What are you doing with your 2 year olds for math?

[Kerileanne99]

Hi everyone-
Sorry I failed to notice some of the replies...I recently had surgery and have been a bit distracted!
Let's see...a few updates. We recently bought a kiddie trampoline for my daughter and she LOVES counting forward and backward as she jumps. I got this idea from theMarshmallow Math book, but after a few days Alex was counting forward to one hundred perfectly, and backwards somewhat imperfectly Still, I see improvements daily...another thing I did...we are using JonesGeniuses fairly regularly now, even went so far as to buy the next level! She plays with fridge magnets ALL the time...I think everyone should own at least one set of these numbers by Melissa and Doug...we actually had to buy THREE sets because Alex constantly got mad that there were not enough zeros to make a million or a billion!
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/magnetic-wooden-numbers-learning
Bonus, they come with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and equal signs for doing equations!

So anybody doing JonesGeniuses or even TouchMath programs will be familiar with the dots on the numbers...for the fridge magnets I took leftover peel and stick Doman style dots, colored them all black with a marker, and used a hole punch to make black dots to stick on the fridge magnets in the correct places!
I can not stress how useful this has been because we can now, EFFECTIVELY do math while I, or even daddy, is in the kitchen. With her self-correcting! I have seen an almost exponential growth in her addition and subtraction abilities!

Okay, so specific questions.
Khatty- we haven't been doing very much math on the computer as Alex tends to be very hands on at the moment...In the past, we have done some with this one:
http://www.abcmouse.mobi/landing/sem:goog
This one a handful of times:
http://www.coolmath4kids.com/
And a month or two of easy playing here:
http://www.ixl.com/promo?partner=google&phrase=Search%20-%20online%20math&gclid=CMnykKj0sK8CFYRgTAodZXhNFQ

Nellie- glad to have helped a bit! Have you found one your kiddo likes yet?
A_BC-
Alex is really into Peter Weatherall at the moment as well.  He does a great job of presenting more advanced concepts to the little ones...I wouldn't say she sits down to watch it, just runs about and plays whilst it is on. But try to turn it off? We were at the pediatricians office the other day and the doc said something about a feedback loop...Alex said, "a loop is a circle and a circle has three HUUUNNNDDDRREEEd and sixty degrees'. Not sure she understands all that encompasses, but hey! We can build on it!
We also love many Montessori math ideas and recently bought a Pink Tower that she loves...it is ridiculously simple, but very advanced concepts can be taught simply...like cubing, length, width, depth, shocking amounts of information...
One other very simple thing we did from a very young age was a Montessori-inspired idea. I put two transparent measuring cups (plastic for safety in the bath) into her tub toys...great for washing hair, but the number of math games we have created around them is quite startling. Even conversions. Mommy holds up both cups filled with water and says something like, should I wash your hair with 1 cup of water or 8 ounces?  Oh, silly, silly mommy! Measuring spoons as well, and  Daddy even got her a graduated cylinder for smaller, more precise measurements...plus, he taught her the difference between accuracy, precision, and what a Miniscus is! Too cute...
Anybody else with itty little ones playing math with them? We are Always looking for new ideas!

[mybabyian]

My son is not yet two...he is 18 months.  I figure he will not be interested in any program I buy him but he LOVES balls.  So, I bought some ping pong balls from the dollar store and made a clear cylinder just the right size to hold 10 ping pong balls in a straight line standing up.  (I used laminating sheets that I put through the laminator to make the plastic somewhat rigid, rolled it into a tube and taped it standing up on a piece of cardboard.)  If you don't have the visual, imagine how they sell tubes of tennis balls. 

As he drops the balls in we count the balls.  He calls the tube a "hoop" like he is playing basketball.  I just started with one tube as I wasn't sure if he would like it.  He seems to be really enjoying it.  It is so cute to hear him shout out the numbers.  So my next idea is to make 10 cylinders to count higher numbers and, do multiplication, for example., six tubes with two balls in each tube is 6x2=12.  I think this will give him a very clear understanding of multiplication if he is not bored of the game by then.  With colored ping pong balls we can also do patterns. 

Just wanted to share in case there are any other ball fanatics out there.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

My 2 & 3 year old recently started Destination Math. http://www.hmheducation.com/destinationmath/mathematics-courses.php It's starting out a bit slow but looks like it will pick up.  I am letting them reinforce basic counting and addition now, but they really like the program overall and it's very straight forward. Looking at the topics covered in course 1 & 2, it looks like it will provide a very good foundation and we will probably supplement with other programs as well.

[A_BC]

Another way to practice counting backward from 60 to 0: reading out loud the seconds from the microwave display

[arvi]

I have been using Miquon math and Rightstart math with my 2 year old. Both these program complement so well with each other. Miquon with cuisenaire rods is an amazing program. My son loves to play with the rods and it helps a lot in understanding addition and subtraction concepts. Somehow my son dislikes the alabacus. So Rightstart math is in the backstage for now.

[Korrale4kq]

My son is a bit of a math nerd. I will catch him throughout the day setting up his little tray to do math activities.
We use a Right Start Math approach. Focusing on subtitizing rather than counting for addition and subtraction.

We use Math Start books by Stuart Murphy to reinforce concepts. I have started making activities to accompany the books.

I just ordered miquon Math, still waiting for it to arrive. It is cheap and it looked like I would like the cuissinere rods.  I liked that Arvi said they are complementary.
I like right start. My son it is hit and miss. He hates music it seems. And yellow is the Sun turns him off.

We also just freestyle it. We do a lot of addition and subtraction up to 10 with manipulatives. More often than not I use Cheerios so he can eat them when he gets them correct. Or I use coins because he enjoys putting them in his money pig.

[Korrale4kq]

Kerileanne....

I just realised our kids are born 2 days apart. Dec 10 2009.

[Kerileanne99]

Koralle4kq-
You are absolutely right! How fun is that!
I have been preoccupied with health issues but we are off and running again. (or should I say, I am, as the kiddo never stops. )
We are currently using a variety of math programs as it still seems as though she can't get enough. We also love the MathStart books by Stuart Murphy in this house, although if I have to read some of them even ONE MORE TIME! I just might go crazy Monster Musical Chairs is SO not amusing anymore....
Alex does a lot of JonesGeniuses work as we really like the ideas for quantifying, memory work, speed reading, etc...
For concepts, we Daily use the EarlyBirds Math by Singapore... Awesome, and a nice supplement to almost any program, even Right Start and other programs utilizing an abacus.  They have a series of math readers that are nice, and even an EarlyBird Science program that we use often!

It is very hard to quantify exactly which program has been the most effective for her as we incorporate so much math into the day...she counts on the trampoline, the climbing wall, does addition and subtraction in games, and is currently OBSESSED with the MathTacular DVDs. If you havent seen them and your child likes math? TRY THEM! But be prepared to play never ending bouts of Go Fish!
That being said, Alex learned to pair, group, double, and began to understand multiplication from one little game, so I shouldn't complain!
Then, take a look at the Multiplication in Minutes Info, originally posted by Mandabplus3 (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!) although it took a bit of work to get the idea of multiplication across, it is shocking how easily they pick it up with the pictures/stories! I think Nadia0801 taught Cammie in about three days!
So happy to have other toddlers Alex's age that love math as well!

[Kerileanne99]

Oh, I forgot to mention one of Alexs favorite games is called Turtle Math Learning Mats by Scholastic. It comes with about 20 turtle shaped mats, double sided. On the carapace are either addition facts or subtraction facts. You do the problems and put a corresponding answer piece on top to complete a sort of puzzle.  I never showed her that the pieces are shaped to help, because I didn't want her to just try to complete the puzzle...even now, she will pick up a correct answer in the wrong shape!

I have no idea how to put a YouTube clip into a post, but there is a short clip of Alex playing Turtle Math on her YouTube channel...most of her videos are private, but there are a few public...
Her channel is called BabyBibliophile....

Here is the link to the learning mats:
http://www.amazon.com/Addition-Subtraction-Mats-Kit-Grades/dp/B007WBB2Z2/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1338823570&sr=1-1-catcorr

Hope it helps, and your kiddo can 'meet' mine!

[lzp11]

I just wanted to say a big thank you for recommending the mathstart books.  My 3year old is quite a challenge to engage in any organised activity - no matter how fun it seems to me! She much prefers planning her own role play games (and with her own strict rules!!). We are not making huge progress with Jones Geniuses, she rarely agrees to play any structured games with numicon or cuisinnaire rods, bored with iPad, hates videos, we try to include marshmallow math activites but it's still a challenge! I'd love to do rightstart but I don't think we are quite ready.

But today we read monster musical chairs and then replayed the activity twice with toys on chairs, counting both  (to the soundtrack of Benny Hill does the Night Garden - don't ask  )

Anyway, I know it sounds like such a miniscule event compared to all the amazing varied activities that most of you are doing daily but for us it was a big step!  so thanks again and I hope we can find similar fun activities for the other books!

[Korrale4kq]

All the mathstart books we have read so far have fun activities. My son responds so well to them.



http://www.mathstart.net/activities/activity_ideas.php

This list of other books might be of interest to your child also.

http://www.mathstart.net/books/math_bibliography.php

[Korrale4kq]

I just saw this too... It might be useful if you are looking for some structure.

http://www.didax.com/shop/productdetails.cfm/Keyword/Hands%2DOn%20Math%20and%20Literature%20with%20MathStart/Sort/Item/Order/Asc/StartRow/1/ShowAll/No/ItemNo/2-195.cfm

[Kerileanne99]

Korrale4kq-
Thanks for the previous link... Alex enjoys the MathStart series and the extended activities that I am sure she (and I!) will welcome additional and fresh ideas!

It occurred to me that it might be useful to some of you if I shared the activities we used as as a bridge, knowing we would eventully use more of the RightStart program....if you already have the RS program and have spent some time with it, you may well be past these activities, but they greatly helped us to get ready....

A few things the RS program begins with:

Teach the rhyme:
One, two,
Buckle my shoe
Three, four,
Shut the door.
Five, six,
Pick up sticks.
Seven, eight,
Lay them Straight.
Nine, ten,
A big fat hen.

Whilst the plan is to not need counting every time per say, they need to be able to use their fingers to represent numbers...
So first, teach them to represent up to five on their fingers.

Then teach them the RS song "Yellow is the Sun" to count to ten....it is on YouTube here:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/d5w8gulQPlY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/d5w8gulQPlY&rel=1</a>

But basically,, you are teaching them how to count on their fingers to ten, using th left hand (as we read left to right) to act as the unit five just like the RS abacus...
"Yellow is the Sun,
Six is Five and one.
Why is the sea so blue?
Seven is five and two.
Salty is the Sea,
Eight is Five and Three.
Hear the thunder roar,
Nine is five and four.
Ducks will swim and dive,
Ten is five and five."

That being said, since Alex is already doing addition and subtraction, I altered the song to sing 'plus' rather than 'is' and it greatly enhanced her understanding of how the addition part came in to play!

One other very simple game that has become an absolute favorite?

Playing 'Go Fish!' if you have not done this with your toddlers, I can't recommend it enough! Numbers, pairing, sets, patterns, addition concepts, beginnings of multiplication, so many ideas packed into one little game! I got the idea from the 'MathTacular' DVDs, and I swear we play it for about two hours a day, off and on!!!
Plus, at the end, to determine the winner, you have to count up how many pairs each player has and 'compare' to see who has more/less/ the most/etc! You can really stretch the concepts in about $3.00 worth of cards and endless learning/family time!

And, as I previously mentioned, take a look at the 'Math Turtles' mats by Scholastic, seen here
http://www.amazon.com/Addition-Subtraction-Mats-Kit-Grades/dp/B007WBB2Z2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1339040192&sr=8-3

I think this is a YouTube link of my kiddo briefly playing:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qCMIOlCVIcI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/qCMIOlCVIcI&rel=1</a>


Hope these ideas are helpful...

[Skylark]

Kerileanne99,

Loved your ideas! Thank you for sharing. 

[Wolfwind]

Thank you all so much!  You are inspiring me!  Now I'm looking into some of the curricula that have been mentioned, and I'm a little confused.  Please help!

Rightstart looks so cool, since I know nothing about abacus but would like my daughter to.  But it seems to start at a first grade level.  How hard is it to adapt to a toddler?  We've done Doman math but she doesn't show that she "gets it."  Which book did you start with, at what age, and how long did it take?

The Earlybird Math has also been recommeneded all over and looks nice, but I can't figure out what I need.  Pattern blocks?  Textbooks? Activity books?  And I'm seeing Level 1A and Level KA and Standard Edition - evidently they've changed the program a few times.  Which books exactly did you use at which age?  The teacher's guides are hugely expensive - are they necessary?  And what about those pattern blocks?

Thank you all again for your help.

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