• Category: Uncategorized
• Published Dated: October 22, 2020
• Written by: Susan

Not sure about when to start teaching addition and subtraction math facts to little ones? Once they show readiness and understanding, go for it! See my post, Readiness Skills for Teaching Addition and Subtraction. Also read the testimonial below received a number of years ago from a parent of a then 4-year-old.

Readiness Skills for Teaching Addition and Subtraction posted June, 2014.

While my daughter and son-in-law are working from home due to Covid, I am helping out with their preschooler. She is not quite 4 1/2 years old, and I am teaching her math facts using my book, Two Plus Two Is Not Five. I found she is learning the strategies and their names from the book. She can write answers on a line or two from the pages in Two Plus Two Is Not Five, but the writing part is not one of her favorite things to do since the print is a bit small for a preschooler.

Helping Young Children Learn Math Facts

Modifications to Try

So, the last two times I worked with her, I gave her a paper designed with just five facts on a line. There are only three lines on a page, and I folded it in 1/3s with only one line showing at a time. I encouraged her to use different colored markers for answers. This very much appealed to her! She also gets to pick out a sticker for completed lines. Between the two papers, I covered at least a sampling of all of the strategies she’s learned. Note: As she is still mastering proper number formation, I did not correct the backwards 2 on one of the papers.

Above Mentioned 2011 Testimonial

“Before we found Two Plus Two is Not Five, we tried at least half a dozen learning systems and workbooks to teach math to our 4 year-old son. But we found that he was not able to learn much from them other than counting up the numbers on his fingers or pictures on the page. Then we happened upon the Two Plus Two is Not Five system. From the start, he has mastered the tricks easily. As part of the exercises, he has learned a number of new skills including counting backwards, counting by twos and adding/subtracting doubles. The system of learning the trick, practicing, and then doing the mixed exercises has quickly reinforced the learning and helped us immediately spot weaknesses in learning that we worked with him to correct. The structure of the book makes it easy to sit down with him, walk him through the tricks, and let him practice until he masters the skills. There is limited parental preparation involved, and we go through one page a night, five nights a week.” Deborah and David Liu, Palo Alto, CA

If you have questions about teaching math facts, or helping your children learn, check some of the Blog posts for helpful hints, and if you still need some assistance, please contact me. The workbooks are filled with practice pages, the strategies to help children learn, and much more!