Basic Addition – Kindergarten(1510)

When young children start their first day of school, they walk into the classroom having such a wide range of abilities. I look at the kids who have been in preschool for 1 or 2 years, some who have had daycare type exposure to learning, some have stay at home parents who have diligently worked on their ABC’s and 123’s. What about those children who have had little to no education before they strap on that backpack? Depending on where you live, you might see very little or quite diverse student capabilities.

I began volunteering in my daughter’s kindergarten classroom right away last fall after I was laid off. It was the best thing I could have ever asked for! I found so many valuable things in those short 9 months. In one small room I uncovered a love for teaching and being around children, a master teacher that my daughter learned so much from, and a woman who encouraged me to go back to school and who also agreed to be my mentor. Kindergarten is one of the most crucial grades in the school for so many reasons. When I was deciding what grades I wanted to focus on, I immediately knew the younger children was where I would be best suited. On the flip side, my heart races at the thought of having such a burden to teach a child how to read, write, behave in a school setting and respect themselves, their peers, and their teachers.

I want to discuss the basic addition that children learn in this magical first year of class. Once the number recognition and understanding was there for these students, they gradually worked into addition in the winter months. I remember sitting in the classroom observing a lesson and having my own “ah-ha” moment as I watched Mrs. Dunphy instruct the children. A very easy concept, when you have two numbers that you want to add together, you simply start with the largest number and then count up the amount of the next number.

For example, I have 3 apples and I need to add 2 more. I start at 3 and simply count up 2 places to 4, and 5 as the ending point. There are great hands-on manipulatives to help with the mathematical learning process. Unifex cubes, base blocks, paper chain links, checkers, or any other object can be used to show examples of addition. Children need to see things in different formats to help the concepts stay with them. It is beneficial to mix in lecture, worksheets, projects and stations for the students to reinforce their math skill. My mentor switched her math time from the afternoon to the morning half way through the year because the students were tuned in earlier in the day. She was very thoughtful with how she worked in simple math concepts of patterns, addition, and subtraction within some of their daily stations in addition to their set math lessons. She has learned over the years to keep it light and fun and the kids will stay engaged in the learning process.

Marble Math Addition

Basic Math Games 

In closing, I share a heartwarming example of how you can never give up on a child in your classroom. This year I knew all of the kids quite well and each of their abilities and some of the things they struggled with, or so I thought. I went over to a sweet little girl; I will call Susie, to check her off on her addition worksheet. Susie had struggled quite a bit with many concepts this first year, did not have much confidence, was shy and timid at times, and also has a heart of gold. I walked over to see the page of about 50 basic addition problems completely filled in. I sat down next to her on my own yellow stability ball and went through the whole sheet and couldn’t help buy start to smile. Susie had done EVERY PROBLEM RIGHT! I asked her if anyone helped her and how she did so well, to which she responded, “I don’t know, I just did my best work!” I gave her the biggest high five; great big hug and told her how proud I was of her for doing so well.

My eyes started to fill up with tears as I walked over to the teacher to show her the paper and explain the scenario. Mrs Dunphy responded with, “You can never give up on any child, because it is when you least expect it that the light bulb will go on and they will finally get it.” I know that these words will ring in my head in the years to come. There were many similar stories towards the end of the year in this classroom with certain students who didn’t know any letters or numbers in September and passed their grade equivalency tests in May.

Teachers do make a difference! I can’t wait to share my love of math and problem solving with the little ones who will make their way to my room. I hope someday to have these “magic skills” like Mrs. Dunphy. It is amazing to see the change that is possible in a child when you give them the love and attention they each deserve.