Original Site Title: Appetizers and Lessons for Mathematics and Reason, June 1995 to April 2012. New site title:
Logic and Mathematics Skill & Concept Development with How-TOs Français: 26 pages
for college students, gifted teens, home-tutoring and K1-12 schooling. Avid readers in school and out may like Site Volumes.

Logic 5 Chapters Arithmetic 10 Steps Algebra 12 Starter Steps & 5 Advanced Steps
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Ages 15+: Why study slopes Polynomials Quadratics Why factor polynomials Logarithms Functions
What is similarity Euclidean geometry leanly Coordinates + complex no.s Vectors DC Electric Circuits
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What is a variable 5. Fraction Operations by Raising Terms Solving Linear Equations: Take I Take II


Online Volumes: 1 - Elements of Reason, 2 - 3 Skills For Algebra, 3 - Why Slopes and
More Math
, 1A - Pattern Based Reason, 1B - Skill Development Principles + Troubles

Welcome: Site content may develop critical thinking, improve reading and writing, and build mathematics skills. See online chapters on on logic and pattern based reason.

Teachers: This December 2011, 5-phase framework offers a context for mathematics & logic instruction. Phases 1 to 3 focus on skills with actual or potential value for adult & daily life. College-oriented phases 5 & 4 focus on calculus & preparation for it. Phases 1 to 4 may also serve trades & professions not dependent on calculus.

Site Review: Math resources ... span ... arithmetic, logic, algebra, calculus, complex numbers, and Euclidean geometry. Lessons and how-tos .... provide a good foundation for high school and college ... mathematics. Read more.

Home < Mathematics Skills Year by Year << Ages 4 plus to 5 plus

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For older four year olds and 5 year olds.

skills to check or develop

Counting and Figuring from 1 to 20

A. Counting and Figuring 1 to 20

Activities

  1. Show students how to count aloud and then on paper from 1 to 20 aloud. Provide the word and one or two digit decimal representation of each count or number. Repeat the exercises in items 1 to 7 (where not too much nor too little) to assist in and test mastery of numbers 1 to 20.

  2. Physical and Pictorial Counts: Physically given a single bowls with 0 to 20 objects (marbles, whatever) in each, find the total number of objects by counting, label each bowl with the word and digit form of the counts. Later, when the bowls are empty have students fill each in accordance with their labels. Alternatively or in parallel, students may do the foregoing with pictures. See the More on Sequencing item for counting from 1 to 10.

  3. Comparision of Objects by Position: Identify or point to a place or position from first to tenth? Where is the first, second, third, fourth, ... nineteenth and twentieth element in a sequence. For example, students may be shown a line of people walking and be asked to identify the position of each in the line or queue.

  4. Comparision of Sets by Number: Given different set with 1 to 20 elements, say which sets have the same number or different number of elements, which has more than and which has less than another or several others.

  5. Counting Small Sets: Show that different sets of 1 to 12 objects may have the same number. [Counting how many is a property of sets, not their members]

  6. Picking Correct Number: In counting, with examples, show how to select 2 to 20 objects from a larger collection.

  7. Zero or None: In counting, with examples, show how to say many objects there are and when there are none, to say none or zero.

  8. Connect or Join the Dots: With examples, show how to arrange the numbers 1 to 20 in order, forwards and backwards

    • Activity: Join the Dots in sequence puzzles:   Parallel to learning the digits 1 to 9, their meaning and order, students are most likely learning the or an alphabet.   The simple task or puzzle in which students join dots labeled with single digits or letters in proper sequence to arrive at a geometric path, shape or picture tests and encourages the ability to arrange whole numbers, single digit and larger, and letters too in sequence. The geometric might represents a path through a maze or a path take to buried treasure - anything that will amuse.  Letters too may come as small or capital, or in various scripts.   The digits may be written  not only  using arabic but also using  roman numerals.  Indeed tally marks could be used in place of digits.  Finally, the labels could be joined forwards and backwards. 

      All sequencing recognition abilities and comprehension can be tested by a joining the dot problem where the geometric path  or paths thus drawn outline a figure etc..  


      Technical Note: 
      Joining the dot exercises may provide a context for this. Ask students to identify what comes before or after a point in the sequence or path. 
With this age group, continue to emphasize two counting practices or expectations when students obtain different or incorrect results in counting

First Counting Practice A: The count (no matter how large) should be independent of the counter. So when counts differ or are incorrect, when two people obtain different counts, a recount is required. Tell students to count twice or thrice just to make sure their counts are correct.

Second Counting Practice B: Object may be counted in different order, but in the end, the order in which objects are counted does not affect the total count - no matter how large. Show and confirm this observation by example.

As a teacher, older sibling or parent, you may deliberately make a mistake in one to one tutoring to introduce this practice or practice or principle.

B. Introducte Addition and Subtraction Physically

While the eventual aim to show students how do arithmetic with decimals, the hands-on context and motivation for that comes from physical addition and subtraction of groups of objects, as well as from observing and counting the results.

  1. Physical Addition: Physically given two bowls (sets) with 0 to 10 objects (marbles, whatever) in each, find the total number of objects by counting - this sets the stage for addition of digits. Drill and Practice is a must here. Choose examples so that total number present is 20 or less.

    Prequel to Counting Observation C: The order in which the bowls are placed does not affect the total count.

  2. On paper, shown drawings of two set of dots (squares, circles, like objects) with 10 or fewer than in each set, find the total number of drawn dots (or like objects).

    Technical Note: The regularity in this and the previous item leads to the 10 by 100 addition table - explains why 3 + 4 = 7.

  3. Addition with Digits: Add pairs of numbers or counts verbally or on paper. Fill in the 10 by 10 addition table to obtain and record the results of all sums of pairs of numbers where each number in the pair is from 0 to 9. Make sure physical addition is understood before or while providing a written way to do addition on paper.

    Intermediate Steps: (1) Each single digit could be represented along the side of the table by 0 to 9 dots or tally marks in accordance with the value of the digit. Then the entry for say 3 + 4 would consist of 3 + 4 dots or tally marks or dots. The resulting table could be generated without and then with the digits along side the dots or tally marks along the sides and inside the table. Finally, the tally marks could be dropped. (2) The foregoing could be done with few digits, 1 to 4 or 1 to 7 etc, in the first instance.

    Notation: Introduce column notation for addition of single digits - that practice here helps sets the stage for place value or column methods later.

        8
     +6
        14

    and the linear expressions 8 + 6 = 14 and 6 + 8 - 14 as well. Drill and Practice is a must here. With result more than 10, students will not be able to count on their fingers. But at this stage, learning to count with objects actual or drawn, or with marks is part of a possible development of reasoning skills.

    Counting Observation C: The order of addition does not affect the total count. Mention that to the students here and say that explains why different counting by addition problems have the same result.

    Hands-On Viewpoint: The introduction to addition here is based on the empirical observation that 7 units of something plus another 5 units of the same material usually gives 12 units of that material. Similar hands-on methods explain entries in the 10 by 10 addition table.

  4. Physical Subtraction: Take away or subtract a given number of objects ( 1 to 9 say) from a larger set of objects (marbles, sweets, pennies, and so on? Drill and Practice is a must here.

    Technical Note: The regularity in this and the previous item leads explains why 7 -3 = 4.

    Intermediate step: To subtract 3 from 7 dots, show or indicate that 7 = 3 + 4, and hence taking away 3 leaves a remainder of 4.

  5. Subtraction with Digits: Subtract one digit number from second one when the second one is larger - more than or equal to the first.

    Notation 1 : Introduce linear expressions 9 - 5 = 4 as a consequence of 9 = 4 + 5.

    Notation 2: Introduce column notation for subtraction

       9
     - 5
          

    and note the the result + the number subtracted, that 4 + 5 = 9, and that should always be t he case. The foregoing introduces the habit of checking a subtraction via an addition that needs to be emphasized in future years. Drill and Practice sufficient to develop and confirm skills is a must here

C. The Next Fraction - One quarter

  1. The Fraction One Quarter: Show how to divide a pie, distance or rectangle into four like parts, or four parts of equal value Show students how to write the fraction in symbols and in words - one quarter.

  2. Recognition of Quarters and Halves Show how a quarter pie or rectangle or square or distance is one of four equal or like parts? Show how half a pie or rectangle or square or distance is one of two equal or like parts?

  3. Four Quarters Make a Whole, Show how a quarter pie or rectangle or square or distance is made of four equal or like parts? Show how half a pie or rectangle or square or distance can be given by two quarters.

  4. Employ half and quarter hours, and half-days in talking about time.

D. Even and Odd Numbers upto at most 20

Counting in Groups of Two, Skip Counting, Even and Odd Whole Numbers

  1. Even Whole Numbers: Given the sequence 2, 4, 6, etc. predict what number comes next? The answer could be 8, 10, 12.What pattern does your charge see?

    Note: Grade 1 students may continue the pattern and continue with even numbers. As part of learning about this sequence, students may asked to join dots labeled with elements of the sequence. The continuation may be done by asking students to provide the missing numbers.

    The foregoing may be classified as skip counting by 2 instead of 1. The sequence may also occur when counting in groups of two.

      ..   ..  ..   ..   ..  ..

         2     4    8     10   

  2. Odd Whole Numbers: Given the sequence 1, 3, 5, 7 predict or guess what number comes next? The answer could be 9, 11, ... for a sequence of odd numbers. Might be 11 for a sequence of primes. What pattern does your charge see?

    Note: Grade 1 students will not have studied primes. So they may continue the pattern and continue with odd numbers. As part of learning about this sequence, students may asked to join dots labeled with elements of the sequence. The continuation may be done by asking students to provide the missing numbers.

    The foregoing may be classified as skip counting by 2 instead of 1. . The sequence may also occur when counting in groups of two with one left-over.

    .   ..   ..  ..   ..   ..  ..

    1      3     5    7     9        

  3. One half of Even and Odd Counts: Fractions in the first instance may be understood in terms of geometric division of a pie, a length, a rectangle, square or circle into two equal parts. Examples of halves and further fractions may appear at home at meal time when food is divided among family members. For numbers upto and including 20, show your learner how an even number of objects may be divided or split into to groups of the same number. Then observe how division of a odd group in to two equal subgroups leads to one left over.

  4. Division by Dealing: Show how to divide upto 20 objects equally or nearly so among two, three or more by handing out or dealing the objects, one at a time, one after another in two, three or more separate piles. Observe when the resulting piles are all equal in size/number.

E. Counting and Reading Measurements

  1. Measure Integral Lengths: Count the number of inches (centimeters) in lengths 1 to 20 inches (respectively centimeters) or other units of measure where lengths are given by a whole number of units.

    Note: Students who understand the the fraction ½ may be introduced to measure with half-units as well. 8½ cm for example. The latter should be read aloud as eight and a half centimeters. Here 8 ½ serves as a multiplier - It describes how man centimeters are in a length.

    Show how to read or use a ruler and recognize when the zero mark of the ruler is not an at an end. [Some mathematics exercise booklets introduce this skil using drawings instead of rulers. Due to that possibility, ruler use is explicitly mentioned.

  2. Temperature Measures:

    Show how to read a thermometers to find temperature.

    Note: measures would be to the nearest whole unit, or nearest half-unit. Here is a casual way to introduce negative numbers - when the temperature is cold enough.

  3. Comparison: Show how Compare objects by length, weight or temperature: longer, shorter, lighter, heavier, cooler hotter,

    Note: Lengths of strings can be compared without the aid of measurement. Show students how to compare lengths without and with the aid of measurement (rulers, tape measures) or units. p>

F. Geometry - Word Usage and Counting

  1. Naming/Identifying: With examples, show students squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, and identify them by name.  Then test students on their ability to name these geometric shapes, and to match figures with their names. 

    Note - a matter of taste: Triangles here should not all be equilateral. 

    As parent or guardian, as you watch a child progress, there there may be teachable moments that arise out of the blue, or may stem from playful challenges - how far can you count? what shapes can you name? What letters do you know? What is the shape of that door, window or area? Older siblings and others may help and take pleasure in this. The child may see learning more words, the names of objects, and adjectives describing them or how many or how much, as part of growing up and becoming stronger.

    Show students the interior [insides] and perimeters of each figure. Point to the exterior or outside.

    Can he or she copy or reproduce them?

    Can he or she point to the interior and perimeter of each.

  2. Length and Temperature Measures: Know how read or use a  ruler and thermometers? Can he or she estimate distance with a ruler?

    Note:  measures would be to the nearest whole  unit, or nearest half-unit. 

  3. Show how to measure the perimeter of squares, triangles and rectangles with the aid of a ruler, a string or the measure of each side. Choose examples for which the perimeter will be 20 units or less. Measurements may be based on counting how many inside of adding lengths of sides.

  4. Counting Sides: Instruct students to count the number of sides in a triangle and rectangle. That should led to the knowledge that a triangle has 3 sides and a rectangle has 4 sides. 
    Tell students about the interior and perimeters of each figure.

    Can he or she copy or reproduce them?
    Can he or she point to the interior and perimeter of each.
    Can he or she measure the perimeter of squares, triangles and rectangles 
    with the aid of a ruler, a string or the measure of each side.  Choose examples for which the perimeter will be 20 units or less.

  5. Show how to use longer, shorter, larger, smaller, heavier, lighter, yesterday, today, morning, afternoon, before, after, between in counting and in measurement.

    Note: For students who have started to read, work books may give students pictures to interpret, and ask them to circle an answer - one of the latter words. Or, teachers and tutors may give activities to illustrate the uses of these terms.

G. Time and Date Matters

  1. Telling Time and lengths of time (how long, duration)

    Verify that students can read and recognize time on digital and analogue clocks in terms of hours. Explain the meaning of waiting for an hour, and learning how to compare lengths of time: Longer or shorter.

    At school and at home, activities - when and where and how long are governed by the clock. Parents may set meal times, nap and sleep-times, get-up times, play times by the clock. Parents and teachers may tell student how long they must wait for an activity, and will have or must do activity. The description may be terms of the physical location of hands on a clock, or terms of hours and fractions there-of, or in terms of minutes. With all that emphasis on time, many students will know more than is demanded here in terms of telling time. In societies without clocks, time may be told by the position of the Sun, or be provided by church bells or local calls for prayers.

    Many homes activities involve time of day, day of week, day of the month, month of the year. At ages 3 to 5, children may see that there rise times, breakfast times, lunch times, supper times, wait times, and bed times. At ages 3 to 5, children may also become aware of the days of the week and the months of the year. When they count upto 31, they may learn the day in the month. Birthdays and family festivities expose children to the measurement of age, if not time, in terms of years. Keeping track of height and mass (or weight) may provide a practical introduction to measurement with a unit. Coins and money may also help children develop their numerical or quantitative skills.

  2. Include in daily activities, their duration in 2 to 10 minutes, more if that is understood.

    Talk about hours, half hours and even quarter hours as well

In time and date matters, and in money matters, children may have many teachers at home as well as in school because modern life is based on time described with words and numbers.

H. Money Matters:

  1. Show how to identify small coins (5 and 10 cent pieces) and how give their values in terms of pennies. The handling of money in the home and out povides an opportunities for this.

I. More Comparison Skills

  1. Understand or explain the words: longer, shorter, larger, smaller, heavier, lighter, yesterday, today, morning, afternoon, before, after, between.

    Note:  For students who have started to read,  grade 1 work books may give students pictures to interpret, and ask them to circle an answer - one of the latter words. Or, teachers and tutors may give activities to illustrate the uses of these terms. 

  2. Length and Temperature Comparison: Compare objects by length, weight or temperature: longer, shorter, lighter, heavier, cooler hotter,

    Note:  Lengths of strings can be compared without the aid of measurement.  With examples, show students how to compare lengths without and with the aid of measurement (rulers, tape measures), and imply the two different ways are consistent (agree) in identifying what lengths are longer or shorter, greater or smaller, more or less.

    (Convex) Geometric Figures, their names and properties:

Teachers & Tutors: Site pages offer better or best practices for providing skills - simpler than expected & comprehensive but for exercises. For your charges, your duty is to study them alone or in groups and develop skill building exercises & activities to share. Start now. The effort here is the best I can do. Others are welcome to refine or exceed it. Please do.

Secondary Mathematics for Ages 11+, A Practical Approach for home-tutoring or -schooling, or for schools & colleges with local curriculum control. Study how to include site content - its skill development how-TOs and innovations into present or future lesson plans - some reading required.

Road Safety Messages and Questions: When and why should you face traffic when walking along a road or cycle path? Is it a good idea to hang limbs outside of cars etc? What gives more protection in a crash: a car, motorbike or bicycle? See too, the BBC-Belgium story Texting and Driving - texting & the impossible test - the article links to a gruesome utube video on the subject

The Logic of Injustice: How Texas sent an innocent man to his death - The wrong Carlos. Some judgments are irreversible. Procescution: Where and when prosectors play to win rather than for justice, guilt beyond a reasonable doubt goes unrespected due to prosecutors who putting winning first, those innocence before the law may be convicted. Some procescutors offices in continuing to accuse after a pardon due to reasonable doubt or innocent being shown, may sucessfully oppose compensaton for false convictions by asserting a pardon individual is still under suspicion. Then the pardoned individual or the latter's estate is not compensation for years or decade of improper or false imprisonment, or for execution. Site chapters on Logic
and some in Pattern Based Reason may slowly lead to greater precision in reading, applying and writing laws.

May 2012, Composition Starting: Pre-School and Primary Mathematics - Quantitative Skills, An Intellectual View, Feedback Welcome:

The 8 Most Popular Site Inlinks

20 Times Table - the most popular site page - popular pages - unexpected.
Fractions & Ratios - with lesson on raising terms to introduce & justify times, division & comparison as well addition & subtraction
Parent Center - See below
Volume 1, Elements of Reason - Intro to all site books.
What is a Variable - best for ages 13+
Written work formats for Arithmetic and Algebra - a skill method and standard!
Complex Numbers Visually - best for ages 13+
Natural Logs, Exponentials, Powers, Roots

Division of Labour: This site offers advice and directions with pointers to resources elsewhere, if known, when they help or lessen the need to write more.

Parent Center: Help your child or teen learn:

Parent-friendly Work Booklets for ages 3+ to 13 Use these or others to check or build skills. Other booklets are available but these booklets allow parents unsure of themselves in mathematics to help their children. The selection acquired in Canada is published in the USA. So it has a US orientation. In retrospect, the selection shows parents what to check with the booklets or by other ways, the choice is theirs. But in retrospect, the selection does not cover integral and fractions liquid weights and measures - ask the publishers to correct that! For ages 9 to 12 say, parents may compensate by showing boys and girls how to use weights or mass, and further measures in food preparation. Beyond that children may be shown how to measure and calculate angles, lengths and areas [proportional amounts too] directly or by using maps and plans drawns to scale. Learning how to gather and measure all the ingredients, pots and pans for a dish or a meal, along with cleaning up sets the stage for like activities or experiments in science courses, and in developing organizational skills, gives boys and girls a head start. Good luck. At the other extreme, more comprehensive than light, if your motto is McCainian: drill, drill, drill then Toronto mathematician and actor John Mighton's jump math organization has jump math workbooks for at least grades 3 to 8 for at-home and in-school use - training sessions for teachers available. Jump math has been expanding to cover older students. Jump Math Samples: plus Fractions for Grades 3-4 & Grades 5-6 [Read] Free Resources grades 1 to 8 [unread - likely to be good]. and

Mathematics Skills For Ages 3 to 14 - technical!

Skills with take home value - A few ideas

Basic skills include time-date-calendar Matters; money matters; map, plan and scale diagram matters;counting, measuring and figuring; decision making with logic and likelyhood; being careful and being aware of the domino effect of mistakes; reading and writing with precision.

Is your child able to add, subtract and multiply amounts of money, work with fractions, work with clocks and calendars, work with maps and plans, and measure length, weight-mass and volume? Schools may promote your son or daughter without providing basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Arithmetic and Number Theory Skills

Algebra Starter Lessons

1 Working With Sets
2 Formula Forward Use - Evaluation
3 Solving Linear Equations - Skip first step with students able to solve 1 eqn in 1 unknown.
4 Computation Rules and Function Notation
5 Real Numbers
6 More Less Greater Than Inequalities and Comparison
7 Axioms Logic and Equivalent Equations
8 Unifying Theme For Algebra
9 Proportionality Backwards and Forwards
10 Examples of Algebraic Reasoning
A Origins of Counting and Figuring Methods
B Real Numbers Extrinsic Development


Site coverage of formuala evaluation format, of computation rules and axioms, and of the forward and backward use of formulas and proportionality relations lessens the amount of natural talent needed to understand and explain algebra.

Geometry - maps plans trigonometry vectors

1 Maps Plans Measurement
2 Euclidean Geometry - Constructions + extras
3 Cartesian and Polar Coordinates
4 Lines and Slopes Take 1
5 What is Similarity
6 Trigonometry first steps
7 Complex Numbers
8 Unit-Circle Trigonometry
9 Lines and Slopes Take 2 with tangent function
10 Intersecting Straight Lines and Transversals
11 Parallel Straight Lines and Transversals
12 Function Translating and Rescaling
13 Vectors
14 Degrees to Radians and Radians to Degrees
15 Arc or Inverse Trigonometric Function

Pre-Teen and young teen mastery of skills and practices which should be common with map-plans-diagrams drawn to scale, contour interpretation included, has actual or potential take-home value for daily- and adult-life in solving routine problems. Elevating some practices to principles, axioms or postualates, provides a base for analytic and Euclidean geometry, an analytic view of similarity, and an efficient mastery of trigonometry and complex numbers. Right triangle trigonometry provide an analytic alternative to solving geometric problems by drawing diagrams to scale.

More Algebra

Natural-Logarithms Exponentials Powers Roots
Five Polynomial Operations
Quadratics Geometrically
Functions
5 Factored Polynomial Sign Analysis Examples
Rewriting algebraic substitution as function substitutions

The first topic leads to a full high school level theory for the forward and backward mastery of growth and decay models and for definition, range and domains of radicals, roots and powers. The next two topics make quadratics and polynomials easier to learn and teach. Site coverage of functions turns vertical and horizontal line rules into computation methods for evaluating functions.

70 Calculus Starter Lessons

Calculus Lessons Elsewhere:

  1. How to Ace Calculus: Street Wise Guide - Mostly Text.

  2. Flash Video for Calculus Phobics

They cover basic topics in ways likely to complement your notes, your textbooks and site material. When Goldilocks trespassed in the house of the three bears, she found three bowls of porridge, two not to her liking, and one just right. Different bears have different tastes. As invited guest here and elsewhere, if one or more explanations is not to liking, try another. It may be better or just right.

Unsolicited Advice

Learning to do and high marks if it comes to easy is often deceptive - light rather than deep. For that reason, students with learning difficulties determined not to let it get in their way may go deeper and farther than those with none. High marks, if the come easy, may be deceptive - provide a too light and not a deep mastery. That could have been your problem in secondary school, one that leads to comprehension shock or difficulties in calculus and more generally in the first year of college. Bon Appetite.


Return to Page Top

Home < Mathematics Skills Year by Year << Ages 4 plus to 5 plus

[1] [2] [3] [4][5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]


Logic-Reason for all
Careful Thinking
Chains of Reason
Mathematical Induction
Responsibility
Bodies-of-Knowledge

Arithmetic - Ages 10+
1. Deciml Place Value - fun
2. Decimals for Tutors
3. Prime Factors - quickly
4. Fractions + Ratios
5. Arith with units - science

Geometry
1 Maps + Plans Use
2 Euclidean Geometry
3 Rct +Polr Coordinates
4 Lines-Slopes [I]
5. What is Similarity
Algebra Starters - the base
1. Better Work Format
2. Solve Linear Eqns
3. Computation Rules
4. Axioms, Item 3 Viewpnt
5. Formulas Backwards
More Algebra
Logarithms-ax & m/nth roots
Five Polynomial Operations
Quadratics Geometrically
Functions || Vectors too
Arith. Skill Check+Answers
Calculus Prep/Preview
What is a Variable
Why study slopes
Why factor polynomials
Complex Numbers
Limits + Continuity

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