Wreck n' wreck? No... rekenrek

 

If your child has been talking about math class at home, they have probably been doing a good job of confusing you! We have been working with a counting tool at school, similar to an abacus, called a rekenrek. Grade 1's were asked to make theirs to 50 and grade 2's to 100, although many students went well past the minimum. The construction of this counting tool helped students to understand counting by 10's. (It is one thing to say, "10, 20, 30, ..., and it is another to understand what that means.)

The one pictured here has 10 rows of 10 beads. Each row consists of 5 beads in one colour and the next five beads in the second colour. The two colours help students think about numbers in parts. For example, in the picture on the right, you can see that 7 is made up of 5 and 2 more or that 7 and 3 more makes 10.

Some students have been using their rekenreks while playing book store to help add up the prices of the different books and figure out the total amount owed. They have pretend money to use, although some of them have decided to make their own credit card!

At home, look for opportunities to think about and compare numbers. Your child will probably enjoy sorting all that Hallowe'en candy, counting each type and comparing which one they have more of. You can ask: How many chocolate bars did you get? How many suckers did you get? Do you have more chocolate bars or more suckers?