parents offer two cookies, one banana, or we get a dozen donuts at the apple orchard and visual counting is as easy as looking at their fingers. But it’s important to continue to develop these skills as number skills are just as valuable as learning to read.

The definition of a number is a mathematical object used to count, measure and label. Counting, measuring and labeling are things that are done almost on a daily basis making number skills very valuable. Math is a concept that builds on itself therefore a strong foundation is needed in order for children to make the necessary connections in order to succeed, so starting early with numbers; reading number books, playing number games and finding opportunities for using math concepts will ensure that your child will embrace numbers with ease.

Beginning math for youngsters starts with shapes, identifying and counting number of sides. Visual aids are best when teaching math skills for most children are visual learners. Use snacks as math manipulatives to keep children engaged and more eager to participate. Snacks can be used to count, sort, create patterns and learn about measurement, size and weight. For instance, think about the many ways you can use something as simple as a box of Fruit Loops cereal to teach math. Children can count, create shapes, and patterns, string them to measure length etc. Square crackers such as Cheez-it’s can be used for counting, multiplying and to teach area and perimeter; gum drops or marshmallows and toothpicks can create geometric shapes. Also consider playing with dice, cards or dominos and also using any manipulatives you can count like marbles, buttons, beads etc. Use a chalkboard or whiteboard so children can practice writing their numbers as well as showing them visually how to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers getting them familiar with mathematical symbols.

To bring numbers into your daily life:

Point out street signs with numbers when in the car.
In the store, point out prices, weights and measures.
Read number books. There are many great ones available so choose a few to share or read one a day along with an alphabet book.
Take a nature walk and count trees, rocks, plants, birds, bugs etc.
Play restaurant or store complete with menus and play money.
Cook or bake with your child. Both involve numbers in measuring, weighing etc. Double a recipe or half a recipe turning it into a math problem.
Teach fractions with a pizza, either a real one or make one with construction paper or felt.
Family game night. Most board games involve counting. My 4-year-old’s favorite is all forms of Monopoly and it sure has helped her with addition and subtraction.
Look for toys that teach numbers such as those from Learning Resources so children can learn while they play.
Offer dot-to-dot and color by number workbooks and pages.

Opportunities to engage with numbers are everywhere, you just need to seize the moment. Count the seeds as you plant them in the dirt, count the pepperoni as you put it on the pizza, count the number of people at the dinner table and figure out how to divide the pie. If you plan on taking a summer vacation, help children to figure out how many miles to go and how long it will take to get there. Life is filled with numbers. Use them to learn them!

Some number books we love:

Count the Monsters! by Books for Little Ones

Count the Mermaids! by Books for Little Ones

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett

100 Bugs!: A Counting Book by Kate Narita

Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton

Doggies by Sandra Boynton

Bears Counts by Karma Wilson

How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? by Jane Yolen

7 Ate 9 by Tara Lazar

123s of Art by Sabrina Hahn

David Carter's 100: Lift the Flaps and Learn to Count!

1-2-3 Peas by Keith Baker

Goodnight Numbers by Danica McKellar

Ten Magic Butterflies by Danica McKellar

Bathtime Mathtime by Danica McKellar

Bathtime Mathtime: Shapes by Danica McKellar

For more number and math related books, take a look at our Number Books list!

Usborne Books & More

1, 2, 3... By the Sea by Dianne Moritz

Counting Through the Day by Margaret Hamilton

Count With Me!

I Can Count

Nibbles Numbers by Emma Yarlett

Big Book of Numbers

Lift-the-Flap Numbers

Lift-the-Flap First Math

Lift-the-Flap Sizes and Measuring

Dotty and Dash's 123: A Pop-up Counting Book

Lift-the-Flap Adding & Subtracting

Lift-the-Flap Fractions and Decimals

Lift-the-Flap Multiplying & Dividing

Wipe-Clean First Numbers

Wipe-Clean First Math

*You could earn these UBAM books for FREE by hosting a book party! Think of it as a Tupperware or Pampered Chef party...but for books! Learn more here.*

Happy counting and reading!

-Kate @ BTBL

Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 4) for Kate, and two sons (now 1 and a newborn) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.

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Hap-pea Peas in a Pod

4/26/2020

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*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.

The humble pea has never seemed to be a child’s vegetable of choice but when it comes to The Peas Series by Keith Baker, peas stand out in a big way and are adored, complete with rhythmic text and humorous illustrations filled with engaging details.

These are not identical peas in a pod. No, these little green peas are unique and have diverse interests, hobbies and jobs. Their distinctness is highlighted in a colorful animated way as they roll through the alphabet. Not only do they take a child on a fun exploration of the ABC’s in LMNO Peas, they are also featured in a book of numbers (1-2-3 Peas), colors (Little Green Peas) and months (Hap-pea All Year). LMNO Pea-quel finds the little green peas bouncing through the lowercase letters with new jobs, activities, hobbies and roles. Though the series is simple and appeals to the younger crowd, older children might find their humor appealing and the books can be used to further build and expand skills. Again, if you don’t have the books, check on YouTube for a read aloud.

When we looked up LMNO Peas activities online, the first entry was worksheets. Not an activity we wanted to start with so we came up with our own. Here is a list of some of our ideas to use with Baker’s books to have fun and build skills:

Letter Jar – Get a glass jar and fill it with dried peas and letter beads. Have your child shake it up and identify the letters they see and then think of a word that starts with that letter or have them look around the house for objects that start with that letter. For older kids you can have them write down words that start with that letter or change it up and have them write down words that end with that letter.

Pea Pod – Have your child paint a paper plate green and then fold it in half to make a pea pod. You can either staple it or to work on small motor skills, punch a few holes at the ends and have your child sew it shut with yarn and a plastic yarn needle and tie it off. Then find an ABC letter chart and print it off on card stock (we used green.) Have your child cut the letters out and place them in their pod. Have your child then pull letters out of their pod for identification and then you can continue with the theme of the book and have your child come up with jobs, interests or descriptive adjectives. Add extra letters for a pea-gram spelling game ala Bananagrams.

Counting Carton – Take a cardboard egg carton and have your child paint it green. Place numbers in the bottom of each cup and then have your child count out marbles, beads, peas or anything green for each. Use it for simple math by asking if you combined the 2 cup with the 3 cup, how many would you have altogether? Using a manipulative helps children learn math because it gives them a visual.

Color Wheel – Take a paper plate, section it off like a pie and have your child color in each section with markers, crayons or colored pencils using the colors from the book. Use a round head fastener or a paper clip to create a spinner and have your child spin to see what color it will land on. Identify the color and then come up with all the things they can think of that are that color. You can even have them think of what foods from the farm or garden are that color. Turn it into an I Spy game looking around the house for objects in that color.

Celebrate the Months & Seasons – Print off a blank calendar page for each month and help your child to fill in the days. Then use colored pencils, markers, crayons or stickers to decorate each month for events, holidays and seasons. Refer to the book for additional creative ideas and see if your child can find the pea of the month (holding the number of the month) on each page. Mark off the day each morning, helping to teach your child the days of the week, and discuss the month and the season, perhaps including the weather.

With literacy and math scores being such a concern, especially in Michigan, and with the coronavirus making the school year so short, it never hurts to play letter and number games, making their learning fun. The more you work with something, the better it will be absorbed and working with letters and their sounds will only enhance literacy skills. Reading books aloud to your child leads to better concentration, an increased attention span, greater empathy, increased vocabulary and background knowledge that can be drawn upon when needed. A total win-win situation. So, get out those magnetic letters, foamy letters and letter tiles or make them yourself and see how many imaginative ways you can use them to increase your child’s literacy skills.

Happy reading and learning!

-Kate @ BTBL

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O is for October

10/22/2019

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*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts!

Letters make words, words make sentences, sentences make paragraphs,
and paragraphs come together to make incredible books!

I love reading to my daughter and my nephews, always looking for new and interesting books but still relying on some favorite classics, but it always seems that at this time of year, when school is back in session, that I tend to break out more alphabet books. I’ve noticed that as my daughter is entering preschool, she looks at these books in a different way, tracing the letters with her finger and saying the sounds of the letters, building phonemic awareness. So, I love that there are a variety of alphabet books available from those that appeal to the very young to those that appeal to the not so young and offer greater learning, sometimes in a creative way. As long as the book appeals, age truly doesn’t matter.

Choosing a quality alphabet or number book for your youngster is not so different from picking out any other picture book. The title, cover, illustrations and language/vocabulary all make a huge impact, so make sure the book speaks to you (there is the potential that you will be reading this story many times over) and at the same time offers a wealth of learning opportunities for your child. Some additional things we at BTBL consider when perusing a new alphabet or number book are:

Structure of the story - Is the alphabet or number book you’re looking at just a straight representation of our ABC’s and 1-2-3’s or does it present the letters and numbers through an actual story? While basic alphabet and number books are great, those that tell a story and offer unique vocabulary are far more engaging. Also, hearing and seeing the letters and numbers in action, in context will help build greater understanding for your child.
Highly detailed illustrations - Take a close look at the illustrations of an alphabet or number book, not just to see that they are brightly colored and eye-catching, but also to see if there are more objects in the illustrations that represent the letter or number being shown. Scouring the pictures for additional objects, animals, and/or things beginning with the featured letter will teach your child that the illustrations are just as important as the text and give them more insight into the letters themselves, their sounds and the words that begin with them.

A handful of our favorite alphabet and numbers books...

Check out our Alphabet Books list and Numbers Books list to peruse more of our favorite titles!

Since the alphabet is the building block of literacy, children must learn to recognize and name the letters, both in and out of order, and the sounds associated with each letter but this does not and should not be a chore. Read a variety of alphabet books and find other ways to introduce and reinforce the letters and their sounds to your children. Some ideas might be to:

Buy or make letters so that your child can hold and manipulate them (magnetic, foam or felt.) Use a magnetic white board or the refrigerator for vertical letter play or even a felt board.
Letter coloring books or coloring pages allow children to trace the letters and know them individually.
Create a letter book. Be creative and allow your child to have fun with it. (Check out our Facebook post S is for Sticker)
Offer alphabet puzzles and mats.
Look for dry alphabet pasta and allow your child to play with the letters and help them to create their name and other words.

These are fabric letters I made for my daughter's birthday once. I chose fabrics that would somehow represent each letter (apples for A, green for G, flowers for F, etc) and then sewed two small, round magnets into each letter for fridge or white board play.

While we believe in getting back to basics, computers are a part of today’s children’s lives. Let your child use the keyboard to learn their letters such as in Microsoft Word. Change fonts, sizes and colors to make it fun. Avoid using pre-programmed alphabet games where children just respond by hitting a key. Utilizing a basic typing program such as Word allows children the freedom to explore the alphabet without the distractions of flashing lights, sounds and pictures.

Learning the letters and in turn their sounds is critical for building literacy skills and developing phonemic awareness. Once a child understands the sounds of letters and how they can be manipulated to create words, they understand how their language works and may begin to decode words on their own creating the path to independent reading.

Happy reading!

-Kate @ BTBL

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Back to Basics

From Numbers to Counting to Math

Author

Hap-pea Peas in a Pod

Author

O is for October

Letters make words, words make sentences, sentences make paragraphs,
and paragraphs come together to make incredible books!

Author

Author

Archives

Categories

Back to Basics

From Numbers to Counting to Math

Author

Hap-pea Peas in a Pod

Author

O is for October

Letters make words, words make sentences, sentences make paragraphs, and paragraphs come together to make incredible books!

Author

Author

Archives

Categories

Letters make words, words make sentences, sentences make paragraphs,
and paragraphs come together to make incredible books!