Preschool Math
Teaching preschoolers math can be fun! Learn how to incorporate math learning into every day life. Find resources for free worksheets and math games for preschoolers.
Preschool Math Teaching Tips & Ideas
How to Teach Math in Preschool
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.
Preparing for Preschool Math
Preschoolers do math even though they are not sitting at desks with workbooks or memorizing multiplication tables. Preschool math helps them make sense of the world around them and teaches them to reason and problem-solve. Teachers of preschool math build on children's prior knowledge and capitalize on their spontaneous discoveries to further their understanding of mathematical concepts.
Simple Tips for Summer Math Learning
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.
Everyday math play in preschool
As adults, we can tend to over-think how to go about teaching math to young children but promoting mathematical thinking and basic math concepts can come through all kinds of simple hands-on activities. Here are some of great math activities to integrate into your homeschool.
Math for Preschoolers: More Than Just Counting
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.
Developmental Milestones for Preschool Mathematics
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.
Mathematics in the Preschool
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.
Preschool Math--Counting by Tens/Odds and Evens
This youtube video demonstrates some great strategies to help preschoolers learn counting by tens and odd and even numbers.
Let's Play Math!
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.
Choosing Preschool and Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum
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 Math: Exploring Patterns
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.
Way to Learn Math Naturally
These are ideas and strategies to incorporate math learning into everyday life.
Kindergarten Math
Simple approaches to teaching math for preschoolers and kindergarteners in the home environment.
Preschool Practice: Shapes and Colors
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.
Mathematics in Pre-K
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.
Math Play: How Young Children Approach Math
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.
Early Math Matters: A Guide for Parents of Preschoolers
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.
Instill a Love of Math
Parents are bombarded with messages to read with their children, but it’s rare to hear about the importance of doing math with them. Here are some helpful tips on why and how to instill a love of math in your children.
Board, Card and Dice Games for Learning Math, Logic and Strategy
This list is a great start to incorporating fun activities and games into your homeschool math curriculum.
Homeschool Math
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 Games and Activities
8 Hands-On Number Activities for Kids
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.
Pre-K Mathematics Activities
This 49 page pdf file contains scores of activities to teach math concepts to preschoolers.
Let's Count! Learning Numbers in Multiple Ways
This great video shows different activities that can be used to teach young children how to count.
Play to Learn - Numbers and Counting
Here are some helpful activities to learn number recognition, counting and writing for your preschooler.
Handprint Measuring and Number Lines
A simple activity to teach measuring and number lines. Easy to put together and understand.
Math Songs
These cute math songs help young children learn about addition, money, time, and skip counting.
Math Games and Activities for Preschoolers
Great and creative ideas for reinforcing counting and numbers.
Preschool Math: Teaching Numbers Greater than 10
How to make a homemade version of the Montessori seguin board, a board with lots of 10s in a column.
JumpStart Math Activities
When it comes to math, a good foundation is essential. With these fun math activities for kids, numbers become friends and the basic foundation for the subject is established at an early age. Different math activities for kids of different age groups can be effective in teaching them basic but essential math concepts.
Here are some interesting grade-based math activities that parents and teachers can use to make math a whole lot of fun!
7 Fun Ways to Learn Numbers Through Play
Enjoy these activities that introduce number concepts and active learning through play.
Easter Egg Matching Activity
This matching activity for younger kids can be made out of plastic Easter eggs.
Board, Card and Dice Games for Learning Math, Logic and Strategy
This list is a great start to incorporating fun activities and games into your homeschool math curriculum.
Early Maths with The 3 Bears: Fun Counting and Grouping Activity
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.
5 Great Pre-K Math Activities
Giving children a foundation to build number sense is very important. Learning might as well be fun to help kids build a great outlook on math, as they grow older. Here are five fun Pre-K math activities that build number recognition and counting skills.
Coin Poems
These fun printables feature poems to help young children learn the value of coins.
Preschool and Kindergarten Math Games
These math games are designed for ages 4 and 5. Here you'll find pattern matching, counting games, and shape games.
Adding Fun
With just a few inexpensive supplies, you can make this simple adding activity for your preschooler.
Pom Pom Math Activities
These fun math games help encourage counting and color matching using pom poms.
Free Printable Ten Frame Cards
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.
Lego Challenge Math Activity-Free Printable
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!
Homeschool Preschool Math Curriculum
Numbers Plus - Preschool Mathematics Curriculum
The Numbers Plus Preschool Mathematics Curriculum is a comprehensive set of detailed plans for small- and large-group early childhood mathematics activities, with ideas for extending learning throughout the program day. What’s special about Numbers Plus is that children’s mathematical learning is sequenced within activities — each activity has a built-in progression so children of different developmental and ability levels can participate together and have a positive and meaningful learning experience. By actively engaging young children with materials and ideas, Numbers Plus builds on the latest knowledge from research and practice about early mathematics learning and how adults support it.
Mad Dog Math
Mad Dog Math is a fun, exciting, motivating, and challenging supplement to any math curriculum. They've taken the basic facts and broken them down into bite-sized pieces that any child can master.
A child progresses through a series of timed drills at his own pace.
Math on the Level
Math on the Level is a flexible, maturation-based, homeschool math curriculum with a very effective review system. It's unique approach is designed to turn your home environment into a rich, real-life learning experience and make math education meaningful and fun for your whole family.
- Teach when it is easy for your child to learn
- Use everyday activities to make math real
- Review for long term retention without busywork
JumpStart Free Preschool Curriculum
Preschool is a time of rapid growth and development. While the preschool curriculum is designed keeping in mind the physical and intellectual developmental characteristics of 2 – 5 year olds, there are certain milestones that most preschoolers should achieve before they begin kindergarten.
Professor B Math
Professor B Math delivers world-class mathematics and national precedents by means of a unique perspective on children's real gifts for learning mathematics.
RightStart Mathematics
RightStart Mathematics uses the AL Abacus to provide a visual, auditory, and kinesthetic experience. The elementary and intermediate program lessons guide the teacher day-by-day and year-by-year, helping children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics. The RishtStart Mathematics homeschool program is set up with levels, rather than grades, so that your child can begin at the proper level and advance at their own pace.
Making Math Meaningful
Making Math Meaningful is a wonderful beginning. It lays the strong foundation for understanding math. Every concept is introduced with a simple conversation (which is provided for you) using math manipulatives. You are spending quality time with your children talking about each math concept.
The conversations are simple. The activities are easy to do. The lesson plans tell you exactly what you are to do and what you are to say. Perfect for the busy mom.
There are no seminars to attend and no videos to watch! Simply pull the book from the shelf and start teaching. Each child has his own student workbook. Levels K through 4 give you a written script to teach each concept and skill. Levels 5 and 6 and Algebra are written directly to your child. Your child will simply pull the book from the shelf and teach himself.
There is no easier math manipulative program for mom.
Ray's Arithmetic
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.
ABC Mouse Homeschool Early Learning Academy
The ABCmouse.com Homeschool Early Learning Academy offers these features:
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- 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
Key to...Workbooks
Give your students the keys to math-skill mastery! These self-paced, self-guided workbooks—covering topics from fractions and decimals to algebra and geometry—motivate students and build their confidence with bite-size, easy-to-follow lessons. With Key to…® workbooks, you can customize curriculum for individual learners. Included in the series are: Fractions, Decimals, Percents, Measurement, Metric Measurement, Algebra, and Geometry.
Preschool Math Worksheets and Printables
Free Printable Ten Frame Cards
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.
Making Learning Fun Math Ideas
Fun and free printables that are great for preschoolers. These activities make learning fun!
Preschool Math Printables
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.
Preschool Math Worksheets and Printables
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.
Homeschool Math
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.
Lego Challenge Math Activity-Free Printable
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!
Featured Resources
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Kingdom of Children : Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)
More than one million American children are schooled by their parents. As their ranks grow, home schoolers are making headlines by winning national spelling bees and excelling at elite universities. The few studies conducted suggest that homeschooled children are academically successful and remarkably well socialized. Yet we still know little about this alternative to one of society's most fundamental institutions. Beyond a vague notion of children reading around the kitchen table, we don't know...
Please Don't Drink the Holy Water
Susie Lloyd faces the trials and joy of raising a happy, active Catholic family.
Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child's Education
In this book, Raymond and Dorothy Moore look at the research behind learning styles for children. The message of slowing down and responding to your child's readiness is a welcome contrast to the common practice of pushing young children through the system. They conclude that the best environment for children to learn is at home.
The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason believed that children need to be trained to see, to have their eyes opened, in order to find joy in life. This work explains the value of using the method of writing in journals or notebooks, as derived from the expansive work of Charlotte Mason. You'll find tips to help your children practice putting their knowledge, thoughts, and pictures down on paper, helping them to retain information better, create something beautiful, and strive for retention.
Classical Education & The Home School
Classical education is an idea whose time has come again. When parents see the failures of modern education, they look for better solutions and classical education is one that has been tested in the past and found to be good. For the Christian home educator, the classical education model is a path to joy and success.