What does your child know already - can she count to 10? 20? 30? higher? Can she count objects and if so how high accurately (this number is almost always smaller than the number she can count to from heart)
1. Practice counting with her - anything and everything - start counting up to 5 then 10 and then 20 and beyond
2. Teach her to recognise numerals as this can help at this age (it is done late in the Doman series, but it is ok to do it earlier in the teaching when they are older as long as you teach the quantity first.
3. Start addition again by counting objects - since she is older you can show her the numeral and ask her to count out that many things (eg 2 + 3 = 5 - then get her to count 2 beads and then 3 and then count all of them together - you can use jars and put 2 beads in one jar and then 3 in another and then tip them all into the final jar to make 5)
Remember to start small and work up
4. Start subtraction (you can use a similar method as above) Again start small til she understands the concept.
5. Continue counting larger numbers til 100 and also work on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s stressing quantity
6. Teach more and less than and check that your child knows 2 is smaller than 5 and so on - asking them whether they want 2 or 5 sweets will usually give you a good idea if they know
7. Teach estimation using bigger and smaller numbers - here you can use the dot cards again to show that one number is bigger than another (but remember to use ones that you would be able to tell with - show 10 vs 50 for example rather than 50 and 51 as this will also help them get an idea of quantity even if they do not know exactly how many dots are on a card
I have only got up to step 3 so far with my own daughter - just make sure that it is practical and mean something - let her pay for groceries, count things that matter to her, ask her how many she would have if you gave her 2 more or 3 more. Ask what would happen if she gave her Daddy one of her apples/beads/whatever. Make it mean something as it is more fun when it is useful.
Digg
