Teaching Kindergarten and Preschool Math

The way math is presented to children makes a tremendous difference in their success as learners, as well as your success as an educator. Children need to take part in activities that encourage them to experiment, to investigate, and to record their observations.

Preschool and kindergarten students always need to have things to move around or manipulate in order to make sense of math concepts. In the education world these are called "manipulatives" and there are a great assortment of these available, such as blocks, counters and pattern blocks. Give children ample time to play with the manipulatives in order to satisfy their curiosity about the materials before attempting to use them to teach a math concept. Introduce new math vocabulary as the children play, as this will help them when they participate in teacher led experiences.

Keep structured lessons short to begin with and do not assume the children understand your expectations. Spend a week teaching proper use of materials and proper cleanup. Teach the children to use mats to identify and define their work area.

The following steps work well when teaching young children. First, demonstrate the math activity two or three times before you give the children materials. You will quickly lose the children's attention if you pass the materials out first. Second, give materials to the children and ask them to try the activity. Check to see all have understood the concept and are experiencing success. Assist children that are having difficulty.

After a few days of the same or similar lessons, record your math experience as the children observe. Keep it simple. For example, after a lesson making repeating patterns print the words, I made a pattern. Say, "I used a red block, a blue block, a red block, a blue block." Draw the pattern and color the blocks. Pass out paper and have the children draw what they did and record words using their knowledge of letters and letter sounds. Recording the activity gives children an opportunity to share and solidify their knowledge.

Visit my kindergarten site for ideas, activities, tips, games and skills lists about teaching preschool and kindergarten maths.

Using Kindergarten Math Games to Advance the School Curriculum

One of the ways that five year olds learn best is through interactive play. That is why it is important to provide plenty of stimulating activities that foster this learning and growth. Math is a more difficult subject to introduce through interactive play, although many of the concepts learned are recurring in the natural world. To offer engaging activities that follow suit with the math curriculum, many teachers are turning toward online math games. These games make kindergarten maths more fun and rewarding, plus take kids outside of their comfort zone and encourage them to use math concepts in a variety of ways.



Kindergarteners are actually very interested in learning, but often become distracted and have a hard time focusing on the information. Not to mention, with short attention spans, kindergarteners may seem like they come in with a blank slate each morning. Fortunately, playing online math games is a wonderful way to enhance what is being learned in the kindergarten curriculum. These practical games can be integrated into a classroom setting, tutoring session or at home for a routine study night. They are also useful tools for winter and summer break times when your child won't come near a book, but you worry about him or her forgetting the material.

Choosing the Appropriate Math Games

It's important that you do not confuse adaptive learning games with standard games. The big difference: Adaptive learning software is more than just for entertainment; the games offer real educational value. To make sure you choose the best kindergarten math games, there are a few factors to look for. First, select programs that are designed to meet the individual needs of the child. A short questionnaire is filled out and helps the intuitive software fill in the gaps where the child is struggling. The results of the games are used to track progress, and kids don't move ahead to a new chapter until they've mastered the current lesson.

Also look for online math games that are part of a larger program that allow parents and teachers to track the progress of the kindergartners. The games should offer a variety of online lessons that include age-appropriate material for five-year-olds, including counting, number comparisons and number sequences. These kindergarten math games are not just for kids who need an extra push, but also for advanced students who welcome additional challenges. Depending on the child you're working with, you can also take advantage of more advanced lessons that delve into first and second grade topics.

Kindergarten Fun in Every Program

If you're curious to know what makes kindergarten games so much fun, think about the things that five-year-olds enjoy the most. From pirates to pets to sea animals, kindergarten games include fun characters that present the material. Most of the time, kids don't know they're learning, and the end result is a confident child who is eager to test out his or her new skills. As a parent or teacher, it's important to review the child's progress and be familiar with the material being learned so that you can build on the concepts. For example, ask a student to count out ten yellow pencils.

In the process of playing kindergarten math games, kids are also learning how to navigate a computer and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Instead of putting on a game for entertainment value, offer an educational tool that will challenge the mind and instill confidence in your child. Most adaptive learning programs will allow you to test out the games for free, so be sure to take advantage of these rewarding opportunities for both you and your kindergartener.

Kindergarten Math Lesson Plans

Math lesson plans for kindergarten students makes learning math concepts simple, fun and experiential. It provides a solid foundation for children with each lesson either introducing a new math concept to students or developing the fluency in them in performing various math skills. Lessons are tackled with creative and interesting examples that come in colorful illustrations and photos. Below are some of the topics included in this publication:

Counting, Addition and Subtraction

Kindergarten students are introduced to the practice of skip counting and the skill of matching number symbols with their corresponding words. Activities are provided to help them gain a better grasp of addition and subtraction. One example is using numbers to demonstrate and solve story problems that illustrate these math operations. In addition, kindergarten students will expand their skills in using the number line to represent numbers and model addition problems.

Patterns, Sorting and Ordering

Comparing and ordering sets of numbers can be challenging but these will be simplified for students with the help of cardinal and ordinal meanings. They will also be taught how to recognize counting and non-counting patterns in objects. Remembering rules involving these concepts will be easier as they will be the ones to translate simple patterns into rules.



Presenting addition as a process of "putting together" or "counting on" is one of the key concepts lesson plans will give kindergarten students. This will help them see addition as a simpler process, while making them see the world around them in a different light.

Collecting and Measuring

Through engaging in activities that present everyday objects, students will learn the skill of collecting and counting data. One example is using a tally sheet while taking a survey and, later, producing a graph with their collated information. Kindergarten students will further their skills in observation with activities related to measurement, particularly comparing and ordering measurable attributes of objects. This topic is taken a notch higher with the presence of word problems, which students will learn to solve through measurement and comparison of objects.

While kindergarten students will be asked to identify time and tell how long or how short objects are, lessons in measurement go beyond these activities. A good example is creating recipes for snacks, thus requiring them to quantify and measure ingredients.

Geometry and Symmetry

Shapes may not be new to kindergarten students, but the discussions applied in a lesson plan will give students a good introduction to the language of geometry. They will learn to interpret and describe the objects around them, especially with the lessons on two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures. The discussion of the latter, for example, will help children understand how objects around them move or operate. Lessons in this section will also lead them to the exploration of symmetry and spatial reasoning. The world of geometry will help kindergarten students enhance their critical thinking skills as they tackle problems involving shapes and spatial reasoning.

Kindergarten maths becomes a series of fun and creative activities as students learn about numbers and figures with respect to their environment. With this education material, kindergarten students indeed become better detectives as they develop both their skills in critical thinking and their sense of wonder and imagination.