Love Learning

A right-brained way to teach young children to count

We hear from parents on a regular basis who have children that struggle to recognize numbers and count. One way that numbers are traditionally taught is to display a chart of 100 numbers in rows of ten and count that chart daily. Repetition over many passes through that chart will eventually work… most of the time. However, there is a much more effective way to get this done, especially when teaching a beginner.

Basic philosophy

• We believe that if a child is attracted to learning, learning will happen! If the task is boring and drab, results will be mixed. So what attracts the brain to learn? Patterns, color, hooks for learning, story, and all those right-brained teaching elements which are so underutilized in traditional classrooms!

• Memorization and drill is the least effective way for children to take in and remember knowledge.

• Telling children what you want them to know is the least effective way to impart knowledge. Instead, attract them to the learning process through fun, humor, color, play, puzzles to solve, and novelty.

• If we utilize the giftedness of the child, results will be remarkable; especially if we use their built-in mental camera, then snap! They have it!

The tools

We have a brand new set of books Right-Brained Addition & Subtraction, Right-Brained Place Value (new editions to be released in March of 2013), and Right-Brained Multiplication & Division. These books arrange all the left-brained factoids in right-brained elements for ease of delivery to the brains of these lovely right-brained learners. As part of the new editions of these books, we have created playing cards that reinforce and provide practice while providing a fun experience.

Here is a good strategy for teaching a young child to count that you can do today:

    1. Download 5Frame, print it, and cut out the charts and tape end to end to make a chart long enough to accommodate 100 numbers (or as many numbers as you want).

    2. Write the numbers in the boxes. You can take turns with your child to keep this from being a tedious activity that makes their hand tired; alternately you may write all the numbers in yourself.

    3. Supply the child with crayons or markers to use for color-coding.

    4. Do pattern discovery together. Point out that in each column, a pattern emerges when we look in the 1’s place and also in the 10’s place. The child might want to choose five light-colored crayons to use for color-coding. In the first column she could draw a line straight down from the 1 in the top, left box that connects the 1, 6, 1, 6, 1, 6 that appears in the 1’s place. In column 2, the pattern in the 1’s place becomes 2, 7, 2, 7, 2, 7, etc.

    5. After color-coding, practice counting together as you or your child point to each number you say.

    6. Sometimes the teens cause problems. You may snatch an idea from our stylized numbers and make the 1 in each of the numbers from 13-19 into a “teen” – a stick figure teenager. So when you count those numbers, you would point to the number in the 1’s place first and then finish by pointing to the teenager.

    7. When you come to the infamous numbers, 20, 30, 40, 50 and so on, consider using the visual of a tea cup and share with your child that the beginning of those numbers sound a whole lot like the numbers they are used to counting already!

Visual of the tea cup:

 

You could actually copy the tea cup and paste them in place by the numbers for which you need that reminder. See the illustration on the left.

From this point forward, when you practice counting, use your 5-Chart to be the visual reminder of the numbers. Before long, your child will be able to count independently of the chart and the visuals. Note that this same chart can help him learn to count by 5’s and 10’s!

Beyond Memorization: How to teach math concepts memorably

I did horribly in arithmetic when I was very young. For many years I thought it was because I just had no math ability, but a decade or so ago, I realized the issue was not with my brain, but rather with the fact that math is usually taught in a way that requires a lot of memorization. And while I historically have done okay with short-term memorization, for long term recall and actual use of the math concepts, memorization just doesn’t work for me. I have learned in the interim that if I truly want to save a lot of time and frustration, rather than trying to just remember something, I need to make myself a hook of some kind (most of the time a visual hook) so that recall is automatic.

Two effective teaching tools:

Using hooks in teaching is incredibly important when teaching right-brain-dominant children, or what we might call visual or kinesthetic learners, or even children who have been labeled with a disability of some kind. Another very important concept that makes learning more meaningful is to teach a concept in context and apply it to as many different scenarios as possible.

For instance, let’s take the concepts of “whole,” “half,” and “quarter.” When I hear those terms I immediately think of their relationship to fractions. But rather than just teach fraction concepts, let’s see how we can use those terms across the board.

Teach the concept of “whole”:

Park on this concept until you are positive your child grasps the meaning behind the word. Use the term in conversation, not just when you are teaching math. You might say something like, “I see you ate the whole thing!” Or “I don’t think we need to slice the whole loaf of bread for dinner.” Or “I will bet the four of you can eat the whole pizza.” Or “I will give you a whole dollar for your allowance after you rake the leaves.” Or while looking at an analog clock face, “It takes the minute hand a whole hour to go all the way around the face of the clock – starting at 12:00 and ending back at 12:00.”

Teach the concept of “half”:

Along with helping your child get a rough idea of what “half” means, also introduce the idea that “half” means EQUAL parts. Half can be a really fun concept to teach in or out of the classroom! Give your child a paper clock face and help him or her divide it in half by folding carefully at 12:00 and 6:00. Draw a line on the fold, and then ask him or her to color HALF of the clock face. Say that this is half an hour.

Another idea is to select a pair of socks and identify one sock as half of the pair.

You might also share a bowl of grapes between you, using two smaller bowls, one for each of you, and meticulously divide the whole bowl of grapes evenly  in half by saying, “One for you and one for me…” until all the grapes are divided into the two smaller bowls in equal number.

Another idea is to show your child how to get half a sheet of paper by folding it carefully in half, creasing the fold, and then carefully cutting on the crease. He or she could finish the activity by drawing a picture of a daytime activity on one half of the sheet, representing the daylight half of a day, and a nighttime activity on the other half sheet of paper to represent the dark half of a whole day.

You might also take your child shopping and tell him or her that you have a whole dollar that you are going to share with him or her. Each of you will have half a dollar. Take the time to find two half dollar coins to exchange for the dollar bill.

Teach the concept of “quarter”:

Go back to your paper clock face and this time after you fold it on the 12:00 to 6:00 line, fold it again so that you now have a quarter of a clock face. Unfold the clock face and point out the fold lines. Say, “The clock has four quarters!” Ask your child to color each quarter a different color. With the clock face to one side, lay a dollar bill on the table. Put two half dollars under it, and then take four quarters and show that while the 50 cent pieces are half of a dollar, 2 quarters make up two halves of a 50 cent coin and a quarter of a whole dollar.

Relate the quarters to the clock face your child colored by placing one quarter of a dollar on each quarter of an hour.

This concept of quarters can carry over to the activity of dividing a whole bowl of grapes into quarters – by counting equal numbers into four small bowls.

Show a quarter of a pizza next time you have one, or cut a pancake or a pie into quarters. The options are unlimited.

Another fun idea would be to carry these ideas into measurement using rice or water and measuring cups. If you have access to a sand box, take the measuring cups and bowls out there to practice whole, half, and quarter.

Most of all, have fun! This will ensure your child loves learning!

Teach numbers the easy way using brain-friendly tools

My long time motto is “work smarter, not harder.” So, instead of traditional ways (which I personally am allergic to) of teaching everything from numbers to reading, I insist on using images, body movement, rhythm, rhyme, story, color, patterns, and hands-on games to make learning happen. I mean really, if I am going to take a trip and I have a deadline, when choosing my route, it comes down to…

simply choosing between this:                                                 or this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It all depends on whether my desire is to reach my goal, or to build a lot of muscles in my legs that I probably won’t ever use again.

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The superhighway to learning numbers

We can teach number recognition, number concepts, counting, sequencing, computation, etc., the traditional (boring) way, or we can change it up and use the superhighway to learning: the combination of brain-friendly elements I mentioned in the first paragraph.

We have some great tools for you to use when it is time to teach all about numbers and how to use them.

Here is the starting point

You can sing your way through the numbers to 10 with babies and up. The book is hardcover and has colorful images that tie the symbol to the name, and also give you things to count in the picture.

And next, count to 20

We have two new options for teaching the numbers to 20. One is a poster and the other are 8.5” x 11” Teaching Cards to download and print.

Each image is fun and colorful… and funny!

Both resources include a jingle that holds hands with the image to help a child be unable to forget the number, its name, and what it looks like.

 

Here are close-ups of three numbers on the chart

“1 is a thin man standing up straight.” 

See that there is one boy, one cap, one ball, one cute orange snake. One eye shows, one nose, one mouth. He even has one sleeve. Wow! There is a lot opportunity to practice counting!

 

“5 has a tummy too big to hide!”

And he also has five jets behind his head, five enormous keys dangling over five jaunty earthworms crawling away from five happy flowers.

 

For 15 of course, we repurpose the first two numbers which are now familiar to your little ones.

“15’s keys are really clean.”

Notice in 15 that you have three groups of five that make 15. You have the chance to sneak in some preparatory visual info for the multiplication fact 3 x 5 = 15!

Once children have their numbers to 20 down pat, you can move on into formal computation. But are we going to revert to traditional boring stuff? NO. We have books for that!

Just remember if you find yourself at the crossroads and you have to choose something to use to teach numbers, think “Superhighway… or tire track going straight uphill?” Choose well and your kiddos will love learning!

Teaching Math Facts Using a Visual Approach

A customer recently shared: "Thank you for the coupon (607INTRO). I have ordered the Snapword cards and they are unbelievable. My first grader learned his words after going through them one time by himself. We've done through "C" Snapwords and will be starting the "D" set soon. I only wish you had cards like those for his math addition and subtraction facts. We're struggling in this area. I think if he embeds the picture and story with the number it will help him. We'll see. Can't wait to get started. Thanks for all your wonderful products."

Our reply was...

We're so happy that your first grader is doing so well with the sight word cards! As far as math goes, we have three math books that teach math facts using a visual approach. One is Addition & Subtraction, another is Place Value, and a third is Right-Brained Multiplication & Division. These provide the same strong foundation for math that the SnapWords cards do for reading... all with a visual approach!

How to Make Learning Numbers Easy and Fun for Young Children

Any concept that is based on symbols will present a problem for some children. Especially for the very young who don’t have a burning desire to learn numbers, letters or words, enticing them into learning these concepts works so much better than the plain ole’ way we have always taught them.

In addition, when we teach these important foundational concepts, the more we target multiple regions in the brain at one time, the bigger the chance that learning will occur and that learning will be permanent.

So, what we’ve done with our numbers 1-20 is pretty exciting! We designed a poster that you can display at home or in the classroom. The numbers are stylized like our SnapWords™ are; each number has a line of text that helps to tie the image to the name of the number… well, instead of going on and on using words, let me just SHOW you!

Here is the full poster:

Notice that the numbers are arrayed in lines of 5 numbers, so that the patterns emerge as you go down each column. There is the column of 1, 6, 1, 6, of 2, 7, 2, 7, etc. This design makes it easy to teach skip counting by 5’s and 10’s. Later you can show the children that if you add 5 to any number, the answer will be directly below the first number. Ex: 8 + 5 = 13, which is found directly beneath the 8. If you add 10 to any number, you will find the answer 2 rows below. See 8 + 10 = 18, which is 2 rows below the 8. You can also show, rather than tell that when adding 10 to any number, you just put a 1 in front of the original number. SO many cool learning experiences will present themselves!

Now for some close-ups:

Here is the image for 4. 

 Here are the images for 8, 13 and 16.

When you are enjoying the numbers together, have your child(ren) sky-write the numbers as they stand up and involve their whole bodies in the activity. Something like this:

It works really well to have the child(ren) first sky write the number, involving their whole bodies, and then run to the table to write what their body did on paper or whiteboard with marker.

The numbers 1-10 are found in our new book I Can Sing from 1-10 and in our first Kid Friendly Math book: Addition & Subtraction. If you utilize these tools for teaching, I promise, your children will love learning!

Help Your Children Have a Ball with Multiplication and Division

We have a new resource out that makes learning multiplication and division facts fun and easy. It is called Right-Brained Multiplication & Division: a Forget Memorization Book. For children who memorize and don’t seem to retain the facts in the long term, or who struggle to memorize and retain the facts even for a few minutes, why not abandon this frustration and go to a method that makes learning stick? It is common knowledge that images and stories act like glue to carry otherwise dull facts into a child’s brain. Using images and stories and body movement also reaches out to several regions in the brain at one time, making the likelihood of learning and recall very high.

Consider this: You can attack the x7 table with your child or your students and struggle through the dry facts, hoping that the facts will somehow stick to their brains OR you can take those facts and embed them in images and then attach a storyline that explains why those particular numbers are used. The story behind the images below is that the Seven Brothers decided to sell balloons. The day was very windy, so turnout was not great and they sold nothing at all. The next day, however, a couple came back (Mr. 5 and Mrs. 6). The wind had died down and Mrs. 6 saw a beautiful pink and orange balloon she felt she simply had to have! In fact she liked the balloon so much she bought two. One she carried in her hand, and the other she tucked into her purse for another time.

Oh, and by the way...

The next day, Mrs. 6 decided to go for a sail and for the occasion, she dressed up with her yellow shoes, pink purse and scarf and off she went with her two balloons! Our final chapter in the book has only one single fact the children have not learned to date (the other facts for this table have been learned with other times tables). Here is the fact that remains: 8x8=64.

 

See inside Right-Brained Multiplication & Division.

Snag a copy for yourself!

 

Hands-on activities and practice problems complete with answer key make teaching easy for the adult! 123 full-color pages.

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Parent review:

MARVELOUS!!!!! We just started using this book last week, and we have had wonderful success so far! My 2nd and 3rd graders actually look forward to math now...which is totally amazing because they have always "hated" math! This is definitely money well spent...especially for kids who are right-brained and/or don't enjoy memorizing math facts! :D

At Last! Math for Visual & Other Right-Brained Learners

We are at last expanding our focus to include math resources especially designed for visual, active, right-brained learners. We’ve carried three books in the Kid Friendly series for five years now, and while our intent for some time has been to publish up-to-date versions of these books as well as add supplemental products, we felt it was critical to focus on reading as a first priority.

Because, after all, let's face it: while math is a critically important subject, if children cannot read, they won’t be able to read math problems or science texts, or decipher social studies lessons…you catch my drift. While we are not slacking off in our continued development of reading resources, we are so happy and proud to announce that we’re also beginning to focus on math in a more concentrated way.

WHY MATH?

During my early years (meaning all the years before age 22), math and I were not particularly friends. I often said “I’m not good at math,” which meant specifically that I did poorly and also did not like it. It is really hard to like something you do poorly in. In grade school I usually failed every math quiz; as a high school student I could cram for a quiz enough to make an A or a B, but I did not retain what I had learned after the quiz was over and I left the classroom. It was as though someone took a big soapy sponge and wiped my brain clean of anything that contained numbers or equations. I blamed my brain and its shortcomings.

What I did not understand is that I—as a right-brained learner—have a superior memory for visuals or any information, actually, that I am able to make links to memory for. These links could be a jingle, a discovered pattern, a body motion that had become automatic, and so forth. After college it took me a very long time to voluntarily sign up for a math class and when I did, it was because I had to. I had to either take the teaching of math courses or not complete a graduate degree in teaching. I cannot recall dreading anything more.

WHAT I LEARNED

What I came to realize during those classes was so eye-opening. I learned that math and numbers are fascinating. Oh, not the way I’d been taught math, but once I started noticing them, the patterns I found in numbers were so engaging. I already knew that I could not memorize, but I came to understand this in a much deeper way. Beyond that, I realized that just memorizing facts or equations would not help me know how to apply what I had “learned” in various situations. It was far too abstract. I suppose that other people might think in numbers like I think in pictures.

During graduate school I began to explore how to teach little kids with brains like mine to learn to read and to love math. Over time an approach has evolved that makes so much sense to right-brained learners. It is the practice of taking left-brained facts (such as I before E, or 1+1=2, or that 3x3x3 is written as 3³) and embedding them in right-brained elements such as visuals and so forth. The research I have done with these approaches has demonstrated just how highly effective this practice is with those who naturally learn best through right-brained teaching methods.

NEW RESOURCES

So, back to Child1st beginning to create more math materials for visual and other right- brained learners...We’ve started with a book called Right-Brained Multiplication & Division: a Forget Memorization Book because learning these facts is onerous for so many children. The book is packed with color, fact families are embedded in images, stories explain the visuals, and explanations of procedures use color-coding to make it easy to see at a glance the relationships between numbers and what happens to those numbers when you multiply or divide them.

Rather than memorizing, children are able to store the visuals and the stories and recall them intact when they need them. The hands-on activities deepen the action in math and the processes that are taking place. The right-brained elements act as the glue that cements these facts in memory and as hooks that pull those facts out when the child needs them. If you have a child who glazes over when it is time to learn a new multiplication table, I'd encourage you to grab a copy of Right-Brained Multiplication & Division. You will see a big difference in your child’s engagement and long-term knowledge of the facts!

Tips for Helping Active and Spatial Children Remember Numbers and Other Abstract Concepts

The reason I so clearly identify with our visual/spatial and active learners is because I am one of them myself…albeit a middle-aged version. How these children learn and remember are not just things I have studied; I live them, so they're very real to me.

There is a particular four-digit number that factors into a lot of our paperwork at home. Because I tend to do much of our paperwork, it is incumbent upon me to learn and remember this number. It is a number my husband came up with, has no trouble remembering, and has patiently reminded me of more times than I can count. Something really interesting having to do with this number happened the other day. I needed it in order to unlock a keypad, so once again I asked him for the four digit number.

That time, because I keyed it in on a number pad, I was able to remember it. If you were to ask me what the number is, however, I would first have to visualize the keypad and then because of the shape of the movement as I keyed in the four digits, I would be able to tell you that number. The significance of this to our understanding of how visual/spatial and kinesthetic children learn and remember is huge.

I still cannot memorize a random string of numbers, but I can remember a number forever if I have seen its shape on a keypad. I remember the layout visually, and I can see the shape the sequence of numbers makes. I have visualized a body motion that mirrors that shape.

Here is the keypad:

Say the number I need to remember is 2139. The shape that number makes on this keypad is a backwards L.

And this is the hand motion I attach to that number:

The knuckle on the thumb represents the starting point or the 2. I then go to the tip of my thumb, then to the base of my thumb and finally to the tip of my pointer finger. Voila. Never to be forgotten.

If you happen to bump into me in the airport, just ask me for the number and I will now be able to tell you!

So what does all this have to do with children and learning and remembering? Simply that it's easy as parents and teachers to spend a lot of time beating our heads against a brick wall telling and reminding, and drilling, and flashing cards…to no avail. What often happens when trying to teach an active children through drill and verbal instruction is that we become frustrated and the child winds up feeling a bit dim and very discouraged.

So, taking this to the practical level, what are some ways to utilize the visual/spatial and kinesthetic learner’s strengths in learning? Here are some ideas:

1.    Relate the concept to the child’s body whenever possible. For instance, when teaching a child how to correctly form letters of the alphabet, ground the various letters to her body. The capital E is her upright form, with the top bar being a table coming out of the top of her head, the middle bar being a table that comes from her belly button, and the lowest bar being a table that comes out of her feet. Capital K is her upright body, her arm and leg extended to make the slanting lines. (See Writing the Visual, Kinesthetic, and Auditory Alphabet for more alphabet ideas.)

2.    Use the child’s hands to mimic the ideas they are learning. A powerful tool in learning sums to 10 is the child’s own pair of hands. Sums to 5 of course can be done on one hand.

The illustration above is taken from Kid Friendly Computation: Addition & Subtraction. When a child maps out the sums to 5 on his own hand, he is seeing the sums as tangible objects (his own fingers). He is feeling the pull of his fingers as he makes the sums, and his mind will tie those facts to what he felt and saw on his own body.

3.    Use a visual as often as possible. Oh I say this every day, don’t I? But visuals are so powerful, and for children who are visual/spatial, supplying them with a visual that is directly embedded in their learning is magical.

4.    Basically for anything a child would simply need to memorize, find another way to link learning to memory. It is what we do at Child1st; what we are here for. If you need ideas for teaching difficult concepts, feel free to comment below or email me at info@child-1st.com. I'd love to chat with you!

New Math Materials in Progress....and the Rationale Behind Everything We Do

We're currently working on expanding our line of math materials, starting with a new book about Multiplication and Division. I wanted to share the introduction to the book with you as it tells both about this upcoming product as well as the rationale behind all the materials we make. So here it is!

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The purpose for writing this book is to appeal to children who are strongly visual, who need hooks for remembering math facts, and who need to understand the process behind each math problem they solve. Child1st teaching and learning resources all follow the pattern of conveying learning pieces using a variety of right-brain-friendly elements. We take learning tidbits that utilize symbols and abstractions, which are left brained, and embed them in right brained elements that beautifully integrate the left and right hemispheres in the brain.

Right brained elements:

1- We embed symbols in VISUALS so that the child can take a quick look and absorb the learning piece which will be stored as a visual to be retrieved intact later.
 
2- We use PERSONIFICATION which is a powerful element in teaching and learning. The use of personification makes for rapid learning because the very look and personality of the character conveys the substance of the learning. For example, Mr. Zero with his circular body, bouffant hair style, his leer, and his magic wand will be an unforgettable visual reminder that when a child multiplies or divides by Zero, the magic wand will slash the air and the number will be transformed into a zero. POOSH! Instant learning!

3- We rely on PATTERN DISCOVERY as a way of making numbers come alive and as a means of conveying the amazing relationships between numbers. What results is number sense. I was rendered nearly comatose when I was a child and had to “do arithmetic.” Math was dryer than sawdust to me. It was not until I was preparing for teaching math in the classroom (ME? Teach math? You are joking, right?) that I began to play with arrays of numbers and became fascinated by them - because the brain is a pattern seeking organ. It is my desire that through this teaching resource, many children who are overwhelmed or daunted by math might come to truly be fascinated by it instead.

4- We use STORY to contain the meaning of what we are teaching in math. Stories, like visuals, make learning unforgettable. They explain the “why” behind math concepts, and tie everything together making a vehicle for meaning and for recall.

5- We use BODY MOTION - both gesture and whole body movement. Some of the movement includes clapping and chanting, some is acting out the story of the individual table. Again, body movement is a powerful agent for learning and remembering. For many people, body motion makes recall effortless if the learning piece is directly tied to a unique motion.

Read more about the philosophy behind Child1st materials.

Teaching with Body Movement Results in Enriched Learning Experiences

I can still remember when educators were beginning to talk about using movement in lessons as a way of enhancing learning for active children. The first night of a graduate class, the instructor invited us all out into the hallway. Our introduction to each other was an activity that was also meant to show us the value of using movement when learning new material. The theory was that if we did a body movement during the process of learning each others’ names, we would more easily acquire the names of our classmates. We stood in a circle and one by one we introduced ourselves. Once we’d been around the circle once and everyone had said their name, the instructor produced a ball and gave it to a lady. She was supposed to bounce the ball to another class member and say their name at the same time. The bouncee was to then become the bouncer, bouncing the ball to another member of the class while saying his name. This went on for a while. Finally, our instructor stopped the exercise and had several members of the circle see if they could accurately name every class member. Everyone was very pleased with the exercise.

Another activity was aimed at showing us how movement can help active learners learn high frequency words. A student laboriously cut out a stack of footprints from construction paper and wrote a sight word on each paper foot. Then she arranged the feet into a long path down the corridor. The game was played by asking a child to hop on each paper foot and simultaneously say each word as he hopped on it.

In many classrooms, active children are encouraged to bounce quietly on big balls while studying, or are allowed to swing their feet while doing their seatwork. We do understand that movement is helpful to many children, but is it just moving that helps? Or is it most helpful when movement is specific to the material being learned?

What the activities I described above have in common is that the body movement for each part of the lesson is exactly the same. When we bounced the ball during our learning-each-others’-names activity, the bounces were identical. In hopping-on-paper-feet, each word received a similar hop.

What I would like to explore is whether or not our students would gain far more if they were encouraged to mimic their learning with body movement. When learning the word JUMP, for instance, if the child sees the word and jumps as she reads it, she is reinforcing the meaning of the word with her whole body. Later, when she sees the word JUMP, she will likely make a little hop in place, and most certainly she will remember not only what the word says, but what it means. She will have absorbed the meaning of the word in her body in multiple regions: eyes, ears, and whole body. Gesture or body movement that reflects the concept being learned will deepen the meaning for the child, show that he understands the concept, and become a means of recalling that concept later.

Let’s look at some other examples. When teaching the meaning of addition, you could print the following equation on paper in a large size:

                        4 + 3 =

Have the child point with her left pointer finger to the 4 and to the 3 with her right hand pointer finger. When you say “Four PLUS three,” have the child move her pointer fingers towards each other, signifying the numbers will come together and combine to make a new, bigger number.

                        7 - 3 =

In the subtraction equation above, again have the child point to each number with pointer fingers of each hand. Say, “Seven minus three” and when you do, have the child move his right pointer finger decidedly to the right to signify that the 3 is going away from the seven, leaving a new, smaller number.

The ÷ sign can be acted out in a way that helps the child understand the action of division. Put 10 round plastic math counters on the table. Look at the problem 10 ÷ 2 = and push the counters into two groups. You can then have the child draw an imaginary line on the table in between the two groups, using their hand palm open, with the edge of their hand running along the table to mimic the line in the “divided by” symbol.

Finally, a whole body motion that shows the action for + is simply to bring both arms up and cross them tightly against your chest. You can make the action more to the point if you pick up some objects in each hand before crossing your arms over your chest to mimic the plus sign. This is the action of taking two groups and pulling them together to make a new total.

Use body motions for the math functions as you teach word problems. Teach your child to listen to specific words and do the related body motion when your child reads a word problem; this will help him understand which function to use for each problem. Example: “Jane had two apples. She picked five more. How many does she have now?” Have your child act out the problem. 1. Jane has two apples: The child will pick up two plastic math counters. 2. She picked 5 more: The child will pick up 5 more math chips and then with chips in both hands, he will cross his arms in the plus sign when he hears the word “more.”

Your students can become their own best helpers as they learn to create and use body movements that reflect the concepts they are learning. Let’s try it today!