Derived from Atharva Veda, Vedic Math is a collection of ancient strategies and techniques for speeding up and improving the efficiency of mathematical calculations. On the contrary, the abacus is often referred to as a counting frame. It is a calculating device that has been around since antiquity. It was used centuries before the Arabic numeral system was adopted in the ancient Middle East, Russia, Europe, and China.

Choosing one among them can be often baffling. Correspondingly, we will edify you with some valuable insights to aid your resolution. 

Vedic Math And Abacus – Do we really need it?

Abacus and Vedic math both can be crucial to gaining an edge in understanding mathematics. While they contribute to the development of the speed of math and accuracy, Vedic Math is categorically a set of pre-eminent regulations to make math easy. On the flip side, Abacus is a handy reckoner that can make estimates accurate. Learning these can take from six months to a couple of years based on the learning abilities of the pupil.

Ideally, both concepts and tools are pivotal. For that reason, the choice of one among them may vary from one individual to another. Evidently, these brush-up number skills, and consequently memory and performance. Mastering Vedic math and/or Abacus aids students in contemplating operations with ease and accuracy.

Learning With Abacus- The edges you should infer

Being a handy estimator, Abacus can be learned by anyone from the tender age of 5. It improves core skills, such as concentration, creativity, visualization, memory, confidence, and so on. 

Here is how Abacus adds value:

1. Effective Tool for Strengthening Basic Skills: Operating with beads gives out a visual cue for every calculation, thus implicitly strengthening the basics of math like numbers, addition, subtraction, and other operations. 
2. Improved motor Skills: Operating with beads can be a great means to instigate finger moments, thus ameliorating motor skills in kids. 
3. Non-symbolic number sense: Numbers can be inferred without paper and symbols. Evidently, calculations are the central point of consideration. Research by Jiaxin Cui^[1] showed that children learning abacus have enhanced non-symbolic number sense. 
4. Spatial Memory: Working with Abacus requires the learners to remember intermediate values to apply later to derive final answers. This amplifies visual-spatial memory in them. Research by Chunjie Wang^[2] supports the same. 
5. Enhances listening and observation skills: When a child is being taught an abacus, they need to observe the various methods and patterns of calculation. Besides, while solving an arithmetic problem, they need to listen to the question patiently. This helps develop their listening and observation skills at an early age.
6. Strong academic foundation: Having a clearer idea of basic mathematical concepts and carrying out calculations, learning the abacus easily creates a strong academic foundation for an individual.
7. Ameliorated Creativity: While it aids computations to learners, Abacus gives out a chance to solve problems in their own ways. This magnifies logical analytical thinking and creativity. Research by Fateme Bibak^[3] found that Abacus training can have a positive effect on creativity and self-efficacy. 

Learning With Abacus- What needs to be brushed up?

While it does ensure myriads of benefits, it also comes with certain disadvantages. Being an astounding manipulator for studying basic math, Abacus may sometimes have pitfalls. While most of them can be vanquished, you may need to infer them in advance. 

1. Not Fitting for Advanced Math: Being a peerless reckoner to make accurate calculations, the abacus is limited to solving simple operations like addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication only. For this reason, it may be apt for primary schoolers and simple calculations only. 
2. Needs the Pupil to keep track of results: Abacus, in most cases need single step operations only. On that account, the learner may need to remember intermediate values to put them in final valuations. While this feature may improve spatial memory, it may be taxing at times.
3.  Fear of Uncertainty: Learning Abacus includes inferring how to use it. Parents often get bewildered if learning it can create confusion with school math in their kids. While experts claim abacus to be in fact nifty, the fear is still evident. 

Learning Vedic Math- Mastering basic arithmetic’s effortlessly

Retrieved from the Vedas, Vedic math incorporates a list of mathematical techniques that helps improve the basic arithmetic skills of an individual. While any interested aspirant can grasp it, mostly it is inculcated in the fourth or fifth grade.

It comes with a plethora of advantages which comprise intelligent decision-making skills to carry out both easy and complex mathematical calculations, reducing the load of memorizing difficult concepts, strengthening memory span, and so on. Let us explore some more benefits:

1. Makes basic calculations faster: With the mere implementation of Vedic math, you will be able to learn and apply basics and simple calculations can be made faster^[4], thus saving time and boost productivity.
   
2. Enhances our understanding of mathematics and provides independence:  It allows us to see connections and continuity between different branches of mathematics. The Vedic Math approach also provides us with a set of independent cross-checking techniques for everything we undertake.
   
3. Improves focus: Vedic math increases cognitive abilities by distinct strategies and frequent practice. Consequently it hones mind.
   
4. Aids in reducing blunders: It helps boost focus and facilitates effective approach methods that take up less time. Further, it aids in reducing silly mistakes.
   
5. Assists in making precise guesses: Mathematics is a subject wherein one wrong step can result in the whole calculation going wrong. Not only does Vedic math help with accuracy in calculations but also in making precise guesses.

6. Applicable to all levels of education: Any individual with an age of 8 or above belonging to any class will be able to gain knowledge about Vedic math effortlessly. It applies to all degrees of education. 

7. Helps build confidence: Not only is it very simple, direct, and unconventional, but it also acts as a tool for reducing finger counting and scratch work. It aids in the improvement of concentration as well as confidence.

8. Assists in the development of personality and creativity: The Vedic Math system aids us in the development of our spiritual side to some extent. It can encourage creativity in kids,  further assisting slow learners in grasping basic mathematical ideas. Increased use of Vedic math can exhilarate children’s interest in a subject that they normally despise.

Schooling Vedic Math- Hiccups to deal with

With a history of centuries, Vedic math is believed to process traits to enhance math learning. However, instructors and learners may contemplate a few hitches to make the experience finer.

1. There are no general rules yet have too many rules: Vedic math rules are just for specific problems. However, for each operation, such as multiplication, there are many rules for various kinds of situations. This leads to a lot of confusion.

2. More mental calculations are required: Solving problems with Vedic methods necessitates the use of more mental computations.

3.  Rules must be memorized and are tough to cross-check: Rules and algorithms for solving problems are complicated and must be remembered. Each rule seems to be quite difficult to recall. Since you can only find the algorithms in cross-checks, cross-checking the solutions becomes difficult.

Vedic Math Vs. Abacus- Which One To Go For?

Developed by Shri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji, Sankaracharya of Puri, Vedic maths is a speed math strategy to perform mathematical calculations – employing a list of sutras from Vedas. In total, there are 16 sutras (formulae) and 13 sub sutras (sub formulae). Multiplication, divisibility, complex numbers, squaring, cubing, square roots, cube roots, recurring decimals, and auxiliary fractions are all streamlined using Vedic Maths, an old technique. 

On the contrary, an abacus is a calculating tool that performs arithmetic functions by sliding counters along with rods or grooves. The abacus can compute roots up to the cubic degree in addition to the basic functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 

Vedic math has ease of flexibility, as its sutras encompass wide-ranging concepts like decimals and auxiliary fractions. A distinct approach to resolving the queries not only brings down the burden of memorizing but also makes the learner an intelligent decision-maker. 

On the other hand, Abacus deals with arithmetic operations and precise estimations. This reckoner has a discrete set of edges. Being a handy tool for computations, it ameliorates visualizations, speed, and accuracy of calculations. 

Consequently, putting away general manifestations, the choice among these is nevertheless debatable. The individual may take a stand as an instructor, mentor, or parent to choose the right one of these in view of various personal and external aspects. 

Conclusion 

We can conclude that both the abacus and Vedic math benefit in the development of math speed and accuracy. However, Vedic Math has a wide range of applications, not just addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Vedic Math includes speed-building methods for squares, cubes, square roots, cube roots, HCF, LCM, and other higher computations that are also simple enough for children to learn. Individually, they have their own pros and cons. Consequently, consider your selection based on the information presented above. 

References:

1. Children skilled in mental abacus show enhanced non-symbolic number sense: Cui J. (2020, April 11) 
2. Training on Abacus-Based Mental Calculation Enhances Visuospatial Working Memory in Children: Wang C. (2019, August 14) 
3. Azizi Nejad, B., & Jenaabadi, H. (2017). Study of the effect of instruction based on abacus on creativity and Self-Efficacy of students in primary schools in Urmia Study of the effect of instruction based on abacus on creativity and Self-Efficacy of students in primary schools in Urmia. Journal of Educational Psychology Studies, 14(26), 199-224. doi: 10.22111/jeps.2017.3239
4. An Empirical Study on Role of Vedic Mathematics in Improving the Speed of Basic Mathematical Operations: Srinivas University (Karani K.) (2016, February)

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post Vedic Math Vs. Abacus: Which One To Choose For Boosting Your Calculation Skills? appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

In this post, we have included the division flashcards that offer perfect learning material for pre-primary and primary students. You can make division an ingrained concept by giving regular and frequent practice to students. Check the division flashcards given below and employ these as test material, practice support, and much more:

Types of division flashcards included

When you start teaching division to little learners in the pre-school or primary stage, you may find it tricky to decide the starting point. Whether the children are highly absorbent of things that they come across or have this fussy attitude towards learning, they can be pulled to the learning door easily with flashcards. Our division flashcards printable bundle comprises the following types:

• Single-digit division: In this printable PDF flashcard, we have included the most basic single-digit division questions. Teachers can give a walkthrough of the division method and may drive them into mental calculation too.
• A two-digit number divided by a single-digit: Demonstrate first the concepts like dividend, divisor, quotient, and remainder. Also, couple the concept of odd and even numbers with the division method. All these preparations can beat the challenges and make teaching with flashcards more effective. Your objectives of concept retention and recall can find good support in these flashcards for practicing division.
• Division operation between two-digit numbers: Once you have mastered the above two types of problems, you can move on to the division of two-digit numbers. For the sake of simplicity of learning, the questions included in this flashcard comprise fully divisible numbers only. Thus, a little knowledge of the multiplication table can help beginners in grasping two-digit numbers division rather easily.

Get more than 10,000 + Kids Worksheets, Activities Pages, Coloring Pages, Templates, Classroom Posters, and Other Educational Resources visit our store .

How to use our printable division flashcards?

We have designed division flashcards in PDF format free versions keeping various uses in focus. For example:

• Practice tool for mental calculations: There is a lot to do to attain fluency in basic calculations involving division. This function does require a lot of memorizing of multiplication tables and recall of where the dividend appears in the divisor table. Thus, it can help sharpen memory and boost quick calculation skills.
• Quiz bank: You can organize a quick quiz on the division method and use these flashcards to form questions for the same.
• Homework resource: Flashcards for division are easy to print and are available for free with us. You can print these and hand them to students as homework. Homeschoolers also can explore their desired proficiency level by practicing division using these flashcards as quick refresher material.
• Test material: You can make cutouts of these flashcards and give these as questions to the test takers. The levels of difficulty become easier to achieve by solving them in increasing order of challenge. For best results, one can practice first and also create more questions on division by taking cues from this flashcard printable bundle.

Importance of learning through division flashcards

Teachers like the idea of giving heads-up to students about the life ahead by introducing calculations at the early learning stage. Division flashcards can:

• Act as a cue for understanding how exponents and fractions work
• Learn the distribution of items among beneficiaries
• Understanding ways to divide time to make the best use of every hour of the day

Wrapping up,

You have to practice a lot as division is one of the most basic functions. It is a basic calculation that is likely to help you in all fields and types of work. When you are required to make decisions pertaining to the distribution of things in any form, you need division.

So, master this basic function and be the calculation pro that can impress others with the sheer brilliance of display of division skills. Share with us how you found our flashcards on division, and how those made learning this function a cakewalk for you.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post Free Printable Division Flashcards [PDF Included] appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

Keeping with the quick learning and regular practice needs, we have designed addition-based flashcards for your use. Take a look at the following flashcards; these are available in device-friendly PDF formats so that you can have anywhere access to the study material:

Get more than 10,000 + Kids Worksheets, Activities Pages, Coloring Pages, Templates, Classroom Posters, and Other Educational Resources visit our store .

Types of addition flashcards included in the bundle

We understand it is important to maintain a suitably progressive pattern while introducing the addition concept to young learners. It is why you will find the following flashcards in our bundle:

• Single-digit addition: Demonstrate first to the students how single-digit addition is done. Further, you can ask them to solve the questions on single-digit addition on their own. You can conduct number talks to drive young kids to learn method by strategizing.
• Two-digit-one-digit addition: Enough of doing finger math or adding by counting! Now grow up in your approach to solve addition and move up the ladder. Practice addition of two-digit numbers with one-digit by referring to the flashcards for addition beginners.
• Two-digit addition flash cards: Throw bigger challenge to yourself or to children by flashing the two-digit addition questions to the math beginners or preschoolers. You can revisit these flashcards as grown up to brush up on your addition with carry forward skills too.

Best ways to use our addition flashcards printable PDFs

We designed printable flashcards in PDF formats to help you have ubiquitous learning support. Our flashcards are devices compatible so that you can access these anywhere, anytime. If you need a printed copy of the same, you can file it in your teaching support folder too. Whichever way you choose, these printable flashcards fulfill the purposes, such as:

• Revision materials: Researchers have established the utility of addition flashcards in reinforcing the concept in early learners and also in those diagnosed with learning disorders.
• Test battery: The students with math difficulties can be imparted effective remediation of arithmetic procedures like addition. Once addition facts are established, the flashcards allow early learners to take suitable tests for concept recall.
• Quiz master: Administer these flashcards for organizing quick quiz in classroom or home. These flashcards are the most effective in creating an engaging and vibrant learning environment in classroom. Homeschoolers can employ addition flashcards to accomplish their self-study objectives.
• Printable charts: The best way to teach addition to little learners is by showing them at intervals how to present two numbers to perform the calculation. By giving them an overview of all ways the addition problems may come acorss, teachers can make children comfortable with this basic math operation.

Benefits of using printable flashcards for addition

What do you need Additon flashcards for? I think you have understood well from the section above. But, what you will be taking away by using these flashcards? Here is a quick explanation.

• Easy concept-building tool: You can take hassle out of the learning process and make it fun. Those with math anxiety can continue with their endeavors without feeling overwhelmed.
• Quick knowledge resource: Often kids make the mistake while writing numbers and putting the ‘+’ sign at appropriate place. With continual and regular exposure to flashcards, children can master the act of writing and solving arithmetic operation.
• Strong concept recall: Math has a lingo and script of its own. Flashcards make the operations’ writing easier to grasp and normalizes the functions for the growing and budding math learner.

How to use addition flashcards PDFs?

Here is a quick guide on how to use our children-centric flashcard PDFs that we designed to teach them addition:

• Make cutouts: You can create cutouts of the operations’ slots and ask them to paste on their project book. They can write answers below the cutout. It can help bring flavor to the activity of giving homework to kids.
• Create charts: Paste these on the cardboard sheet and hang it at a place where kids can see them clearly. The use as wall-hanging makes the addition class reverberating with concep. Kids feel drawn to learning concept much better way when they come across these charts more often.
• Mobile flashcards: Since the flashcards can be saved on the mobile phones or other gadgets, you can give a quick revision of addition to your budding math genius when you are on the move.

Summing up,

Addition flashcards available in PDF format represent a simple alternative to augmented reality technology in education concept quite brilliantly. These learning supplements can be of multiple utilities and have a variety of benefits to offer. Use these PDF flashcards and share what positive change you observed in the kids’ addition learning curve.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post Printable Addition Flash Cards with Free PDF appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

‘There must be some playful way of teaching new math concepts to first graders.’ If this thought hits your mind often, especially when you see the child struggling through basic operations, here is good news for you! There are manipulatives available as teaching alternatives to help kids do math fluently, and confidently.

Manipulatives for teaching math come as proven solutions for bringing first-grade students and kids closer to each other. Researches reveal that these toy-like, tangible, and easily maneuverable items are quite effective in building math skills at the elementary or primary school level. For instance:

• Catherine A Kelly in her research article ‘ Using Manipulatives in Mathematical Problem Solving: A performance-based analysis’ suggests that manipulatives develop problem-solving skills, which in turn, improve understanding of the concepts.
• Robert Scott Ligget in his study ‘The Impact of the use of Manipulatives On the Math Score of Grade 2 Students,’ cited the work of Driscoll, 1983; Sowell, 1989 who found that the students, by using manipulatives, understand math concepts better than others.
• Ross, R., & Kurtz, R. (1993) in their work ‘Making manipulatives work: A strategy for success.’ have outlined the effectiveness of manipulatives in teaching math concepts as these promote concretization of abstract learning and allow longer retention of the solution methods.

Apart from providing strategy-based learning, the manipulatives act as assistive tools to teach math to children having dyscalculia or other co-morbidities. The learning difficulties require classroom interventions that provide alternatives to reading, writing, and performing operations on numbers. Manipulatives provide those interventions to teach students of first grade and above.

So, what manipulatives can you use for your first grader child or student? To help you with the search, we have annotated here the best manipulatives that can help learn basic mathematical operations, the concept of time and money, place value, and other related ones.

Best math manipulatives to build number skills in first grade students

1. Math Dice

Math dice offers multi-utility learning support to young learners. All the operations expected to be done fluently by a first grader can be taught playfully with this manipulative. So, when you are stuck on the point of teaching double-digit operations, fractions, place value, etc. you can employ this dice set as your teaching companion.

This age-old math manipulative continues to prove its relevance in modern teaching environments, by taking the effort out of the concept dissemination process. Not only that, this dice collection can help revisit concepts learned at the preschooler stage and can ease brushing up the basic skills like counting, subitizing, etc.

2. Alytimes Counting Stick Calculation Math Educational Toy

Anne Lafay, in her work ‘Effects of Interventions with Manipulatives on Immediate Learning, Maintenance, and Transfer in Children with Mathematics Learning Disabilities’ suggests that counting sticks can bring seamlessness in knowledge transfer while teaching math operations to students at first-grade and above.

This research-backed manipulative can augment number sense and supplement conceptual learning in children. It helps encourage kids to coin and implement strategies, enhancing their problem-solving skills in the process.

This manipulative is a befitting addition to the teaching tools that promote an inclusive model of education. It assists in offering students with learning difficulties like dyscalculia a proven tool to accomplish age-appropriate academic achievements.

3. Geoboards

Geoboards are multi-functionality manipulative that offer a deeply ingrained understanding of geometrical figures’ concepts. The first graders can have a visual presentation of basic geometry concepts like line, angle, enclosed area, etc. With its simplicity of application, this manipulative motivates the learners to practice regularly. You will find an improvement in concept retention ability because it engages students deeply in thorough practice.

Instead of drawing the shapes on paper, help children create them on this shape manipulative. It improves fine motor skills and coordination and offers an engaging alternative to spice up a typical geometry session.

Apart from Geometry basics, you can use these to learn fractions and symmetry too at higher levels.

4. Multiplication Addition Subtraction and Division Number FlashCards

Children are expected to become fluent in math operations by the time they reach the first grade. However, if the performance is not up to the mark, they should continue to practice more. The more they practice, the better cranial capacity they attain. These basic operations flashcards offer that required ease in regular practice.

Children can refer to these operations cards to have group study sessions at home. These can make an interesting quiz material too. Teachers can use these manipulatives to boost students’ computation abilities by employing them as quiz material and conducting fast-paced concept recall activities in the class.

5. Time Activity Set

Time is one of the newer concepts that first graders need to master. Though there are digital clocks available, still the classic appeal of analog clocks does not wither away. This manipulative for teaching time comes with matching puzzle pieces that help gain fluency in time identification.

Further, picture cards provided help build understanding about waking time, school time, sleeping time, TV time, etc. Thus, it can build cognitive understanding in children about their normal schedule.

This time manipulative comes with three dice where one represents the hour and the other two denote minutes. Thus, visual representation makes it easier to attain deeper ingraining of time-reading activity in mind.

6. Base Ten Starter Kit

Base 10 blocks is multi-utility manipulative that can acquaint first-grade students with various basic math concepts. Divide each sheet into 1/10th parts or its multiples to introduce fractions to kids.

Or, stack the blocks to teach or practice the concept of bigger and smaller, or greater than and smaller than or equal to. You can even give an introduction of 3D geometry to the young learners and tell them about surface area and volume at higher levels.

This base ten manipulative can help enhance logical reasoning skills useful in solving math problems with ease. Students with learning difficulties can employ this manipulative as an alternative learning intervention and gain the requisite knowledge to excel in basic math.

7. Math Cubes

There is hardly any basic math concept that cannot be learned with these link-building cubes!

First graders can grasp the concepts like single-digit and double-digit addition and subtraction, to start with. Further, they can attach links horizontally and vertically to create hollow and solid figures to develop a deeper understanding of geometry, line, and symmetry.

With simple mental nudges, the teachers can drive kids’ thoughts towards strategic thinking. Hence, it is one of the must-have manipulatives that are sure to boost computational and logical thinking capabilities in math beginners.

8. A See and Build Geometry Set

Trying to make geometric figures manually teases the kids’ brain, improves their spatial reasoning, and enhances their matching and fine motor skills. This manipulative can teach a lot about geometrical figures in a gamified way.

You can give a quick challenge to kids by asking them to make figures using materials provided in this geometry set. It is a perfect alternative to make geometry hour a fun-filled one for kids, laden with added advantages like mental reasoning enhancement, maneuvering skills building, manual grip enhancement, etc.

9.  Wooden Abacus for Math

We all have memories of using abacus in our childhood to solve basic math problems. This fun way of learning math is still prevalent and is loved by students even today! Wooden Abacus is a high-quality abacus that can serve as an effective tool for first graders to master math concepts like basic addition and subtraction.

The manipulative comes with 110 number cards, which can be used to form equations and can be laid on the top slot of the abacus. You also get 100 wooden sticks and 100 beads on the abacus to assist students in counting and finding answers. Overall, this manipulative will thoroughly engage little minds to understand and perform math skills required at their age and lay the foundation for complex operations in the future.

10. Play Money for Kids, Counting, Math, Currency

Play Money is an engaging manipulative that can be instrumental in teaching about money to first graders. You can give young kids a quick review of the currency system. Knowledge of currency bills’ and coins’ denominations help kids shop, design a budget, or manage pocket money rather confidently. And, this knowledge becomes easy to attain when they implement role play activities with this currency manipulative.

Parents can offer an easily comprehensible comparison of barter system days to the modern economy of present times by using these money manipulatives for first graders. They can further familiarize young learners with debit cards, ATMs, etc.

11. Magnetic Fraction Tiles and Circles Activity Set

Kids can use the activity cards provided to build a variety of fractions and display them on the card. There is also space for kids to write fractional equations as they represent them on the card in two different ways. Use this manipulative for individual or small group activities in your classroom and see kids learn fractions in one of the most interesting ways.

How math manipulatives make early math easier for first-grade students?

Teaching math to first graders can become more challenging if they suffer from math anxiety. Manipulatives help ease the learning process and allow us to acquaint kids with math concepts the gamified way. Some of the supportive qualities of manipulatives are:

• Math manipulatives allow giving practice of concepts in various ways. So, the kids become more receptive to the solution methods and try to apply different strategies.
• These manipulatives allow teachers to give a visual presentation of the number relationships when teaching basic math operations, the concept of time and money  (when conducting a counting money lesson plan) , and shapes and patterns.

Wrapping up,

First grade is the crucial learning stage for a math beginner. The manipulatives come as an engaging respite from the conventional methods that may not be easy to comprehend for one and all. With a playful approach, these manipulatives stimulate readiness for learning in kids, allowing them to enjoy math rather than be scared of it.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post 11 Gamified Math Manipulatives For First Graders appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

If you are searching for board games to learn division, you probably are not too comfortable learning it with conventional methods.

And, that is perfectly ok! You can have your own way of learning math or any other subject.

Difficulty with mathematical operations like division is not an alien concept, but do you know why use board games to learn and practice this mathematical operation? If not, I suggest you read this post till the end.

In this post, you can acquaint yourself with:

• Why division board games are important?
• 8 Best Board Games to Learn Division
• How to use board games as learning material for teaching division

Once you have understood what role division board games play and which options are worth considering, the road ahead will be clearer for you.

So, here we start!

Importance of division board games

Board games for learning division are multi-utility learning material. These have division as a core of the gameplay. Learners can internalize the process of division by doing this mathematical operation to achieve certain goals or levels in the board games.

Board games for mastering division use gamification to teach this mathematical operation to early learners.

Even those past the early learning stage can get their requisite dose of practice or brush up on division skills with these board games.

Division-focused board games introduce the practical utility of this mathematical operation by including it in a hypothetical situation like the theme of the game.

The best part is children learn the division without realizing the drill when they play these board games.

To add to all, an e-book on board games by David Moursund^[1] suggests that problem-solving skills can be enhanced by giving these board games to kids as learning material.

Thus, board games are not meant to disconnect you from learning; in fact, these games help strengthen understanding.

Let’s find here the high-rated board games for learning division that can help you master the skills of dividing, creating proportionate parts, and learning concepts like quotient, remainder, etc.

8 Innovative board games to learn division

1. Math for Love Prime Climb

Prime Club from Math for Fun offers lots of opportunities throughout the gameplay to do all math operations like division, and others. This game comes with challenge cards that guide the learners on what to do at each stop of this spiral chain that can attract young learners with ease. Apart from giving practice, the game helps learners enhance their thinking ability. They need to think fast, recall the division process, and make decisions that can help them reach the end of the spiral chain the fastest.

Gameplay involves other math operations, too, as they need to decide which operation to choose to jump to the farthest stop in the chain. All in all, apart from increasing the ease of operations, this game boosts math reasoning skills too.

2. Multiplication & Division Bingo Game

Bingo is a game played worldwide and has its fans amongst people of all age groups. This division board game offers a fun-filled way of practicing problems. The timed manner of playing this game can help stimulate the mind better; further, the cognitive skills are improved too. If you want some activity to do with kids to befriend them with the division method, this board game serves the purpose the best.

The game is found to be a good mental capacity booster^[2] for seniors too. It requires the learners to stay alert, make quick calculations and decisions, and bend their minds to accept various conditions. So, it can act as an interesting way to connect and learn and eventually grow.

3. Logic Roots Pet Me Multiplication and Division Game

It is a game that has everything that can draw the kids to practice division without realizing that they are doing something related to their studies. Its backdrop of garden and elements like animals, pawns, etc. appeal to kids. Parents can further make it more interesting by weaving a story around the gameplay. Thus, the little learners get to understand the practical utility of division. The food for the pet animals earned as a reward induces a feeling of accomplishment among kids too.

This game requires the little learners to divide the food among pets as per the instructions provided. So, by a simple activity of dividing food, they are given a firsthand introduction to the concept of division. The number of animals fed by them forms the quotient. With such a catch analogy to offer, this game is most likely to help the kids to retain the concept in their minds for longer.

4. Proof! Math Game – The Fast-Paced Game of Mental Math Magic

Strategy-focused learning^[3] is more effective in understanding the concept better and in identifying the pattern in problems (Newell and Simon, 1972); this game is based on this thought. It is because Proof requires the learners to share the process by which they arrived at the answer. The one who answers the fastest has to give proof, which is actually a mathematical operation applied to solve the problem.

Thus, this game is one of the most promising tools that can help improve the thinking ability of kids or early learners. There are nine number cards provided in this game, which contain equations hidden. The kids identify the equations corresponding to the problem’s solution and justify it with reasoning. So, it helps to boost thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving ability, in addition to mastering mathematical operations like division.

5. Adsumudi Math Game

As crazy as it may sound, this monstrously fun game by Evermade can make math-related fears go away by engaging children in an entertaining way. Perfect for kids aged 8–12, this game can be a useful resource for helping kids practice division operations. Not only that, it also includes activities related to addition, subtraction, and multiplication to provide an overall learning experience.

The game is not restricted in terms of how it can be played. Kids and adults giving them company can turn the gameplay into a competition or play collaboratively to find solutions. There are a whopping 416 challenges to tickle a child’s brain. Each of these challenges is segregated based on difficulty so that players can choose a level based on their skills. All in all, Adsumudi is an easy-to-learn and fun game for kids who want to enhance their division skills and other math operations.

6. Learning Resources tri-FACTa Multiplication & Division Game

Three slots are placed on a triangle and mathematical signs like division, subtraction or addition, etc. are placed in between these. The game requires the learners to place the numbers on the slots according to the mathematical signs. This game can be considered an entertaining take on the number bonds charts, which teach the relationships between the numbers in a learning-focused way. An element of fun and challenge is added to this game by offering the challenge and hint cards, helping the math beginners choose the division option and perform it too.

This board game for learning division can offer a mind-stimulating way of mastering basic math operations. Kids pick the signs and numbers based on their knowledge of operations and their impact on the numbers. Thus, it helps build confidence with number bonds, number sense, and calculation methods.

7. Kitki Mind Your Numbers Math Game

It is a quick-paced, mind-bending board game that enables kids to be fluent in division and other math operations. Kids find a lot of numbers’ card-related activities to do, using which they need to score the highest to be the winner. They operate on the numbers with appropriate signs to get the highest possible number, this gameplay gives ample opportunities to reason, analyze, and most importantly, quickly calculate.

Mind the numbers teach us to be mindful of numbers and relationships. This board game allows practicing and demonstrating quick thinking and helps develop comfort with math operations. It can rightly be called an amazing mental math ability booster!

How to use board games as learning material for teaching division

Math board games enhance the flexibility of the mind and make it more receptive toward arithmetical and logical reasoning concepts. But, all of this becomes possible to achieve when you have chosen the correct strategies. A few important ones worth practicing are:

1. Give an introduction about the arithmetic operation you intend to teach through a board game. It helps keep the fun and learning in a balanced way. You can even do some division activities with manipulatives before you start playing the board game.

2. Make groups and organize competitions according to the number of players that can play the board game for division.

3. Conduct number talk sessions to find how kids plan to excel or win the board game and encourage them to come up with better and quicker strategies to solve division-based problems provided in-game.

4. Make it a point to play regularly. Abandoning the board game after playing it only once can fail to reinforce the concept in the mind. So, repeat plays should be encouraged to give better practice.

Final word 

New age learning tools like board games and online division games offer a plethora of engaging and educational options for our little learners. The division board games listed above have proven to be invaluable tools in nurturing children’s mathematical skills, critical thinking, and social development. These make the intimidating concept of division approachable and enjoyable for little kids.

Through gameplay, children not only grasp the principles of division but also learn important life skills such as teamwork and problem-solving. When kids explore these games with their parents, teachers, or caregivers, they develop a love for learning that extends beyond the confines of the classroom. Therefore, we must recognize the impact that play has on a child’s growth and provide them with ample games and opportunities so they can thrive academically and socially and create memories for a lifetime. 

References

1. Moursund, D. (2016). Learning Problem-solving Strategies by Using Games: A Guide for Educators and Parents. Eugene, OR: Information Age Education. Available online at http://iae-pedia.org/Learning_Problemsolving_Strategies_by_Using_Games:_A_Guide_for_Educators_and_Parents.
2. Seah, Erik & Kaufman, David & Sauvé, Louise & Zhang, Fan. (2017). Play, Learn, Connect: Older Adults’ Experience With a Multiplayer, Educational, Digital Bingo Game. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 56. 073563311772232. 10.1177/0735633117722329.
3. Simon, H.A. (1977). The Theory of Problem Solving. In: Models of Discovery. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 54. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9521-1_13
4. Victoria Uribe, Ricardo & Cobos, Sandra. (2014). Board Games as Tool for Teaching Basic Sustainability Concepts to Design Students.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post Top 7 Division Board Games For Little Learners appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

Geometrical figures are taught to kindergarten students in a variety of interesting ways. The idea is to befriend them with the geometrical figures while helping them fight away the math scare. That is why; teachers consider using manipulatives for geometry so that kids can feel inclined to involve themselves deeply in activity-based learning. One such manipulative is Geoboard that offers a good tool for interesting activities related to geometry learning.

Let’s take a look at interesting geoboard activities that can give a better understanding to the kindergarten kids about geometrical figures topics, such as, perimeter finding, shape identification, pattern identification, etc.

Top 6 geoboard activities for kindergarteners

1. Make faces of animals on Geoboard

In this activity, you make use of threads and connect them with relevant pegs of the board to create animals’ faces. By using figures like small rectangles, triangles, and circles, create the face of a bunny with rectangles forming the facial contour and nose, circles for eyes, triangles to create the ears of the bunny. Thus, the kids can fiddle with various geometrical shapes likewise and see how these can be used to make other animal faces.

2. Find the perimeter of various shapes such as rectangles or squares

You can start with a small number talk session where you try to collect the students’ ideas on what they understand about the perimeter. When they confirm that perimeter is the sum total of all boundaries of an enclosed figure, you provide them with some figures. Means, tell them to draw rectangles with length and breadth as 4 cm and 5 cm respectively. They will make use of materials provided to them to draw these and do the mental calculation to find the answer. This is an interesting way to drive kids into the addition part of finding the perimeter of an enclosed figure.

3. Letter drawing activity for kindergarteners

At the Kindergartener stage, the kids are expected to be fluent in drawing the alphabets of capital type. The students who find it difficult to deal with letters due to learning difficulties can use Geoboard to develop a deeper understanding of the alphabet forming strokes and shapes. With the help of a guide initially, they try to make alphabets, such as A, B, C, and so on. Then, as per the comfort level achieved, you can give them a dictation activity, where you sound out the letter, and kids create the alphabet using loom bands on the geoboard. Memory recall becomes quicker and sharper with this geoboard activity for kindergarteners and they develop suitable comfort with the letters.

4. Draw theme-based shapes

Theme-based shapes are those that belong to a common area of learning. For example, start the day saying, ‘We will learn about trees today, or sea animals will be the topic of the lesson today” or anything similar, such as fruits and vegetable shapes, etc. As a teacher, you can give the kids the challenge to create these shapes by showing them a hint picture. The kids improve their cognition, motor skills and also develop vocabulary by knowing about various terms or names common to a theme by performing this geoboard activity for kindergarteners.

5. Draw triangles that have one dot in the center

As you know Geoboard is a pegboard with hooks. You can make your own geoboard in a way that pegs are arranged in a 4×4 matrix. So, you get ample options to try making triangles with one dot in the center. Encourage kids to create as many triangles as possible with this condition and see how they fare. You can take away the math scare or discomfort of any kind regarding the shapes or triangles from the kids’ minds by using this geoboard activity. Further, this activity can be expanded to help kids find ways to transform the triangles into various other forms by connecting the dots strategically.

6. Give them printable shape cards to draw them on Geoboard

With the help of rubber band or loom bands, the kids are asked to copy the figure given on the activity printable to create the shape on the Geoboard. This activity improves the hand-eye coordination of the kids. They enhance their fine motor skills and utilize these for creating pictures that have geometrical shapes as their components. Some of the items worth trying to create on a Geoboard are – a leaf, a house or hut, a butterfly, etc.

To conclude,

Geoboard is a very interesting manipulative that kindles the minds of young learners and helps them absorb the idea of drawing shapes. A deeper understanding of the concepts of measurement can also be provided by telling them that each peg distance equals one unit. This prepares their mind to count the pegs to understand the concept of length and perimeter eventually. Thus, by actually connecting the dots and creating shapes, kids can find the practical meaning of the basic concepts that constitute early geometry learning.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post 6 Fun Geoboard Activities for Kindergarteners appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

Learning numbers is not only about identifying or recognizing them. In fact, it is just the start. The early learners need to understand between the numbers too and carry on the operations. To ease this process, a very basic tool is used by educators. It is called the Number Line.

Children in the early math skill-building stage, take help of the number line to know about ascending and descending order of numbers, patterns and number sequencing, counting, etc. They also use this learning support to know the working behind addition and subtraction operations.

However, not all children are comfortable with the idea of drawing numbers on the number line; their poorly developed writing skills interfere with their practical understanding of number lines. This is why the use of number line manipulatives is along with some fun number line games recommended by researchers and educators.

Listed here are the engaging number line manipulatives that can make early math calculations a cakewalk for beginners.

Top number line manipulatives recommended for kindergartners and primary level learners

1. Number Paths

Just shift the slider to the required number while counting, and find the answer. This number line manipulative can give a better introduction to counting by 1s, 2s, 3s, and so on. Early learners can also acquaint themselves with math operations like addition and subtracting without going through writing struggles.

This number line features the numbers in groups of fives in a color-coded manner. Thus, the students can also learn about grouping the numbers in the sets of 5. Clicking sound contributes to the engagement quotient of this manipulative driving learners to fiddle with numbers by trying different combinations.

2. Eersida Slide and Learn Number Line

Available in two bright color combinations, these PVC manipulatives by Eersida are easy-to-use number line math counters that serve as teaching tools to help kids learn beginning mathematical knowledge. The sliders come in cute designs with animal prints on them, so kids will want to use them more often.One pack of this sliding number line will suffice for a class of 24 students. And students will get a choice of three different designs to choose from. Each number line is marked with positive integers starting from 0 all the way up to 30. Get your class a pack of these handy manipulatives as an alternative to number line charts and see how it turns learning into a fun activity.

3. Number Line Floor Mat

Number line floor mat combines playing with learning. Children are given challenges like add 3 or subtract 3 (just for an example). They do so by jumping on the floor mat by that many numbers, forward or backward, to add or subtract accordingly.

Thus, the whole process of struggling with the mathematical operations’ signs is dodged and the kids get to learn what actually happens when someone asks to add or subtract. This number line manipulative is quite suitable for dyscalculics who show signs of discomfort towards the arithmetic signs and their corresponding functions.

4. Magnetic Modelling Number Line Kit

This magnetic number line manipulative kit comes with a magnetic frog and magnetic arrows to give the kids an engaging tool for learning arithmetic operations. The frog shows by its movements what happens when you are adding a number to another number or subtracting the two.

Arrows are used to determine the number which is operated upon and the outcome derived from the arithmetic operation. Thus, you give a break from books, reading and writing and allow kids to internalize the math operations by moving the frogs as instructed in the math operation.

Simple to use and very engaging, this number line manipulative prepares kids to do basic operations confidently and know about the strategies to arrive upon solutions.

5. . Didax Unifix Cubes 1 – 120 Number Line

Suitable for kids studying in kindergarten and above, this combination of Unifix cubes and a number line is great for learning counting, place value, fractions, and other arithmetic operations. The number line is divided into small segments, which, when assembled, make a 7’ long track starting at one and ending at 120.

If you already have Unifix cubes in your classroom kit, your students can use them with this interlocking number line. If not, you can always purchase a set to go with this manipulative. Along with the twelve interlocking tracks, you also get teacher notes to learn how to effectively use this resource for teaching math to little kids.

6. Number Balance

Number balance makes it easy for the young learners to understand the concept of equivalents by creating tangible form of equations on the balance.

The numbers written on either side of the balance make it a number line manipulative that can be used to learn counting and adding mostly. It is ideal for giving a practical overview of what is meant by when someone writes ‘4+2=6’ or any other similar equation.

Activities you can do with number line manipulatives

Activity-based learning is very important for grooming the little learners of mathematics into confident problem solvers. Some of the important classroom or at home activities possible to do with number line manipulatives are:

• Number sense building – Teach what the numbers imply and how their relationships change with application of operations
• Give practice on counting with the help of quizzes – You give some time to let the child count the numbers on a manipulative and design quick quizzes to test their understanding
• Play learning-based games – Ask children to move the beads or jump on the number strip, etc. Such simple actions allow kids to internalize adding, subtracting, forward and backward counting, etc.

Concluding Thoughts,

Number line manipulatives, just like other math manipulatives, are incredible tools to help early learners succeed in simple math operations. The versatility and flexibility these tools offer are great for teaching number location, number comparison, basic addition and subtraction, etc. Being able to see numbers in sequential order and in a straight line allows students to understand number relationships and comprehend how mathematical operations work. All in all, number line manipulatives are beneficial for both teachers and students and are very useful in a classroom setting.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post 6 Creative Number Line Manipulatives for Early Learners appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

Can manipulatives be used for teaching addition and subtraction? The answer is ‘yes’.

The concept of addition and subtraction is not something alien to children by the time they reach grade 1. (Chapter 7, Adding it Up, Consensus Study Report, 2001)

But, for some, relating the process of adding and subtracting with the use of arithmetic signs is quite cumbersome.

This is where you can introduce addition and subtraction manipulatives and offer early learners a relatable resource to master these basic operations.

Role of manipulatives in learning addition and subtraction

Manipulatives are the tangible objects that your little learners sort or arrange, or maneuver to internalize certain concepts related to mathematical literacy. (Jean Piget, 1985)

These learning manipulatives serve multiple purposes, such as:

• Enable a deeper understanding of the mathematical functions without going through the drill of reading or writing
• Help develop an understanding of the use of math skills in real-life scenarios
• Consequently, these prepare the child to practice more with deeper engagement

Top 9 manipulatives that ease learning of addition and subtraction

So, let’s take a look at the list of addition and subtraction manipulatives that have made the process of mastering basic arithmetic operations quite simplified.

1. Linking Cubes

Add cubes with each other to complete the equation or take cubes out from the tower to learn subtraction practically. The kids can make umpteen combinations of the equations and practice mathematical operations as much as they want.

You can add to the complexity by assigning numbers to the color-coded cubes, so the kid can also use it further to learn multiplication along with other multiplication manipulatives or further arithmetic operations. This manipulative for addition and subtraction allows kids to internalize the early math using gamification way.

2. Dice in Dice

Dice is one of the oldest manipulative for number recognition, which also gives a better understanding of number sense. The kids will roll the dice and count the numbers in both outer and inner dice. They can either add those or multiply those. The number relationship idea takes a tangible approach when the dice is put inside the dice.

Teachers use these die to design war games where the child gets the dice if his number is higher than the opponent. Thus, the idea of greater than and smaller than also can be found with this manipulative for addition and subtraction. Color and number recognition, number relationships, and  achieving number sense goals becomes easy using this manipulative that can stay with the kids right from the kindergarten to higher grades.

3. Magnetic Number Flash Cards with Arithmetic Sign Cards

Sign and number flashcards offer easy learning material for the students who are dependent on read-to-learn methods for gaining fluency with arithmetic operations. Those children who find it difficult to write can take the help of these flashcards to build their math operation skills.

The magnetic flashcards used as addition and subtraction manipulative allow students to perform and understand the meaning of operations. They can visualize the number quantity as the numbers are accompanied with corresponding number of dots. By simple way of counting the dots, and by reading the answers, children can understand the functionality of the mathematical sign used in the equation.

4. Math Balance

Operations like addition and subtraction give an initial introduction to the concept of mathematical equations. Kids with writing difficulties take the help of pegs, long hooks, and the balance, which symbolizes the two sides of the equation. A simple activity of placing the hook on the peg tells children about the number they are dealing with.

All numbers chosen are earmarked on the left side and the answer on the right to give an easily graspable introduction of the mathematical function and equations. This manipulative for addition and subtraction is not offering the resource to learn to count but boosts number and operational sign recognition concept in addition to telling the functional aspect of the sign.

5. Self-correcting Wrap Key Kit

A very interesting manipulative for addition and subtraction that kids can use to internalize the concept of addition. There is a series of numbers given on either edge of the key length-wise. And the wrap-up thread mark is designed such that the correct equation is formed.

Means, the thread goes over the 1 on one side and through ‘+7’ and ends at 8 on the other side. Thus, this key allows the learners to check the correctness of their answers when they are performing operations like addition, subtraction, and others. It is a reliable learning tool for the homeschoolers who need some reference material as an alternative to books. This manipulative can be used to memorize the operations.

6. Self-correcting Puzzle Set

The operations like addition and subtraction become easy to grasp with these self-correcting puzzle sets. Children match the operations with their answers using this manipulative and complete the jigsaw puzzles.

This manipulative allows you to take a break from books and replace the struggle of recognizing the operational symbol with learning its actual functionality. Thus, as a beginner, you can enjoy the learning process by doing something instead of struggling to memorize.

Number recognition, early math intelligence, number sense, and fluency with arithmetic operations are some of the skills little children can build and strengthen with this manipulative for addition and subtraction.

7. YEITIADY Wooden Dominoes

Young children love bright and colorful objects and are enticed to play with and work with them. With this in mind, YEITIADY has created this wonderful manipulative that teaches kids basic addition and subtraction calculations. A small group of 2-3 kids can work with the 110 mini dominoes at a time to brush up on their addition and subtraction skills.

The wooden answer board provided in this set has solutions printed on it, and players are required to match the answers with equations given on individual blocks. What makes this manipulative even more special is that its utility is not limited to teaching basic math. 

In fact, when kids are done learning, teachers can allow them to have a fun time by creating different designs or using them as building blocks to let their creativity soar. On the whole, this is a fun manipulative to learn color and number recognition, early math operations, and put their spatial thinking skills to work.

8. Magnetic Addition Machine

How about actually adding numbers to a magnetic board to understand the concept of adding two numbers? A number is nothing but a figurative representation of a quantity. So, when you are adding two numbers, you are actually adding something more to what you already have. It is a common concept that can be strengthened further with the help of math manipulative for addition and subtraction like Addition Machine.

A child adds the number of balls to the board according to the hint card or puzzle was given to him. The last number where the row of balls ends gives the answer.

Similarly, the kids can take out the balls from the bar to ease the understanding of the subtraction concept.

Thus, play it out to learn it better, this is what this manipulative tries to deliver to the learners of addition and subtraction.

9. Addition and Subtraction Bingo

Often used as a game for the parties and picnics, Bingo is a phenomenon and not just a manipulative for addition and subtraction. This manipulative comes with a puzzle card that can be used as an activity prompter to carry the process of basic mathematical operations like addition and subtraction.

The players, who are conversant with numbers, can practice this game to achieve fluency in mathematical calculations by playing it in a competition way.

Best ways to use manipulatives to make addition and subtraction interesting

A lot has been said about the strategies to use manipulatives in our various posts. Let’s move on to learn about the activities that one can perform with these manipulatives to enhance addition and subtraction skills:

• Use them for initiating number talk sessions
• Design competitions involving groups to promote collaborative learning
• Make practice sessions based on manipulative for enhancing the operational skill
• Do in-class projects to focus on the application part of the addition and subtraction concepts
• Design math fluency games for deeper engagement

Wrapping up,

We cannot stress more on the positive outcomes one can achieve by using manipulatives in math literacy. Creative manipulatives, games, and worksheets for addition and subtraction concepts make learning engaging and enjoyable for kids. They allow students to connect visually with these mathematical concepts and develop a deeper level of understanding which prepares them well for more complex mathematical operations they learn in the future. So, pick out your favorite addition and subtraction manipulatives from the ones we have highlighted in this article and create a positive hands-on learning environment for your students.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post Top 9 Creative Addition and Subtraction Manipulatives appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

Kids absorb a lot from their environments. Their inherent tool for learning is imitation. And after imitation, comes the games. Their curious minds want to learn by touch, seeing, and acting. That is why books boggle them and they demonstrate anxieties pertaining to learning numbers through books. Sometimes, anxieties are not farced acts, but the result of learning difficulties^[1].

Whenever I see kids playing, the smiles and satisfaction on their faces tell a lot about the interest they have in games. So, why not make these the learning tools and get an option to deal with math anxiety too? If you are still not convinced, here is what researchers say about board games and their role in easing the learning process:

• Board games promote collaborative learning – Hunsucker, Andrew. (2016)^[2].
• Board games for learning numbers enhance inquiry skills – Campbell University, NC
• Board games offer tools that are both educational and interactive. These also offer a good pretext for learning problem-solving strategies and provide an interpersonal understanding^[3]

Using the right board games and a sensible approach can make a difference in the learning curve of a number-learning beginner. Take a look at these board games for learning numbers that have become a favorite of both the kids and their mentors.

10 board games for early number literacy

1. Zingo

Could there be anything more interesting than a resource that teaches everything about numbers? Zingo offers that wholesome solution for making children number literate. The children can learn to identify numbers, be comfortable with operations like addition, subtraction, and others, and also grasp counting skills.

Has your kid ever struggled with number sense? Or do you think that number sense is a big feat to conquer for your kid? If there are any such difficulties you have realized, you can take the help of the Zingo game. This award-winning game can make learning numbers a cakewalk for your child.

Fascinating elements of this game like a numbered drawer, a chart, and flashcards for matching make it very easy to draw the kids toward learning. You can even make the whole game more challenging by bringing in a timer so as to allow them to recall the learning number concept quickly. So, this game does not stop at providing a good introduction but enables deeper engagement.

2. Cozybomb Wooden Number Puzzles

Many kids suffer from number learning difficulties, even beginners need practice to internalize the number learning that comprises shape identification, sound of numbers, order of numbers, and so on. Cozybomb Wooden Number Puzzles is one such number-learning game that offers a perfect resource to practice and master the basics of number identification and sorting.

So, when you find that your kid finds it exceptionally testing to identify, voice out, or write the numbers, don’t feel perplexed about how to tackle this. Instead, make learning more fun through the gamification of ideas. This ease of gamification is available in this wooden puzzle game. Interestingly, the game allows your kid to count and also lets him learn tangibly how the value changes when the number is increased or decreased.

With Cozybomb Wooden Number Puzzles, users can learn about ascending and descending order, basic operations like adding and subtracting, and so on. Thus, you will find that the overall number sense is exceptionally improved after using this game on a regular basis.

3. Coogam Numbers and Letters Flash Cards

Coogam Number and Alphabets FlashCards can be the right teaching tool when you want practical learning to take the lead. If you have a student in your class with a different learning curve, their preschool time can be made more fun with the help of these number and letter flashcards. These cards carry the number and tell about the corresponding value. So, you can arrange them in multiple ways and teach several aspects of learning numbers to the child.

Some of the interesting activities you can do with these flashcards are:

1. Make a number series by asking the child to fill the slots left blank with the correct number
2. Ask the kid to arrange the numbers in ascending and descending order
3. Ask the kid to count the items given in the flashcards and associate them with the number given.

Thus, this board game can be the joy-filled go-to that you can use to make the learning time more enjoyable by encouraging kids to participate, strategize, apply the number-building concepts, and see the results. Since the kids will be doing a lot many things on their own, they will get the satisfaction of learning the numbers all by themselves!

4. CozyBomB Homeschool Kindergarten Balance Board Game

Visualizing is the essence of mastering numbers and this game offers an exceptional way to do so. Why struggle with cardinal numbers when you can see them in a more relatable form? This ease of knowing numbers with concrete objects and flashcards is what the balance board game offers. You pick the numbers and the corresponding number of frogs and the balance will give you a visual presentation of the mathematical symbols denoting some value.

For example, place ‘3’ or ‘4’ on one side and show what it means by placing the corresponding number of frogs on the other. The satisfaction of doing the math operation all on their own is going to give children a big boost in their confidence. They can learn to count, know relations, add, subtract, and find endless ways to apply the concepts by solving the challenge cards.

So, ditch the numbers and let the students grasp the message denoted by these cute little frogs in order to effectively build math skills.

5. Joqutoys Uppercase Letter and Number Learning Board Game

Imagine if numbers and operations could pop out from books and turn into tangible objects! This board game for learning numbers turns that fantasy of yours into reality. Colorful numbers allow easy number recognition concept building.

You can drive the early learners’ interest in grasping math calculations like addition and subtraction. Children with difficulties pertaining to number writing difficulties can get a fair introduction to the operations using this board game. Using this board game, you can:

• Do number talks to talk about problem-solving strategies,
• Tell them about early math calculations or operations or
• Conduct a number sequencing activities;

This board game offers you a delightful learning tool and makes your children’s arithmetic study hour way less challenging.

6. Numbers Bingo Game

Bingo is an award-winning and one of the most loved board games having its fan base comprising both teachers and parents. The educators swear by this game because of the sheer simplicity with which it offers learning to the students. This game comes with a number of cards or flashcards that offer a tasteful way of befriending the kids with the numbers.

You can give them challenges to locate numbers, show numbers in the form of the corresponding number of coins, and make the whole learning process super fun. What’s more, this board game for learning numbers gives kids a readymade resource for learning number name spellings. Bingo is a wholesome alternative to books for kindergartners and preschoolers. It can bring a number of skilled beginners to a better level of proficiency by enabling expertise in:

• Spelling learning
• Number and value identification
• Number sequencing
• Early math skills

If you are looking for alternatives that drive better and more sustained learning, you can take the help of Bingo to be your teaching partner.

7. Kitki Mind Your Numbers Math Game

Mind Your Numbers is a board game where families can come together and win lots of points with their math skills. Two people play this game at one time and try to get the higher value result by using two numbers and a mathematical sign. Learn to strategize, and win more by doing calculations fast, and master the early math skills.

There is no denying the fact that number learning can be stressful especially when the kids have learning difficulties such as dyscalculia. Board games like Mind Your Numbers take away the stress from the learning process, and make it super fun for home-schooled children. This game offers support for building:

• Logical reasoning
• Math computation skills
• Number identification and
• Learning the meaning and function of operation

Assist children in speeding up their computation skills by pitting them against the opponent in a time-pressed manner. In this process, the kids will not even realize that they are studying a match concept and will be more inclined to practice it more often.

8. Junior Learning What’s My Number Board Game

What is My Number Board Game for Number Learning is an engaging game that helps children grasp a variety of basic number skills. Numbers could be befriended through gamification – whoever thought about this approach? This board game takes into account the number of learning requirements of children and offers them a playful way of learning early math skills, such as:

• Counting
• Ordering and sequencing
• Understanding patterns
• Solving word problems using cues

This board game comes with puzzle flashcards where a hint about the number is given to the player. The player flips open the number cards on the board using the cues given to find the number. Using these cues, the player can learn to solve math problems like ‘what comes after or before’, missing number of the series, and so on. This game can be played at the beginner stage using problems relevant to this state and then keep on increasing the challenge by doing various activities or by following the instructions on the flashcard.

9. Junior Learning Ten Frame Towers Board Games

Does your student or kid find it difficult to read and perform operations on the numbers? Surprisingly, they are not alone. About 3-7% of the population suffer from math learning difficulties^[4]. Board games have been found to be very effective in making learning easier for such people. Ten frame board game has all that it takes to make learning about numbers simple and easy to absorb.

Your students are most likely to feel more fluent with numbers when they learn early math skills using these frames. They will be able to count, move frames, and create number bonds to arrive at the sum of numbers. Thus, your students will get to know how operations work and what they result in when they start practicing using this game. The best benefits include internalizing number values, math operations, and better motor skills, hand-eye coordination comes as icing on the cake.

10. Hasbro Hi-Ho! Cherry-O Board Game

One of the most favorite activities of little kids is picking their own fruit. Be it the apple picking season or the most loved strawberry picking season, kids always have a lot of fun. Bringing the joy of plucking fruits from trees into a game is the Hi Ho! Cherry-O board game. Ideal for kids 3 years of age and older, this board game is a fun way to practice early math skills. 

A spinner is provided in the box, which players must spin one by one and pluck as many pretend fruits from trees as reflected by the spinner. Fruits are then collected in a basket, and the player who gets their basket full before everyone else wins the game. The beauty of this game is that while filling up their buckets with pretend apples, cherries, and blueberries, kids unknowingly polish their early math skills, which include counting numbers and basic addition and subtraction operations. 

So, if you want kids to have some serious fun while working on their mathematical capabilities, you ought to try this game. Whether at school or at home, kids will love playing this game and will likely stay glued to it for a long time. Who doesn’t like to have a bucket full of favorite fruits after all?

Summing up,

We all complain that kids get distracted while studying. So, why not provide them with something that catches their attention and immerses them in the learning process as well? Since kids need something engaging to focus on the learning part, therefore, board games can provide that support to make the process super exciting.

With virtues like support for concept building, retaining and recalling the concepts learned, and giving practice on the application part too, the board games offer a tangible tool to beginners of number learning.

References

1. Grills-Taquechel, A. E., Fletcher, J. M., Vaughn, S. R., & Stuebing, K. K. (2012). Anxiety and Reading Difficulties in Early Elementary School: Evidence for Unidirectional- or Bi-Directional Relations? Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 43(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0246-1
2. Hunsucker, Andrew. (2016). Board Games as a Platform For Collaborative Learning.
3. Chou, M. (2017). Board games play Matters: a rethinking on children’s aesthetic experience and interpersonal understanding. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Board-Games-Play-Matters%3A-A-Rethinking-on-Aesthetic-Chou/50eb27022328770251e3ae4abcda50d14f0f3329?p2df
4. Haberstroh, S., & Schulte-Körne, G. (2019). The Diagnosis and Treatment of Dyscalculia. Deutsches ÄRzteblatt International, 116(7), 107-114. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2019.0107

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post 10 best number board games for math literacy appeared first on Number Dyslexia.

The shape is one of the aspects that intrigue kids a lot. Shapes are an important part of building math reasoning in a child. Judging shapes, sizes, heights, and distances finds its best use while playing games crossing the roads, and learning trigonometry at higher levels of study. As a teacher, you may find it difficult to familiarize kids with the concept of shapes. Teaching manipulatives help children come to terms with shapes in a fun way. 

Manipulatives help teach the concept of shapes to children in a participative manner. As a teacher or parent, allow them to play with blocks, solids, etc., engage them in craft activities, or simply arrange or sort, and eventually, help them overcome their hesitation about shapes and related concepts.

Which shape manipulatives should be on your checklist? This is quite a valid question given the plethora of options available around. So, to ease your searching woes, we bring you here the most creative manipulatives for teaching shapes to early learners.

Top 11 shape manipulatives for early learners

1. Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards

Unleash the creativity in children with Melissa and Doug Blocks and Boards! This shape manipulative can provide hands-on learning of shapes such as rectangles, hexagons, squares as well as trapeziums. Along with the comfort of the shapes, this manipulative works on improving spatial awareness and enhances eye and hand coordination. Color recognition ability development comes as a bonus with this teaching manipulative.

Start the activity by letting children sort the blocks by colors, and then involve them deeper by giving them patterns to fill with the blocks. You can also ask them to be creative in their choices of colors in making the patterns. Thus, children will enjoy learning shapes. With regular practice, they will be able to retain the concept better. Moving higher up on the learning ladder, you can time this activity and give it the challenge to make patterns in a given time. This manipulative is an amazing mind stimulant and offers a creative way of familiarizing children with shapes and patterns.

2. Coogam Wooden Blocks Puzzle Brain Teasers Toy Tangram

Tease children’s brains with this Toy Tangram and gift them the intelligence of shapes, spatial awareness, and knowledge of shape types. This game challenges the mind and improves its ability to grasp the concept of shapes. Kids love the challenging part, though the first time will need a lot of boosting morale. Once achieved, the kids tend to come back to it and do it faster than before.

This shape manipulative helps in three ways; first, there is the retention of concept in mind, which means concept recall increases considerably. Second, the familiarity with signs is enhanced. Third, the children learn to recognize shapes as well as colors. Fitting this jigsaw puzzle into a box opens the world of awareness for children. Their minds get suitable challenges to overcome and feel great about their achievements. It is an engaging activity you can perform in the class as well as at home.

3. Educational Insights Shapes Beanbags

Shape bean bags are handy manipulatives for learning shapes with deeper involvement. The bean bags designed in the shapes of square, rectangle, hexagon, or circle with names put on them make identification much easier for early learners. Apart from recognizing the numbers, the children can be made to draw the shapes by outlining the bean bags. Start familiarizing parts by allowing them to toss or catch these. This activity has a deeper meaning as it allows students to improve their judgment of distance and the size or shape of the article.

Further, give a small shape talk where you can tell them about the shape and teach them to associate it with shape type. To attain a higher level of shape intelligence, the children can be asked to draw the outlines as suggested above.  Spelling learning, shape identification, and pencil-holding motor skills are some of the benefits children can derive from this shape manipulative.

4. Dough Tools Kit

Give children tools, literally speaking, to build and know the shapes. Children can use a rolling pin, dough cutter, and molds to create a variety of shapes. This shape manipulative can take the learning activity to higher levels of engagement and offers a playful way of grasping the figures that children normally look around.

Inculcate the initial as well as advanced motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and spatial intelligence, and shape association skills in the child and prepare him to be a confident learner. An interesting way to stimulate the brains of children towards spatial awareness, and build logical thinking

Give an easy introduction to shapes of animals, alphabets, and numbers with this interesting shape manipulative that makes an amazing pastime activity at home or in class.

5. VTech Sort and Discover Drum

Shape cognition is always there in a child. It is the association and application part that they learn from teachers using shape manipulatives. You will find children somewhat familiar with this manipulative as they have played with it since infancy. At home, with practice and a curiosity-laden approach, they try to fix the shapes in corresponding slots given in the drum. The manipulative offers an easy introduction to colors. Teachers tell them about canonical shapes like squares, triangles, and circles. They can further ask them to match these shapes with items in their surroundings.

Colorful blocks pre-fed music, and phrases in this manipulative do the job of attracting the child toward the activity. They can try to recollect the name of the shape each time they perform. With practice, they speed up the process of filling the slots and show their proficiency level by naming and fitting the shape in the slot the fastest possible. Spatial visualization, association, naming, and recollection of shapes’ names along with the introduction to numbers and colors are some of the learning this shape manipulative provides to early learners.

6. Geoboard

Geoboards come with bands and pattern cards to guide the kids on how to use this shape manipulative. Start with canonical figures like squares and triangles. With the help of arranging the bands on the board’s pegs, the kids learn about making shapes. Even before this, the teachers can use this manipulative for small discussions on associating shapes with names.

Moving to higher learning, kids can experiment with as many shapes as they want. This manipulative can prove its utility in learning asymmetric figures that are also known as embedded figures like trapezium, etc. Enrich the children’s knowledge of shapes with non-canonical figures, such as isosceles triangles at higher grades of learning. This manipulative is ideal for learning about shapes. It enhances spatial awareness, improves eye-hand skills, and stimulates the mind to absorb, retain, and recall the shape memory built in the learning process.

7. Edx Education Mini Geometric Solids

Introduce the children to geometrical shapes using this shape manipulative in an engaging manner. Color-coded blocks offer an ideal solution for differentiating shapes from one another when they do not know the names. Gradually, you can tell the name of the 3D solid shape they are carrying.

Ask them to associate with the same shapes of other colors, or give them a set of things to pick embedded figures, this shape manipulative offers a smarter way of teaching about shape, size, and color than those provided by 2D presentations or drawings in books.

It provides a collaborative tool, which can be useful in classroom teaching for building shape intelligence in children. The activity time using these solids can be made more interesting by encouraging children to sort, join, or arrange blocks to create more unique shapes.

8. Melissa and Doug Shapes Wooden Chunky Puzzles

The Wooden Chunky puzzles in 8 shapes are easy for tiny hands to grasp and make sense of as they start on their shape comprehension journey. The heart-shaped wooden chunks will melt your child’s heart while the star ones are just the right ones to start their starry dreams.

The pieces display full-colour pictures beneath to offer visual clues. They also encourage hand-eye coordination and imaginative play. The bright colored pieces offer a play with a pattern that sure matches the ‘Gold standard in childhood play’ that Melissa and Doug’s toys promise!

9. Edxeducation-21395-Junior Geostix

These Junior Geostix offer a great possibility of shapes that the kids can construct while mixing and matching the colors. Thus, its learning tangent includes 2D and 3D shapes and even color recognition. Follow it up with teaching sorting, sequencing, lengths, and measurements with the endless possibilities this durable stix provides. They also help in the development of motor skills. So get started with the engineer and builder that is hidden in your kid!

10. PicassoTiles Magnet Building tiles

There is no limit to your child’s creativity, likewise, the Picasso Magnetic tiles provide an immense possibility of construction and shape your child can build in both 2D and 3D. Make it as tall as you want and teach your child geometric and architectural designs along the way. Add a dash of colors here and there and make it a vibrant activity for your child. Throw in nuggets of knowledge about magnetic polarities as well.

These colossal tile constructions are just the right match for your child’s colossal dreams. Let them fall in love with shapes!

11. hand2mindAngLegs Geometry Set, Shape geometry resource

The variety packs of colored angels come in different lengths that allow kids to build polygons of their choice as well as measure different angles. Snapping together different Angles can create a multitude of different geometric shapes like triangles, squares, polygons, and rectangles of varying areas and the protractors can make circles and half circles. Shapes and shapes with increased areas can be learned with this amazing manipulative so that the child gets the added advantage of learning about proportions.

Summing up,

It is very important for children to be familiar with shapes. This simple concept goes a long way and allows building the learning ground for developing geometry skills. Shape identification is needed for learning almost everything that kids learn, such as alphabets, numbers, and also about animals, fruits, and other things of daily use. So, make the path of learning easier with the shape manipulatives and give a solid start to learning.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

The post Top 11 manipulatives to teach shapes to early learners appeared first on Number Dyslexia.