95 Getting Ready for Kindergarten Mathematics

Getting Ready for
Kindergarten
Mathematics!


Your Child’s First Teacher
• Is you!
• Research suggests parent participation is
directly related to your child’s success.
• Pre-kindergartners and kindergartners
love mathematics making it easy to
support at home.
• The following slides are ideas and
suggestions to help your child “get ready”
for Kindergarten Mathematics!


Understanding
Numbers

• Count everything! Count toys, dinner plates, snacks, and
socks in the dryer. Help your child count by pointing to and
moving the objects as you say each number out loud. Count
forwards and backwards from different starting places.
• Sing counting songs and read counting books. Sing
songs such as, "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and "Ten Little
Monkeys". Read counting books such as Anno’s Counting Book
by Mitsumasa Anno.
• Explore how numbers are used inside and outside your
home. Hunt for numbers in your home, neighborhood, books,
magazines or the newspaper. Point numbers out on the clock,

television, cellphones, stove, microwave, etc.
• Ask your child to help you solve everyday number
problems. "We need four tomatoes to make salad for dinner,
and we have only two. How many more do we need to buy?"
"Two guests are coming for dinner. How many forks will
we need?"


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Understanding
Measurements
Measure items
found around the house. Have your child
find objects that are longer or shorter than a ruler. Use items

such as popsicle sticks or string to measure the length of
objects such as a doormat. Fill different containers with sand
or water and see which containers hold more or less.
• Estimate everything! Estimate the number of steps from
your front door to the car, then walk with your child to find out
how many there really are. Estimate how many rolls of paper
towels your family will need for the week. At the end of the
week, count up the number of paper towels you actually used.
• Compare and organize household items. Take boxes or
cans from the pantry and have your child line them up from
tallest to shortest.
• Talk about time. Ask your child to check the time on the
clock when he goes to school, eats meals, and goes to bed.
Together, look up the time of a television program your child

wants to watch.


Understanding Geometry
• Identify shapes and sizes. When playing with your
child, identify things by their shape and size: "Pass me an
ice cube." "Take the largest potato chip bag out of
the pantry."
• Hide a toy and use directional language to help
your child find it. Give clues using words and phrases
such as up, down, over, under, between, through,
and on top of.
• Play "I spy", looking for different shapes. "I spy
something that is round." "I spy something that is
rectangular." "I spy something that looks like a cone."
• Go on a "shape hunt". Have your child look for as many
circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles as he or she
can find at home or outside. Hunt for three-dimensional
objects like cubes, cones, spheres, and cylinders also.


Understanding Patterns
• Look for patterns in storybooks and songs. Many
children's books and songs repeat lines or passages in
predictable ways, allowing children to recognize and predict
the patterns.
• Create patterns using your body. Clap and stomp your
foot in a particular sequence (clap, clap, stomp), have your
child repeat the same sequence. Teach your child simple
dances that include repeated steps and movements.

• Hunt for patterns around your house and
neighborhood. Your child will find patterns in clothing, on
toys, and among trees and flowers in the park. Encourage
your child to describe the patterns found. Try to identify the
features of the pattern that are repeated.
• Use household items to create and extend patterns.
Lay down a row of spoons pointing in different directions in a
particular pattern (up, up, down, up, up, down) and ask your
child to extend the pattern.


Understanding and
Managing Data

• Sort household items. As your child puts away their toys or
clothing, discuss which items should go together and why.
Show your child how you organize food items in the fridge –
fruit together, vegetables together, drinks on one shelf, etc.
Encourage your child to sort other household items such as
crayons by color.
• Make a weather graph. Have your child draw pictures on a
calendar to record each day's weather. At the end of the
month, make a picture graph showing how many sunny days,
cloudy days, and rainy days there were in that month.
• Make a food chart. Create a chart to record the number of
apples, oranges, bananas, and other fruit your family eats each
day. At the end of the month, have your child count the number
of pieces of each type of fruit eaten. Ask which fruit was eaten
the most/least.
• Talk about the likelihood of events. Discuss why you never

do some things (swim outside in January). Ask your child if it's
likely to snow today. Is it likely that a pig will fly in the air?


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Family Games that Use
Kindergarten
Mathematical Skills
Many card games require counting and score

keeping.
Dice games and dominos help kids learn to
quickly recognize groups of dots from 2 to 12. Also
use dice to practice counting on. For example if a
4 is rolled, have your child start counting from the
number 4.
Play board games that involve counting squares,
such as Chutes and Ladders.
Tic Tac Toe and Connect Four build recognition
of rows of 3 and 4 counters.
Mancala.


Children’s Literature

with Mathematical
Concepts

• See the attachment for a list of
children’s literature that supports
the mathematical concepts your
child will be learning in
Kindergarten.


Mathematical Websites
for Kindergartners
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References
• Dreambox Learning. (2012). Parent
Tips to Support Kindergarten Math
Learning Fun at Home. Retrieved
from
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