On one of our regular FaceTime calls last week, my granddaughter Daisy made one of her frequent surprise announcements. She carefully explained to me that she and Daddy “are even numbers” and Mummy “is an odd number”. She added that, following her next birthday, she (Daisy) would be odd, Daddy would also be odd and… Continue reading Preschool numeracy: fun with odds and evens
Tag: Counting
The joy of cooking together with your grandchild
Whenever my granddaughter Daisy comes to stay with me, her visit creates a series of highlights in my day from early morning cuddles to evening bath times. These special moments now regularly happen in the kitchen. As she’s grown older and more independent, Daisy has discovered that, if she drags her little red chair over… Continue reading The joy of cooking together with your grandchild
Measuring up: teaching children about non-standard units
Measures – we adults use them every day and all day, responding to our alarm clock in the morning and checking our pedometer step count at the end of the day. On a daily basis, we use measures for time, distance, weight, temperature, volume and capacity, and that’s before you consider the more ‘abstract’ measurements… Continue reading Measuring up: teaching children about non-standard units
Weighing up Autumn produce – a seasonal activity for preschoolers
As the English seasons roll around, the pumpkins and squashes are piling up in the supermarkets, and the conkers and acorns are falling from the trees. Although I’ll dearly miss the longer days of summer sun, autumn is a season that always brings special experiences to our family. From the Harvest Festival to Halloween, Autumn… Continue reading Weighing up Autumn produce – a seasonal activity for preschoolers
Back to the magnetic drawing board
There are few things more exciting for a grandparent than buying and presenting a toy to a beloved grandchild, and watching it being incorporated into their imaginative play. As an educator, I find it especially interesting to observe which toys ‘catch on’ with a child, and crucially when they catch on. Sometimes a toy doesn’t… Continue reading Back to the magnetic drawing board
A Numberblocks Numberblog: reaching One Hundred
Mathematics can be a tricky subject… for grownups. Unfortunately, many adults grow up to think of maths as tedious at best and intimidating at worst. It’s not helpful to be confronted by this feeling when we’re faced with unavoidable tasks, such as measuring up a room or working out our share of a restaurant bill.… Continue reading A Numberblocks Numberblog: reaching One Hundred
Building preschool mathematics: from 1 to 100
As grandparents, we’re used to early wake-up calls when Daisy visits us. The fleeting peace of the morning is broken by my granddaughter's demands for a story, or for us to witness her play acting as a dragon. Last weekend she bounced excitedly into our bedroom to inform us that “the thing in the bathroom”… Continue reading Building preschool mathematics: from 1 to 100
The Value Of Simple Board Games For Young Children
Now that we're not all dashing about with appointments and work commitments we're all finding we have more time to do things. And although Daisy's Mummy and Daddy have plenty to do each day with their various schedules, taking turns to participate in Daisy's home learning gives them more time with Daisy each day than… Continue reading The Value Of Simple Board Games For Young Children
Counting on repetition: helping your grandchild to master numbers
Daisy first started to learn about numbers from rhymes and action songs then last year she started to watch Numberblocks programmes on Cbeebies. This series of programmes has really improved Daisy's understanding of numbers. Over recent months, with the help of Mummy, Daddy and her childminder, Daisy has learnt the names of numbers up to… Continue reading Counting on repetition: helping your grandchild to master numbers
Going Shopping to Develop Writing and Counting Skills
Writing The skill of writing develops over several years and young children first learn about writing by observing adults writing. A few months ago we started to introduce Daisy to the process of writing by including her in one of our routine activities that requires writing We explained that we were going to go shopping… Continue reading Going Shopping to Develop Writing and Counting Skills
