Counting Made Fun...
Counting pretty flowers they find....
Every thing my children do in life I consider a form of schooling. I am one of those people who can make a life lesson out of anything and a school lesson out of everything. It sure pays off in the end. My children have a love of learning just as I do, one that will last a lifetime.
Counting berries they picked......
Here is a fun but effective way to teach your preschoolers how to count. Not only will they be learning to count but they will also get a good dose of exercise in the process. We have a small re-bounder in our home but you can use one of those larger trampolines outside. If you don't have either one of them be creative.
Counting bird foot prints in the sand....
You can have the child do jumping jacks on the grass as they count jumps, be sure to laugh because learning is fun you know!!! You can have the child swing on a swing and they can either count how many times they pump their legs in and out or they can swing with you and count how many times you both go back and forth. If you don't want to do any of those you can have the child go pick clovers or flowers and they count how many they pick. How about playing tag and counting how many trees they see while they are outside hiding. The ideas are absolutely endless. Use your creativity and ask your child to come up with some ideas too. Children just love to help and they love to count! We have large pieces of sidewalk chalk and the girls just love to count them as they hand them out.
Counting the stickers they earned on their
scripture memory verse chart....
Learning to count is so fun. We laugh, they laugh and we have such great, great fun. Learning is surely a blast it should never be boring or mundane. Never make learning a stressful time because you want your children to WANT to learn and to NEVER dread it. Go slow with your preschoolers, don't push them, they will let you know what they are ready for and how much is too much. I never had a love for learning until I realized how enjoyable learning could truly be!
As your little ones first begin to count it really is quite funny to hear them count from 7, 8, 11, down to 5 you cannot help but laugh. They are having so much fun and you it is easy to simply get them back to whatever number it is they were on. Their siblings are always right there very willing to help and anxiously waiting their turn.a
Another fun idea is you can get some carob covered raisins, baby carrots, nuts, grapes, seeds or sweet peas, as I said use your imagination. I lay a small pile of the raisins out in front of each child. One child at a time will count out a pile of ten loudly. They have to do this twice. One pile is for them and the other pile is for their sibling.
In our family whoever divides or splits something has to let the other person choose which pile or half they want. By doing this it holds the person who split things accountable to do things fairly or they lose out. We have found it to be a very effective method in our home.
Now after the preschooler has counted out the raisins into the two piles the other sibling chooses a pile. They too have to recount the pile to see if it has the right number of raisins. If it was counted incorrectly it is up to the two of them to problem solve how many need to be added or how many need to be taken away. Once the two preschoolers have two piles of ten then they are allowed to eat them. My children are so very sweet!! They stay good hearted through the lesson and nobody gets mad or hurt and they never feel cheated. They are on a mission and are determined to get it right so that they can eat their pile thing lol. The cute thing is they have to work as a team to get both piles right before anyone gets to eat anything and they do so with a good natured attitude! So fun!
Raisins are also very good for them so is the carob so it is a healthy snack they are getting as a reward as they are learning math. Like I said you can use anything, baby carrots, grapes, purple ones or green nuts etc. Use your creativity. They sell healthy versions of M&M's put out by Sunspire in the health food store. Not only will they learn to count but they can also learn colors. Learning options are endless. Do the same thing with shapes.
Use your creativity and share with us all some of your wonderful ideas!I It is so fun to do with them and they will never find school boring, I promise!
Dearest Lord, Thank you for the opportunity to teach my children at home. Some mothers are not as fortunate to have that opportunity. Therefore they do not get to spend as much time with their children at home as others. That doesn't stop the you though Lord. You give us ways to teach our children during those times that we are home with them! Enjoyable fun times of learning together, ones that our children will flourish from and ones that we will grow an unspeakable bond with them. Thank you precious Lord, thank you! In Jesus name I pray, Amen~
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