How to develop a child's attention and memory during a walk, what is the essence of the game "Number houses", as well as other exercises that will help the child learn to count in the mind. 

How to teach a child to count in the head: simple tips for mastering oral counting

Children of primary school age, and sometimes even middle-level children, often have difficulties in math lessons, especially when it comes to verbal counting. This is because verbal counting is a complex mental process. To master the skills of verbal counting, the child needs to have a very good base. First of all, we are talking about the amount of attention and memory.

Normally, by 6-7 years, the amount of attention and memory should reach 7-8 units.

Therefore, if parents want to learn their child to quickly count in the mind, then you need to develop the attention and memory of the preschooler. Performing simple exercises and tasks with their child every day, moms and dads will help the child master the verbal counting.

Let's talk about 8 effective exercises that you must definitely take into service.

1 "What has changed?" 

Attention and memory are two inseparable friends. Therefore, if you develop attention, then you automatically train your memory. And vice versa. The game "What has changed?" you can play wherever and whenever you want. For example, on the way from home to kindergarten or a store.

The conditions are simple. The child needs to remember everything that attracted his attention while he was walking from point A to point B. This can be both cars and animals, and the number of children on the playground or a pattern on the house. At the first stage of the game, the parent needs to help his child with leading questions and himself focus on some objects. Ask your child, for example, the following questions: "What kind of dog is this?", "What color was the car passing by?" etc.

The second stage is the way back. Ask the child what has changed by this time and give him a little hint. Note that there are no road workers anymore, that now a lady with a dog of a different breed is coming towards you, and so on. Find at least 5-6 differences with your child. Gradually increase their number to 7-8 and show less and less initiative with each game.

2 "Spot the Difference"

For oral counting, you need to have an idea of ​​numbers and numbers, as well as the ability to compare the number of objects. To teach your child to quickly find similarities and differences, give him two flashcards that are very similar in images. Differences can only be found upon close examination. It is with this task that the child must cope. And the more often he performs such tasks, the better his attention and memory will develop.

3 "Correlate the quantity"

At the preparatory stage, it is important to teach the child to correlate the number of certain objects with numbers. This will help games of dominoes, cards with numbers and a wide variety of toys and objects in the apartment. In advance, you need to prepare cards with numbers from 1 to 9 and the number 10. Each card must be in triplicate.

Then ask the child to find a ball or doll in the room and put the corresponding card with a number next to them. If there are two balls, then the number 2, if there are five dolls, then the number 5, and so on. When the child learns such manipulations with objects and cards, you can move on to tasks on a piece of paper, where he will need to draw a line from a number to a picture on which the corresponding number of objects is drawn. 

4 "Add or subtract"

The child must understand the meaning of each mathematical action and be able to use synonymous words denoting the same action. Cleaning, for example, will help him deal with this. When he once again scatters toys around the room, tell him: "Put the cars and dolls in a box." And then accompany this process with an account and communication with the child. For example, you can say, “The box is empty, but you put 2 toys in it. Now there are 2 toys. Then you put / added one more toy, and there were already 3 of them in the box ”.

This simple method also contributes to teaching the child to count in his head, because if you introduce such a useful cleaning into a habit, he will automatically count how many toys have already been removed and how many are still lying around the apartment.

5 "Number houses" 

Also, the knowledge of the composition of numbers within 20 helps to teach the child to count quickly in his head. The game "Number houses" will help to remember them. According to the conditions, the child needs to resettle the residents (numbers) by floors so that the number of residents corresponds to the floor number, for example. When the child automatically learns the composition of the numbers, then during a walk you can ask him to add up the numbers of the first car he sees. 

 

At first, you can add only 2 numbers, then, when it becomes clear that the child is cleverly coping with this task, a third should be added. You can also count the number of letters in words that will attract your attention, and then add them together with your baby. Also, for the development of oral counting, any board games in which it is necessary to calculate the results are suitable.

6 "Buyer - seller" 

The child will quickly learn to operate with the knowledge gained about the composition of the number, when it concerns either himself or when this knowledge can be applied immediately in practice. The buyer-seller game is a good way to teach oral counting. Imagine that you are in a store with your child, and all that you see around you is goods. To make it easier to fantasize, you can hang price tags on each item.  

During the game, you can use both real money and toys made by yourself. At first, the child will play the role of the buyer. After he chooses a product (it is better to start with two items), ask him to calculate its cost. When he starts to do it smartly, you can complicate the game. For example, offer to calculate how much money he has left after settling with the seller.

When a child plays the role of a seller, he will have to follow the same algorithms, but in this case he will have to calculate how much money needs to be returned to the buyer.

7 "Math Puzzles"

When the child has mastered the composition of numbers and knows about mathematical actions, then you can move on to math puzzles and puzzles. You don't need to buy complicated ones right away. At first, parents can do the puzzles themselves. To do this, you need to take any picture from a calendar or a magazine cover, stick it on thick cardboard or drawing paper, and then draw horizontal and vertical lines on the back. In each square, you need to write the numbers out of order. These will be answers to examples. And the final stage is to cut the picture into squares.

The examples themselves should be written on a blank slate. It also needs to be divided into a large cell. The child's task is to read the example, calculate the result and find the appropriate answer among the colored squares. As a result, he must assemble a picture.

8 "Mental arithmetic" 

Recently, classes in mental arithmetic have been in great demand. This is a rather unusual way of learning oral counting. With the right approach, the child will really learn to count quickly, but several important points must be taken into account:

  • Firstly, you need to understand that this is just one of the ways to teach a child to count, which may not suit every kid.
  • Secondly, this method of teaching does not meet the school requirements of Russian programs. It will be difficult for a preschooler who has learned to count in this way to meet the requirements at school. This also applies to the writing of mathematical calculations, because the school requires to show all the calculations of the child.
  • Third, parents need to ask themselves, “Does my child really need this speed when calculating? What is my goal? "
    The fact is that the teaching of mental arithmetic takes place at first all the same on visual material - abacus abacus, which are later removed. We use toys, sticks, cards, etc. for counting. and we are also moving away from working directly with them to abstract calculations.