PRESCHOOLER MATHEMATICS IN TWO MINUTES

This year, Mr. Junior has shown an increasing amount of interest in mathematics (you can read more on it here). It is such great a time for us to work with his curiosity and add on to his skills whenever possible. The other day, he learned how to add numbers between 1 and 9 (inclusive) to 10 and 20. It took him less than 2 minutes to do it. We were about to park our car just outside of a store when we started talking about it and by the time we came out of the car, he already knew how to do it, with almost no mistake at all! 

I will tell you about this picture at the end of the post. For the moment, lets not get unfocused and continue on with our preschooler maths secret. 

Here is our trick: If you are using the number 10, then whatever number you are adding to it (only 1-9), use that number with a 'teen' at the end (with a few exemptions which you need to inform him of. ie. numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5). 

So, it goes like this;

1 + 10 = 11 (eleven- not covered by the rule above)

2 + 10 = 12 (twelve- not covered by the rule above)

3 + 10 = 13 (thirteen- not exactly covered by the rule above)

4 + 10 = 14 (four-TEEN)

5 + 10 = 15 (fifteen- not exactly covered by the rule above)

6 + 10 = 16 (six-TEEN)

7 + 10 = 17 (seven-TEEN)

8 + 10 = 18 (eight-TEEN)

9 + 10 = 19 (nine-TEEN)

Then comes the twenties (and the thirties and so forth) which are even easier! First say 20, then say the number you are adding to it and it makes the total number.

20 + 1 = 21 (Twenty-one)

20 + 2 = 22 (Twenty-two)

20 + 3 = 23 (Twenty-three)

20 + 4 = 24 (Twenty-four)

20 + 5 = 25 (Twenty-five)

... and so on. 

This exercise gave my 4 year old son a great sense of achievement and made him even more excited about numbers and all the tricks that Mummy knows about (!). The next day, we were invited to his uncle's place for dinner and he wanted to impress his uncle and aunt with his newly learnt maths skills as well. He only shares the secret to it with particular people though, and leaves the rest to wonder how on earth a 4 year-old can do addition so quickly, so perfectly. 

I suppose you have been wondering what these two photos are about. The photos are all about Mr. Junior and some of his favourites. He LOVES his fruit, his books and bow-ties. Approximately a month ago, we were invited to a party and the night before, I decided to surprise him with something that I knew he would appreciate well and would be useful and made him this black-and-white bowtie which was such a success. He was extremely happy with it. I mostly used this tutorial with a few minor changes to make this impressive bow-tie.

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