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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Dominoes!

Whoever said dominoes were just a game? I think dominoes are a great learning tool, especially for early addition. I bought my son his own dominoes and I sit him down with them and a piece of paper. He picks a domino and counts how many dots are on one side of the line and writes that number down. Then he does the other side and puts the + then the number. Then at first I have him count all the dots for the = I have him do about 10 problems at a time. After I know he is familiar with the dominoes with the + 0's, 1's and 2's, I separate those dominoes into their own bag and i have him pick 10 of those dominoes and have him count the two sides, but he trys to figure out the answer without counting.

He loves doing his math like this. It's so much more entertaining for him than worksheet after worksheet...and you don't need counters or anything other manipulatives.

Also, once they are getting good at memorizing the equations and answers, switch from dominoes to dice. Give your child a die and have them roll it and then roll it again and have them add the two numbers. Still worksheets aren't necessary! Also, at a teacher supply store they have dice that go up higher (like 20 sided dice) or blank dice. You can get a blank die and 2 normal die. with the blank dice put the numbers 10-60 on them and have them roll the ten's dice and then a normal one to get the first number like "40" and then "2" so 42 is the first number and do it again to get the second number and add them together for harder problems.

5 comments:

Julie said...

we played the number-bow game with the dice - and it was a hit! http://funmajors.blogspot.com/2008/04/n-is-for.html

Unknown said...

Thanks for this great idea. I'm enjoying your site & have included it in my latest post about must-read blogs :)

Unknown said...

Hello again :)

I am nominating you for a web award!

I just received it myself & have made all of my nominations my fave sites from my post yesterday

(http://adventuresofamontessorimama.blogspot.com/2008/08/inspired-reading.html)

- therefore I'm nominating you! I'm sure you've won lots of such awards but you *are* very worthy!

You can collect the image on the link above,
And...

If you want to share more bloggy goodness *no pressure here*:
1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated.

Amber
Adventures of a Montessori Mama:

http://adventuresofamontessorimama.blogspot.com/

Tamie said...

i LOVE the fact that you are homeschooling montessoti style! the domino's are a great way...we've got a set and i think that i need to satrt that with my kindergartener.
i am not homeschooling right now, but i have sent my son to a montesorri charter school in our district...so far, i'm happy with it. but i also think that it is best to supplement at home..thanks for the idea (and sutble encouragment...you didn't even know that you were doing it!)

pupa said...

Hi, I am a Montessori teacher. Enjoy your blog and idea! Well done:)