Creating Counting Cards

We have been focusing a lot on early math skills.  It is important to be counting many different times through out the day so we count stuffed animals and whatever motivates.   I made these cards to add a little variety.

I placed stickers on a paper, drew a circle for the milk cap and laminated it.  

 Using a Sharpie I wrote numbers on milk caps.

  Adeline then places the correct number to the card.

Learning Numbers and Quantities

We are working on numbers a lot lately.  Adeline has been very interested in counting so that is what we are working on.   Here are some of the things I have been doing with Adeline to help her learn her numbers and quantities.

The first thing I did was to make flashcards up to twenty.   I first had her learn how to identify the numbers.

 
Second thing we did was explore the teddy bear counters.

 
Before children can be expected to use a manipulative for a specific purpose they need some time to explore with it.  

Later, I drew some circles on file folders and we added the correct amount of bears to each circle.

We are also counting stickers on a file folder.

Adeline has really been enjoying her abacus now that she is starting to understand numbers.

One other thing that has helped Adeline learn her numbers is her favorite counting app on the I Pad call Toddler Counting.  This is a great simple app that teaches up to 20.

Favorite Posts of 2012

2012 was a great busy year for us around here.  Adeline learned so many new skills.  As I look over our blog posts from this past year I am reminded of how far she has come.  I am so encouraged to press on.  Children with special needs can learn.  At times it takes figuring out how they learn, but once that is tapped into you are on your way to MAGIC.  

Here are the favorite posts of 2012;

Trays On The Go!

Holiday Sorting and Matching

 Push and Pull

Milk Caps and a Box

Pull Box

 I Pad Apps For 2 and 3 Year Olds

25 Of Our Best Fine Motor Activities

Using Teddy Bear Counters With Young Children

 12 Activities For Teaching Colors

 Well this is our list for 2012 can't wait to see what 2013 brings!  Blessing on your new year of learning.

DIY Montessori 100's Board

Adeline has learned to recognize her numbers up to about 20 but not the order, so I have been wanting to work on that.  I really wanted to purchase this neat board on Amazon but now is not the time, so I made one for now.

I found a 100's chart at the Dollar Tree the other day so I cut it up and also purchased a foam poster board.
I laminated the squares and sorted them in groups of ten.  I wrote the first few numbers on because that is what we are working on right now.  I think the matching will help her get started.   I think I need to put a little velcro on yet so that they don't slide around.

Christmas Fine Motor

We had a piece of packing foam that we covered with cotton balls to make snow.   I glue gunned some Christmas trees to tooth picks and we "poked" in trees.

This was a simple fine motor activity with a Christmas theme.

Christmas Sensory Play

We are starting to think about Christmas and winter.  Today I am sharing some of the sensory activities that we have been playing in lately.

First is a bucket of grain filled with snowflakes and trees.  I used grain as our base but you could use many different items such as rice, beans or popcorn.  We talked about the trees and colors while using some different utensils to dig.  

Second, is a pan filled with salt.  Salt is a great sensory experience and can be used as snow.

Adeline really got into hiding her hand in the salt.

Christmas tree ornaments;
We made ornaments using salt, cardboard and buttons.