Numbers

Springy has wanted to get her numbers the right way around for a few weeks. She's been successfully drawing the number 8 and also lazy 8s for a bit but is still reversing 7s and 9s. It's not something that I would have worked on with her until next year but because the motivation and interest has come from her I found a worksheet thing over at Montessori for Everyone. She filled it all in yesterday morning and can now manage her numbers the right way round and she's really pleased about it.

Our little maths fairies are looking very sweet. Dorothy Harrer has a lot to answer for in terms of I seem to recall that she was the original source of Maths Gnomes. I think they really are a good way of dealing with the four processes though and I have them ready for next year.

We have:

Penny Plus (mother) - moss green - she has to go around picking everything up
Minnie Minus (baby) - pale blue - she's very little and drops things
Maria Multiply (little girl) - yellow with a golden multiplication symbol - is like Springy and likes to somersault all over the place gathering up as much as she can
Daddy Divide (father) - red and has a beard - sorts out all the sharing in the family

Springy does understand the basics of the four processes already and maths is something that I believe can be brought in much earlier without it having to become an 'academic' subject or working in the brain too much. So many nursery rhymes contain mathematical elements e.g. 'One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go alone...'

or
'One, two buckle my shoe,
Three, four, knock at the door,
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight,
Nine, ten a big fat hen
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve
Thirteen, fourteen maids a courtin'
Fifteen, sixteen maids in the kitchen
Seventeen, eighteen, maids in waiting
Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty'