The next natural way for students to practise addition and subtraction with large amounts, is to introduce money. The students were paired up and were practising counting coins. The little gal demonstrated her understanding as she created the pile of coins on the left and said "One dollar" I told her that she didn't have 4 quarters to which she explained her thinking that two dimes and a nickel were the same amount as a quarter and that she didn't need to count the coins because she knew that four quarters made $1.00 because they were worth 100 cents.
How exciting! That's what we all hope for, confident students who understand the concept and can explain their reasoning! Hooray!
The students really enjoyed this hands on experience. Offer your child some experience when you are at the store. Ask how much an item costs, let them read the tags on the shelf, ask which coins they would need to use for that amount. They can even explain (after this week) how much 'change' they will expect from a cashier for an item.
For example, a can of soup might be 69 cents and you might give the cashier a 'loonie.'
How much change will they receive? It's a wonderful real life opportunity to practise mental math!
Some of my little girls are in Garden Club. On Friday they helped me set out the beans that we have grown from seeds, and are now ready to enjoy the big garden.
They gently pulled their roots apart, set them out, dug holes, planted and patted the soil firmly before
watering!
Happy Mother's Day!
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