Monday, January 18, 2010

Math Mats












I'm in love with Lakeshores I Can Add & Subtract Math Mats! I was introduced to these when Emilee was going to public school. When I started homeschooling again this was one of the first things I bought. They sell for $24.95 at Lakeshore stores. These mats teach adding and subtracting up to 10 in a fun and hands on way. In the photo above the #4 is red so the child places 4 red ducks in the pond. There is a yellow #1 so the child places 1 yellow duck in the pond. The child then adds up the ducks in the pond and finds the correct foam number to place above the black line. The mats come in three different styles (all included) cars/garage, ducks/pond, and pigs/mud puddle.


After the child has a good grasp on adding you can flip all the cards over for subtraction problems. You start by having the child put the # of ducks in the pond for whatever # is in black (in the photo it's 5). The child then takes out (of the pond) the number of ducks in yellow (in this picture it's 1). Then the child count's how many duck's are in the pond and finds the correct foam number to put above the black line.




This is what the card looks like without any foam pieces on it.

This is a great beginning adding and subtracting program for Preschool, Kindergarten, or Special Needs students!