Kindergarten Readiness "Tips of the Week" March 12, 2012

By Linda Anderson

Kindergarten Readiness "Tips of the Week"  March 12, 2012

The Bethel Public Schools has created a website of kindergarten readiness information and activities. It can be easily accessed by logging on to:

http://www.bethel.k12.ct.us/subsite/dist/page/kindergarten-readiness-200

 Information is in English and Spanish.

Below is a selection of activities from the Math Page. Try these at home with your child.

Activities to support math sense skills

• ·        Number sense:

o   Play with dice: roll dice, look at the picture of dots, figure out how many dots

o   Practice rolling dice without counting the dots. Children should be able to subitize (rapid, confident, judgment of a number) up to their age (Example: a five year old should be able to roll a 5 on a dice and know right away the number is 5 without counting)

o   Hide and Peek: start with 6 objects, hide a few, try to figure out how many are missing?

o   Make combinations of 10 with objects (9+1, 8+2, 7+3)

o   Play “I am thinking of a number” in the car: I am thinking of a number between 1 and 10, child says, “6”, higher, child says “8”, lower, child says 7. That is it!!!

• ·        Sorting: sort objects by size, color, shape or other “rule.” Have your child classify, or give a name. to the sorted group

o   Have your child sort toys while putting them away

o   Have your child sort and fold the laundry

o   Have your child help sort the groceries

o   Play sorting games

o   Sort coins, buttons, or any collection you have into containers.

• ·        Counting: Practice counting every day. Let your child hear you count!

o   Count coins, toys, rooms in your house, the cars that go by your house

o   Count the dishes and silverware while setting the table

o   Count finger, friends, trees…. Just count!

o   Sing songs and nursery rhymes with numbers

o   Count in a variety of ways: count forwards, backwards, by ones, twos, fives and tens.

o   Sort objects into groups of one, twos, tens and count!

o   Ask good counting questions:

§  What number comes next?

§  What number comes before?

§  What is one more?

§  What is one less?

§  What number is between 2 and 4?

Activities to help your child use their problem solving skills based on data

• ·        Sort toys or other objects into like groups based on an attribute (size, color, shape).  Ask your child to decide which pile has the most, least, or the same?
• ·        Ask your child to predict what will happen if you change the attribute for the sort…. Now let’s sort these toys by size. Will the number in each group stay the same?
• ·        Count M&M’s or jelly beans (or any colored candies) make a bar graph that shows the number in each color.
• ·        Interview family members: do you like vanilla or chocolate ice cream? Collect the data and make a poster of the results

   Kevin J. Smith, Ph.D.Superintendent of SchoolsBethel Public SchoolsP.O. Box 253Bethel, CT 06801(203) 794-8601