The Official Language

O.k., I decided to let you know what our kindergarten Core Objectives say about using 10 as a base because it will make it much clearer...or maybe more confusing! Here it is: "Objective 2. c. -- Identify and use simple relationships among whole numbers up to 30--recognize 5 or 10 as a part of the part-whole relationship of numbers."

Is that clear....or just clear as mud? Anyway....another way to practice is by giving your child a paper or plastic plate that has three sections to it. Your child can put the large section at the top. In the large section have your child count out a particular number of beans or other counters. For example, 16. Have your child then separate ten into one of the smaller sections and then count out the rest to the other section. It is good to keep the ten on the left since this corresponds with place value and the way we write the numerals.

Another way to do this is to put the small sections on the top and your child can put ten in the left section. S/he can then roll, spin, or draw a card and put this many beans or counters into the right section. S/he can move the beans to the large section on the bottom while counting them. S/he should then write down the number. If two people play together, the person with the largest number wins.

For numbers smaller than 10 the numbers can be split into 5 in one section and the rest into the other. For example, 5 and 2 is 7. Since we know how to add numbers less than 10 your child should be able to write out the actual math problem: 5 + 2 = 7.