Friday 17 March 2023

We are counting on you (a blog about counting)

 


Earlier this year we were reflecting on the work of Professor Ruth Merttens when thinking of the ways we teach place value in maths. Place value in Autahi is centered around learning that numerals have different values. We start with numbers to ten using lots of materials to show how numbers get bigger as we count forwards. 
Next we tackle the teen numbers by showing that we have a group of 10 and another group of extra ones.
So if you hear your child say '14 is a group of 10 and 4 extra ones' then they are practising one of the ways we have been exploring these numbers.
One of the aspects of Professor Ruth Merttens work is around the memorisation of facts. These memorised facts become quick to access when we are solving problems within mathematics.

Many of the children in Autahi have a counting goal around counting forwards to and backwards from 20. here are some of the ways you can help them towards this goal of memorisation.

A calendar is a great way to count up and down each day. In Autahi we keep track of the month and days each morning.


A number display. In Autahi we have a display which shows how many days of school their have been so far this year. When we reach 100 we will have a celebration. Always a good incentive for counting.




Common household items also can help us practise counting. The trusty microwave has a built in Maths function, great for counting down to a delicious bowl of porridge!




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