Numeracy K-2
Helping Your Child Develop Their Numeracy Skills
Numeracy involves being able to understand how numbers work in everyday situations. We see and use numbers daily. When reading, there are numbers on the page, our house has a number and when we buy something we add and subtract numbers. Help your child to develop a positive attitude towards numeracy. It’s important to build numeracy skills in your home language.
Numbers and Counting
An early skill children develop is counting.
Counting includes:
• Saying and recalling numbers in the correct order.
• Matching number words to objects.
• Knowing that the last number counted represents the total number of objects.
Words to use.
• Count forward, count backwards.
• Number before, number after.
• More than, less than.
• Is the same as?
Activities To Encourage Learning About Numbers.
• Use dice that have numbers and dots to help your child recognise numbers and amounts. Ask your child, How many dots are on the dice?
• Play board games together that use dice and counting.
• Read and share stories. Talk about counting, amounts and the numbers you see in a books, including the page numbers.
• Ask your child to find numbers when going on a walk. Ask your child, What numbers can you see? Talk about house numbers, car number plates and street signs.
• Talk about the numbers on everyday items such as clocks and phones. Help your child to recall helpful numbers such as a parents phone number.
Counting With Your Child
• Count when you do things around the house, for example, How many items do you pick up off the floor?
• Cook simple recipes together and have your child measure and count the ingredients.
• Encourage your child to help set the table for a family meal. Ask them to count the amount of people eating, count the plates, cups, forks and spoons needed for the table.
• Count with your child the number of buttons on their clothes as they do them up.
• Ask your child to count how many items are in their lunch box.
• Count forward. Count everyday items such as cars, houses, shoes and bags.
• Count backwards. Going downstairs or upstairs, saying the numbers on mailboxes as you walk down the street and counting down to start an activity e.g 3,2,1 Go!
Counting Songs.
(Links to YouTube clips)• Here is the Beehive • Five Little Ducks • The Ants Go Marching • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe • Five Cheeky Monkeys Jumping on the Bed • Ten Green Bottles
Adding and Subtracting
Young children need to develop a sense of addition and subtraction.
This includes combining two or more objects or removing and separating objects.
Words to use
• Combines with
• Joins
• Less
• More
• Take away
Activities That Encourage Adding
• Add amounts of everyday items, toys, fruit, books. Children may use their fingers to add.
• As you are walking, add the number of different items you see, for example, flowers in a garden.
• On a calendar, ask your child to mark the days they went to school or did another activity. At the end of the week add the number of days for each activity.
• When you are shopping, talk about what you need to buy. Ask questions such as, "How many bananas for everyone in the family? If I get one more, how many will we have?"
• Play games that encourage adding using two dice, for example, Snakes and Ladders.
Activities To Encourage Subtracting
• Subtract everyday items. Count the items in their lunch box and then subtract as items are taken away.
• When eating, count how many items you have. Ask questions such as, How many grapes have you eaten? How many are left?
• Encourage your child to notice the difference when items are removed such as taking eggs out of a carton or removing bananas from a bunch.
• Sing songs such as Five Little Ducks, where the number reduces as one is taken away.
• Ask questions such as, We have five apples in the bowl. If I ate two apples, how many apples are left?
Identifying and Creating Patterns
A pattern is a repeated set. It can be made from shapes, sounds, numbers or objects. Children can learn to recognise, identify, create, copy and continue patterns through daily activities.
Words To Use
• Repeat
• Continue
• Create
• Identify
• Describe
• Pattern
Recognise and Identify Patterns
• Identify patterns on wrapping paper, bathroom tiles and driveways. Talk about the different patterns and what makes it a pattern.
• Talk about patterns. Ask questions, such as, Why is it a pattern?, What makes this a pattern? or How can you continue this pattern?
• Play games with cards, dominoes or dice to help your child recognise patterns.
Copying Patterns
• Play clapping games where you clap a pattern and your child repeats the pattern. Ask your child to clap a pattern that you repeat.
• Set the table together for a meal using a pattern, such as, plate and spoon, plate and spoon, plate and spoon.
Creating Patterns
• Create patterns with everyday items like toys and fruit.
• Start with simple patterns and then create harder patterns such as one apple, two bananas, one apple, two bananas.
