Math teaching ideas, links, worksheets, reviews, articles, news, Math Mammoth, and more--anything that helps you to teach math.

Teaching math to young learners at home can be successful if you respond to your child. Children learn best when they aren't forced to learn. Introduce them to ideas, books, educational television, and most importantly, show them how this stuff is used in everyday life. they will catch on and learn it at their own pace.

As the parent of a preschooler, you probably enjoy experiencing the world through your child’s eyes (and hands and feet!) as he or she explores and learns with great enthusiasm. And as your child’s first teacher, you can start teaching the basics of reading, writing, and math. Giving preschoolers a solid foundation in early math literacy is critical to their future academic success, not to mention how important it is to their day-to-day functioning.

Children’s ability to understand mathematics takes a big leap forward in the preschool years. Their strengthening ability to represent using manipulatives, symbols, and signs opens up many new possibilities. Children also make strides in algebra and patterning. They can sequence events in time by age three. By age four, they can re-create patterns or make their own repeating pattern. During the preschool years, the child’s ability to problem solve takes on a new zeal. Children’s ability to classify objects is more developed; they can sort and organize objects into different categories and tell which pile has more. This chart details the skills that children can exhibit at different ages.

Learning about numbers is a preschooler’s first step toward becoming a budding young mathematician. And in preschool, math learning is all about counting, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence. If a child doesn’t ace these seemingly simple skills in a timely manner, don’t fret: even math whizzes need time to blossom. But with age appropriate techniques, helping your child to master these math milestones will be as easy as 1, 2, 3!

As a teacher, you can foster the development of early mathematical skills by providing environments rich in language, where thinking is encouraged, uniqueness is valued, and exploration is supported. Teachers support young children's diligence and mathematical development when they direct attention to the math children use in their play, challenge them to solve problems and encourage their persistence.

This wonderful blog is written by a homeschooling mother who wants to make learning math fun. It is a place where you can learn about new ways of learning, teaching, and understanding math. Math is a game, playing with ideas. This blog is about the ongoing adventure of learning, teaching, and playing around with mathematics from preschool to precalculus.

Every child is unique and hence the best way for them to learn math in preschool depends on their innate aptitude and the level of interest that they demonstrate in this subject. What math teachers must do is nourish, develop and refine this aptitude and interest by creating an atmosphere that encourages learning and using activities that are effective and engaging. Parents should also try to use the methods used by preschool teachers so the child can continue to learn at home.

Mathematical experiences for very young children should build largely upon their play and the natural relationships between learning and life in their daily activities, interests, and questions.

Young preschool children are active learners, naturally curious and ready to engage in mathematical learning. They approach math with excitement and curiosity, if the practices are age-appropriate, engaging, and involve hands-on, minds-on learning approaches.

Summer reading clubs and story times can help with early literacy and reading, but it might seem daunting to figure out how to prepare a young child for math. Here’s the great news: you’re the right person for the job.

These are ideas and strategies to incorporate math learning into everyday life.

Preschool and Kindergarten – what fun ages! Play is learning and learning is play. Perhaps you’re looking for some ideas for your formal Tot School or perhaps you just want to make sure that your little ones will be ready for first grade when it comes along.

Preschool-age children are ready to explore more than one might think! Parents often focus on counting from one to ten, but there are many other skills that children are ready and able to investigate.

Anyone who is pushing arithmetic onto preschoolers is wrong. Do not hurry child. No math in preschool! Preschoolers can and should engage in mathematical thinking. All young children possess informal mathematics and can learn more. A combination of an environment that is conducive to mathematical explorations, appropriate observations and interventions, and specific mathematical activities helps preschoolers build premathematical and explicit mathematical knowledge.

Learning shapes and colors may well be a young child’s first educational endeavor. Although recognizing objects as red or blue, round or square might seem like child’s play, it’s actually integral to a young child’s cognitive development, and sets the stage for math concepts from sorting and patterning to geometry, and beyond! What can you as a parent do to help your young learner master these academic milestones? You may not have to look beyond the backdrop of your life for the perfect learning tools. Try a few of these fun activities to help your child master colors and shapes.

Patterns are all around us, from the clothing we wear to the repeating patterns found in nature and everyday routine. Patterning is also a basic math skill upon which many mathematical concepts are based. Times tables, addition and skip counting all require an understanding of and proficiency in patterning. In preschool, identifying and creating patterns is just the beginning of the mastery of life-long mathematical skills.

Young children are unique creatures who love nothing more than to experience everything from tactile, hands-on items to feeling the wind in their faces as they jump off a wall. They are all about hiding under blankets to see what happens if they walk through the house like a ghost or playing safari and taking pictures with their imaginary camera.

This list is a great start to incorporating fun activities and games into your homeschool math curriculum.

HomeschoolMath.net is a comprehensive math resource site for homeschooling parents and teachers: find free worksheets, math ebooks for elementary grades, an extensive link list of games, a homeschool math curriculum guide, interactive tutorials & quizzes, and teaching tips articles. The resources emphasize understanding of concepts instead of just mechanical memorization of rules.

This 49 page pdf file contains scores of activities to teach math concepts to preschoolers.

These fun math games help encourage counting and color matching using pom poms.

The fun and colorful tubes are a great way to practice 1:1 correspondence, counting, and numbers.

These simple early learning math activities teach skills like number recognition, counting, simple addition and subtraction, sorting, sequencing numbers, and measuring.

This activity helps children to model basic numbers and use counting and grouping strategies to demonstrate and verbalise relationships between basic numbers--in this case, the numbers 1-3. Using the well loved and well known tale of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears will help engage your child and also give them a greater understanding, meaning and depth.

How to make a homemade version of the Montessori seguin board, a board with lots of 10s in a column.

These fun printables feature poems to help young children learn the value of coins.

A selection of songs and lyrics from a variety of different albums teaching how to count, recognize shapes, use the concept of zero, use units of measurement and money.

These fun math activities use simple toy cars to teach ordinal numbers, sorting, counting, number recognition, subitizing, patterns, colors, and addition.

A list of games that make learning math concepts fun and easy.

This list is a great start to incorporating fun activities and games into your homeschool math curriculum.

Use 1 x 1 Lego bricks and a 12-sided math die to encourage counting and learning.

Counting and learning about patterns is fun with Duplo blocks. These easy activities can be put together in no time at home.

These counting song are available for download. Lyrics can be printed.

This inexpensive and easy to create game uses small toy cars to teach numbers.

Browse through our preschool math activities. Here are many preschool math activities to keep your preschooler learning on the fly, all year long.

Enjoy these activities that introduce number concepts and active learning through play.

Teaching math beyond basic counting at home can seem daunting. But these simple activities show that it can be easy and fun. These hands-on ways to introduce counting and other basic math skills are great.

Learn 10s with these free printable cards that offer a fun way to practice. Read about different ways to use the cards for enjoyable math games to teach this concept.

Practicing math skills like spatial awareness and geometry can be fun, especially when the math activity involves Legos! Here’s a free printable math challenge for kids using Lego or Duplo bricks!

Ray's Arithmetics teach arithmetic in an orderly fashion, starting from rules and principles, building knowledge piece by piece, leading pupils from simple to complex. From the very first pages, Ray's Arithmetics incorporate what has become the scourge of today's math students - story problems. Students must READ simple sentences which pose real life problems, decide whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide, and finally arrive at the answer - sometimes mentally - sometimes in writing.

This pre-K homeschool math unit download includes an implementation guide, module guides with instructional strategies, student activity sheets, answer keys, progress monitoring, and vocabulary. Designed for ages 3-4, it covers counting and number sense, comparing and classifying, sorting, graphing, patterning, 2-D and 3-D shapes, coins, and representing quantities and shapes.

JUMP Math is a numeracy program. JUMP Math is dedicated to enhancing the potential in children by encouraging an understanding and a love of math in students and educators. JUMP Math replaces the self-fulfilling myth that some people are born with mathematical ability while others do not have the ability to succeed with assumptions that all children can be led to think mathematically. They offer educators, tutors and parents complete and balanced materials as well as training to help them reach all students. JUMP Math draws on the latest cognitive science research to build upon the best aspects of math programs from around the world to provide a unique combination of depth, careful scaffolding, continuous assessment and a variety of innovative instructional approaches. Many parents in Canada and the United States use JUMP Math to homeschool their children. In a homeschool, JUMP Math works by helping adults lead children through a tailored process of micro-teaching, guided discovery and practice that gradually extends student understanding. JUMP Math has found that children learn better when they feel admired and are confident they will not be allowed to fail. Teachers therefore communicate their belief that all students can learn, and reinforce this belief with frequent and specific encouragement. This creates a positive learning environment, which in turn leads to more academically focused behaviour.

The ABCmouse.com Homeschool Early Learning Academy offers these features:

• More than 5,000 learning activities in Reading, Math, Beginning Science, Social Studies, Art, and Music
• A full online preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten curriculum
• A Step-by-Step Learning Path that guides your child through the curriculum at his or her own pace
• Our powerful Lesson Builder tool that allows you to create your own lessons for your child

ABCmouse.com’s curriculum focuses on the important educational basics, helping children establish a foundation of knowledge that they can build upon with confidence and success. Because ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy offers a curriculum carefully designed in collaboration with nationally recognized childhood education experts, you can be sure that, while homeschooling, your child will be learning all of the important basics.

ABCMouse.com offers a First Month Free Subscription Offer.

Singapore Math books are clear, logical, and sequential. There is a strong focus on mental math. Word problems and geometry are integrated throughtout the series. Singapore Math® books are a popular choice of homeschool families and for parents looking for math activity books to support what their child is learning in school. There are also titles to help home educators understand the foundations of Singapore Math® methodology, giving you tools to help your student be successful and have fun.They offer math texts from pre-K to 12th grades. This series challenges children to think through and understand mathematical concepts instead of simply memorizing facts and algorithms. One of the benefits of using this program is its affordability. The textbooks are inexpensive and are reusable. The consumable workbooks are priced so that even families with multiple children using this program will find it affordable.

Everyday Mathematics is a comprehensive Pre-K through 6th grade mathematics curriculum developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project and published by McGraw-Hill Education. Everyday Mathematics is a research-based and field-tested curriculum that focuses on developing children’s understandings and skills in ways that produce life-long mathematical power. The Everyday Mathematics curriculum emphasizes:

• Use of concrete, real-life examples that are meaningful and memorable as an introduction to key mathematical concepts.
• Repeated exposures to mathematical concepts and skills to develop children’s ability to recall knowledge from long-term memory.
• Frequent practice of basic computation skills to build mastery of procedures and quick recall of facts, often through games and verbal exercises.
• Use of multiple methods and problem-solving strategies to foster true proficiency and accommodate different learning styles.

Finding the right homeschool preschool curriculum is important. For many children, this will be their first introduction to organized learning. Giving your child the right introduction to the world of knowledge can help them become life-long learners. To learn how to choose the right homeschool preschool curriculum for your child, consult the resources offered at Sonlight.

Homeschooling parents will find that when it comes to choosing the curriculum for math, there is a huge variety available. In fact, the number of math curriculums available to choose from may make choosing the right one difficult. These supplemental math activities for grades K-5 are fun ways to incorporate more math into your homeschooling.

This is a free math curriculum from Great Britain. MEP is a workbook-based, spiral curriculum that emphasizes concepts and logical thinking. It encourages creative thinking and unique approaches to mathematical computation.

ShillerMath publishes research-based math curriculum, music, manipulatives, flashcards, and workbooks for students of ages 4-13 (including pre-K and pre-Algebra), with beautifully designed lessons, diagnostic tests with answer keys, math songs, and Montessori-based manipulatives. No Montessori or math knowledge is required and there's zero lesson preparation - just read (or have your child read) what's in quotes and you're good to go! Students using this approach consistently outperform their peers. The ShillerMath curriculum includes authoritative materials and lessons used by thousands of Montessori schools worldwide and is the math curriculum of choice for thousands of homes and classrooms nationwide.

Learn 10s with these free printable cards that offer a fun way to practice. Read about different ways to use the cards for enjoyable math games to teach this concept.

Fun and free printables that are great for preschoolers. These activities make learning fun!

These printables are free and help provide extra support for teaching preschool math. You'll find calendars, number tracing cards, number mats, patterns, and more.

Practicing math skills like spatial awareness and geometry can be fun, especially when the math activity involves Legos! Here’s a free printable math challenge for kids using Lego or Duplo bricks!

HomeschoolMath.net is a comprehensive math resource site for homeschooling parents and teachers: find free worksheets, math ebooks for elementary grades, an extensive link list of games, a homeschool math curriculum guide, interactive tutorials & quizzes, and teaching tips articles. The resources emphasize understanding of concepts instead of just mechanical memorization of rules.

Preschool math worksheets help your young learner develop essential early math skills. From number recognition to counting to addition, preschoolers learn a lot about numbers in one year. Our collection of preschool math worksheets is designed for kids who want to build skills that will prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. These preschool math worksheets help present new number topics to kids in a way that's fun and easy to understand. Help foster a culture of learning by doing these preschool math worksheets with your child.