Four to five years

We at beaney.com™ are offering helpful educational information for parents from various sources including educational departments from all over the world. Enjoy these activities with your children, and please let us know about your experiences. Thank you for making a difference.

"Hands-on Math"

Real-life, hands-on activities are the best way to introduce your preschooler to mathematics!

What to do...

Talk a lot about numbers and use number concepts in daily routines with your preschooler. For example:

Cooking. "Let's divide the cookie dough into two parts so we can bake some now and put the rest into the freezer."

Home projects. "We're going to hang this picture 6 inches above the bookshelf in your room."

Home chores. "How many plates do we need on the table? One for Mommy, one for Daddy, and one for Jenny."

Talk about numbers that matter most to your preschooler - her age, her address, her phone number, her height and weight. Focusing on these personal numbers helps your child learn many important math concepts, including:

Time (hours, days, months, years - older, younger - yester-day, today, tomorrow).

To a young child, you might say, "At 2 o'clock we will take a nap."

When you plan with an older preschooler (4 or 5 years old), you could point out, "It's only 3 days until we go to Grandma's house. Let's put an X on the calendar so we'll know the day we're going."

Lengths (inches, feet - longer, taller, shorter). "This ribbon is too short to go around the present for Aunt Susan. Let's cut a longer ribbon."

Weight (ounces, pounds, grams - heavier, lighte - how to use scales). "You already weigh 30 pounds. I can hardly lift such a big girl."

Where you live (addresses, telephone numbers). "These shiny numbers on our apartment door are 2-1-4. We live in apartment number 214." Or;

"When you go to play at Terry's house, take this note along with you. It's our phone number: 253-6711. Some day soon you will know our phone number so you can call me when you are at your friend's."

Provide opportunities for your child to learn math. For example:

Blocks can teach children to classify objects by color and shape. Blocks can also help youngsters learn about depth, width, height, and length.

Games that have scoring, such as throwing balls into a basket, require children to count. Introduce games like dominoes or rolling dice. Have your child roll the dice and count the dots. Let her try to roll for matches. Count favorite toys.

Books often have number themes or ideas.

It's best not to use drills or arithmetic worksheets with young children. These can make children dislike math because they don't fit with the way they learn math naturally.