Counting Books and a Manipulative

Apart from pumpkin, squash, and bear books we've been reading as many counting books as we can find. The we in that last sentence refers mainly to C (age 5) and myself, but we often have onlookers peeking over our shoulders wanting to know what all the fun is about. In the case of Teddy Slater's "Math Reader" ...98, 99, 100 Ready or Not, Here I Come! which deals with skip counting, it turned out to be useful for E (age 6) to be reading along, as well.


Our favorite for the week was Curious George Learns to Count from 1 to 100, Counting, Graphing, Mapping, and More! I was pleasantly surprised with the book. On first glance it seems to be a standard counting story, and I checked it out mainly because it was one of the few available at our library for counting over 10.

The story, as you might imagine is not the most engaging you might find, as George moves from item to item trying to find 100 things to count, on his way to a centennial celebration with the Man in the Yellow Hat. After 20 we stopped trying to count the items illustrated on each page, and instead just read along.

Even so the story was excellent for practicing number recognition, and there were fun extras packed into the illustrations. The book cover does not lie in promising "counting, grouping, mapping, and more". The "more" includes a recipe for lemonade, instructions for folding paper airplanes, outdoor craft fun, and enough "I Spy" type activities to attract even my eight year old.

It's a good book to read through once, and then leave for children to pore over on their own.

And after that counting fun, I was thrilled to find instructions for making a counting rope at love2learn2day. It's an idea she picked up from Kim Sutton at a recent math conference, and received permission to share a video tutorial. Be sure to go check it out at the link above. The instructions are simple, and the possibilities for use are endless.

I made one for C using a set of alphabet beads we had on hand for making name bracelets and the like, so she can not only practice counting, but can firm up her understanding of alphabetical order as well.

And don't forget to click over to the What My Child is Reading link-up hosted by Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns for more children's book reviews and recommendations.

It's great to be a homeschooler.