- number order
- addition
- less than
- greater than
- before, after, and in between
There are many different methods that I've incorporated to help with these issues.
Number Line Game Board
This, by far, has been the most helpful. When I introduced Little Squirmy to addition, he struggled with the typical number line method. I knew he needed a visual, hands-on approach so I created a game board. For the child, they will see it much like a game board. All you need is a piece for them to move. We often use our Farm Animal Counters or Lego men.
After several months of using this, Squirmy is now comfortable using a regular number line like Big Brother. I have seen him come to rely less and less on his game board, which is a great big step for him!
Counting Caps
When it comes to number order, the best hands-on device has been bottle caps. Yep, you read that right. Bottle caps, preferably clear or white caps. Simply save a bunch of caps, write a number on each, and you have a great hands-on way to deal with numbers.Squirmy loves putting the numbers in order using these caps. In fact, just the other day, he did numbers 1-20. Then he looked at me and asked for more numbers. I grabbed some spare caps, and added more numbers up to 40. With just a little help, he put the numbers in order from 1-40.
These bottle caps also work great for less than/greater than. To make it more enjoyable, I created a simple less than/greater than board out of construction paper. Using the concept of alligators who eat the bigger number, the boys simply place the bottle caps on the correct side of the gator.As you can see, bottle caps have a great many uses; never throw them away if you're a teacher!
Number Positions
This took a lot of effort at the beginning of the year. What number comes before 8? Even with a number line right in front of him, Squirmy found this very difficult. Before, after, and between were hard concepts to grasp.
So I created this hands-on folder to help him figure out the answers on his own.
With the numbers laid out before him, all he had to do was place the Position Guide in the correct place. For between, I created 2 arrows and wrote the word between in the middle.
If the problem looked like this: 15 ___ 17. He simply lined up the arrows to point to 15 and 17 (as seen in the picture). The word between was then over the answer: 16.
I created similar ones for before and after. This helped immensely. While he still mixes up the words before and after, he doesn't need the folder anymore. He is able to look at number line and find the answer.
These are just a few simple methods that I've implemented for our math lessons. The hands-on nature of them has really helped Little Squirmy who often struggles with new concepts.
If you have a child who is struggling with an overload of numbers, feel free to try these ideas!