Math Tools

With over 300 food items for our can drive, we are preparing the children for calculating a large amount of objects by using math tools in many situations this week. We presented a counting problem to our children during circle. After displaying some plastic food, the children suggested using a hundreds chart to help organize and accurately count the number in the collection.

 

They carefully placed each object on the hundreds chart...

 

...and were able to tell with every piece what number we were at.

 

When the chart was filled the children realized we had over a hundred items! We lined them up next to the chart to come up with a final count.

On a different day we asked the children to again help us count a large quantity of little vehicles. Our rule was we couldn't count them and couldn't use a hundreds chart. One child knew that 10 ten frames was the same as a hundreds chart, so we placed them on these instead.

We are going to continue to challenge our children by using large numbers. 10 frames and hundreds charts can be easily found online and printed. Why don't you consider counting some collections at your house using these strategies?