This week in maths we are going to think about 'adding'.
When we are adding, we think of it as either putting two groups together to see how many we have 'altogether' or adding more onto a group. The children in Reception have had lots of experience of adding within 10 and counting on beyond ten, so they should be comfortable with addition.
As with all activities in Reception, we keep it as 'real' and as physical as possible. Completing number sentences such as 4+2 = is something that we show the children, but for children to really understand the process that they are going through they should have objects that they can count and add with. This might be pencils, grapes, pine cones, toy cars, anything that you can think of that you have lots of! Then once your child has added using the objects, by all means show them the number sentence or let them have a go at writing the number sentence.
Below are some ideas to help your child to develop their knowledge of adding!
1. Play a counting game. You start off the counting 1,2,3....then your child carries on.... 4,5,6 ...and on and on. Do it in groups of four, saying 2 numbers then one number. This helps your child with the idea of 'counting on'.' That is starting from a number that isn't one to count. This will really help your child when they have a group to add from.
We know that fingers are wonderful tools for adding. Play an adding game with fingers !
Show me five fingers - now show me 2 more. How many do you have altogether? Show 5+2=7
Play bus stops!
Draw a bus . If you can cut out 10 pictures of people.
Start off by asking your child to count some people onto the bus.
Then ask them to put some more on.
First you had 5 people, then 2 more got on, how many are on the bus now?
First, then, now..... is great for getting your child confident with addition
First 3 people were on the bus,
then 6 people got on
Now there are 9 people on the bus.
Show the number sentence to support your child. Ask them to fill it in.
first 2 people were on the bus,
then 6 people got on
now there are 8 people on the bus.
Start with some blocks.... Use a dice to roll and add this to your tower.
First I had 4 blocks
Then I added 3 blocks
Now I have 7 blocks.
Who can build the tallest tower?
As always, if we can help in any way, don't hesitate to get in touch with us, either on the Reception email account firstname.lastname@example.org or through your tapestry account.
Miss Miles and Mrs Widdop