Author Emily Josephine: Sample from "Kindergarten Story Math"

The following are the first 18 pages from my homeschooling resource, Kindergarten Story Math. Note that due to the limitations of this blog, the pictures don't show up, and the formatting here isn't always correct. However, be assured that everything is lined up correctly in the actual book. And wherever there is an activity where a student needs to count, there are pictures to go along with it.

Table Of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..5

Before The Stories: Calendar Time………………………………………..9

Story #1: Miss Bee Counts………………………………………………….12

(Counting and recognizing numbers 0-10

Story #2: Spider Shapes Up…………………………………………………42

(Counting and shape recognition)

Story #3: Cathy The Caterpillar……………………………………………65

(Counting, comparing sets to determine more/less)

Story #4: Blast Off! ……………………………………………………………..75

(Counting backward from 10-0, then 20-0)

Story #5: Decomposing Daisy………………………………………………92

(Decompose numbers using pictures and concrete objects)

Story #6: Spider’s New Shapes……………………………………………102

(Recognizing rhombus and trapezoid, counting to 40 by ones)

Story #7: Cathy Counts Coins……………………………………………...115

(Recognize and name penny, nickel, dime, quarter; use pictographs)

Story #8: The Great Big Pile Of Leaves ………………………………..129

(Count by tens to 100)

Story #9: Robby’s Garbage Pile…………………………………………...143

(Identify, name, and compare/contrast three-dimensional shapes)

Story #10: May Mouse Measures ………………………………………154

(basic measuring skills)

Story #11: The Hundredth Hexagon…………………………………..166

(recognize/name hexagon, rote count to 100

Shape Party Game Suggestions…………………………………………..187

What Next? (going beyond the book)………...………………………..189

Introduction – PLEASE READ! Critical Information You Need Before You Begin Teaching Story Math To Your Child

A note to any classroom teacher who happens to purchase Story Math

The copyright of this book extends to permission for homeschooling families to make copies of the activity pages for all their children.

It does not extend to permission for classroom teachers to make such copies. While you are free to read the stories aloud to your students, please remember the Golden Rule and respect all the hard work I have put into this curriculum by not breaching copyright. It is easy enough to create your own materials using the activities in this book as a model.

In addition, if multiple members of your grade level team at your school wish to use Story Math, each teacher must purchase their own copy.

Thank you for understanding.

A note to homeschooling parents

As I mentioned above, you are free to make as many copies of the activity sheets as there are children in your family.

Why Kindergarten Story Math

I am an almost-unschooler. Unschooling is a lifestyle where children learn naturally, through life experiences. Strict unschooling parents not only never use any sort of curriculum with their children, but also never directly teach any sort of academic material to them – unless, of course, their children request it.

I am all for not forcing children to read, write, and do arithmetic before they are ready. When does “ready” happen? It depends on the child. Many unschooled children, when left to themselves to learn to read, will not pick up reading until they are over the age of ten (yes, into the teenage years). But then when they do, it only takes them a few days to a year or two to be reading as fluently as any of their schooled peers.

The same can be said with writing and math. So, why bother introducing young children to math concepts? The thing about young children is that they have not yet been ruined by the school system. They have not yet been forced to learn things they are not ready to learn, or been subjected to a boring curriculum (and I include homeschooling curriculums here, too, folks!). So, if you sit down with them and introduce concepts in a fun, light-hearted way, they are likely going to be interested in whatever you’re presenting.

And because learning how to count, recognize numbers, and do basic arithmetic – not to mention understand basic geometry – is helpful even for younger children, I believe introducing the basic math concepts in a fun way to four-, five-, or six-year-old children can enrich their lives. Plus, if you do not force them to go on to more difficult math when it is not relevant to them, they will not develop the ubiquitous “I hate math” attitude. Let them learn how to add larger numbers, how to multiply, etc., when they need to learn it. Knowing the numbers and having a foundation of how to manipulate them will facilitate their problem-solving ability later on.

Thus, I believe Kindergarten Story Math could be a viable part of an unschooling family. If you are not an unschooler, this book is definitely a lot more interesting and fun than most other Kindergarten-level math curriculums that have been created for homeschoolers.

How to use Story Math

#1: At the beginning of each story is a page with the story title, the objectives the story covers, the materials needed, and any special notes I want the teacher to be aware of as the story proceeds.

#2: Each story consists of between ten to thirty days of lessons, one lesson per day. The exception is Kindergarten, which has some stories that are fewer than ten days long.

#3: I have indicated where each lesson begins and ends. A lesson begins where, on a new page at the top, there is a note of what day you are on in the story, as well as the story number. For example: DAY 3, STORY 2. A lesson ends where, at the bottom of the page, you see something like this: END DAY 3, STORY 2.

#4: You don’t need a teacher’s manual with this book, because I have embedded the instructional script for the teacher into the stories. You may have to sometimes rephrase certain instructional bits if the student doesn’t understand the first time around, but the gist of the teacher monologue is included right in the story, or in the pages around the stories.

#5: Related to #4, this is important, please read…whatever the characters are doing with their manipulatives or papers, you need to do it as you read. You may need to pause after certain sentences to do this, but that’s okay. Whatever you need to do will only take a few seconds, and will not affect the student’s understanding of the story.

#6: I also have embedded special instructions to the teacher in parentheses or brackets (NOTE TO TEACHER: ) in the stories as needed. These parenthetical references are not intended to be read aloud to the student, but to inform you what is the next step to take in the story.

#7: You will occasionally see the word STUDENT, just like that, in all caps. Wherever you see that word embedded in the story, you are to insert the student’s name. If you are teaching more than one child, than alternate names.

#8: Start with the first story and continue in order. The stories and lessons build upon each other, and skipping around will end up confusing and frustrating the student. At the end of each story you will be instructed to stop and work for anywhere from a day to a few weeks on the objective being taught in the story until the student has mastered the objective. Do not continue on until the student demonstrates that they know the skill well.

At the points where I ask you to stop and work on the objective at hand, I either provide practice pages or ideas to help you do so (sometimes both).

Each book (with the exception of Kindergarten, which is shorter) lasts for 130-160 school days, 20-50 days short of the usual 180 school days. So there is a lot of leeway to toss in extra practice days and review, as well as math game days, cook with mom day, etc.

#9: Have fun with the stories! Use different voices for the different characters. Improvise on the dialogue.

#10: Feel free to re-read stories if you feel the student needs it.

Any questions?

As you go through this book, if you have any questions at all, or discover any errors on my part, feel free to come to my blog and drop a comment.

Also, after you have gone through two to four stories with your child, if you enjoy it as much as I hope you will, would you kindly leave a helpful review on the product page at Amazon.com?

In addition, I also ask you to share Kindergarten Story Math with any homeschooling group, online or off, you may participate in.

I would be extremely grateful for your help in getting the word out about Kindergarten Story Math! In addition, if your child enjoys this book, in a few years they may enjoy learning multiplication and division via another homeschooling resource I have written, Multiplication Is Fun! This is also available through amazon.com.

Okay, enough blabbering! Let’s get on with teaching and learning math, shall we?

Before The Stories: Calendar Time

The foundation of math is patterns, and for that reason many Kindergarten math curriculums include a lot of practice with picture patterns. Story Math does not, and the reason is that another important concept to introduce at the Kindergarten level is the way we measure large blocks of time; specifically, days, months, and years. The absolute best way to teach that is to have Calendar Time every day (or at least every weekday) with your child. And when you do that, it is easier than blowing fuzz off a dandelion to incorporate picture pattern.

First, you need a large calendar

Either purchase a calendar pocket chart from Amazon, or make your own (search “how to make your own calendar pocket chart” online). You can then either purchase a pre-fab early childhood calendar set that includes picture cards for every day of the year – with a different pattern for every month – as well as cards for both the days of the week and months of the year; or you can make your own calendar card set.

If you decide to make your own, you will need plenty of poster board for creating the days of the week cards, months cards, and the individual date cards. The date cards are where the patterns come in. For each month, you need to decide on a pattern for the date cards. Start simple with an A-B pattern. The next month can be either another A-B pattern or an A-B-C pattern. Then move onto an A-B-B pattern, followed by an A-A-B, then A-A-B-B.

For each month, decide on what pictures will be in the pattern. For example, in October, since it’s fall, you might decide to use leaves for the pattern. For an A-B pattern, the card for October first would have a one written with black permanent marker in the corner, and in the middle a red leaf drawn and colored. For October second, you might draw and color a yellow leaf, with the number two written in the corner. Since it would be an A-B pattern, October third would be a red leaf again, and so on.

You might also use shapes one month. Let’s say you create an A-B-C pattern for June. The card for June first would have a circle on it and the number one written in the corner, June second would have a square, and June third a triangle. June fourth would start over with a circle, since the pattern is A-B-C, circle-square-triangle in this example.

If you decide to make your own cards, feel free just to create one month’s worth of date cards at a time! ;)

How to conduct Calendar Time

Have your child(ren) sit or stand in front of the calendar pocket chart. When you first begin, show each day of the week, one at a time, and tell them what the word says before you put it in its place on the chart. Do the same for the month card.

The very first day you do this, you will have to tell your child what day and date it is. Have them place the date card in the correct spot, then teach them how to say the date: “Today is Friday, October first, 20--.” Point to each part of the calendar as you state the date with your child. Have them repeat it a couple of times to get the hang of saying it.

Then say, “Yesterday was Thursday, today is Friday, and tomorrow will be Saturday.” Point to the corresponding day cards as you say this. Eventually, your child will begin to read the words as well as learn the sequence of the days without drill-and-kill.

The next day during Calendar Time, you point to yesterday’s date and say something like, “Okay, STUDENT, yesterday was Friday. Do you know what day it is today?” After telling them the day, you point to the date card they put up yesterday and say, “Yesterday, the date was October one, or October first. What will the date be today? The date is the number of a certain day during the month, and the numbers go in order, just like when you’re counting. So, what number do you think will be on today’s card? What picture do you think will be on the card – the same one or a different one?” Most children will pick up basic patterns easily and eventually be able to correctly guess the picture that will come next without you prompting or even asking.

After the student puts up the card with that day’s date, have them count all the cards on the calendar so far, in this case, “One, two.” This task will only be necessary until the student has a good handle on counting and number recognition.

Help the student say the date (“Today is Saturday, October second, 20--"). Then, recite the “Yesterday was-today is-tomorrow will be” spiel.

After the student is well-acquainted with Calendar Time, it will go something like this:

“What day is it today?”

“What is today’s date?” (It will take a lot of children some time to understand the difference between day and date. Just be patient and keep reminding them that the date is a number.)

Then the student puts the card on the calendar.

“Say the date with me: ‘Today is….’”

“Say with me: ‘Yesterday was…today is…tomorrow will be….’”

Helping the student learn the days of the week

When I taught elementary school, I stole the tune from the old hymn “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart” and put in the names of the days of the week.

“There…are…seven days in a week, there are seven days in a week…Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday…There…are…seven days in a week.”

If you don’t know that song, feel free to search online for a song that teaches the days of the week.

To teach the months of the year, I used Greg and Steve’s old song, “Months Of The Year,” which also teaches the months in Spanish (which worked great for my bilingual Kindergarteners!). You can probably find that song on YouTube. Again, there are other simple songs that teach the names of the month, and are easy to find via a web search.

How to dismantle the calendar

Once a month, you will have to change the month card and remove all the date cards. Have the student do it. Start easy. In the beginning, just have them remove the cards from 1-30/31 in order as you say the numbers. In another month or two, tell them to remove the cards as they say the numbers.

As they get more knowledgeable with numbers, you can go to, “Give me all of the numbers from 15 to 23” or “between 8 and 17.” Then, move on to, “Give me the number that comes just before seven,” or, “the number that is two less than twelve.”

Once they are at this point, you might want to make switching the calendar to a new month THE math lesson for the day! It can end up taking quite a bit of time to remove all the date cards, depending on how you have the student do it.

At what time of day should you do Calendar Time?

I recommend getting into the habit of doing it just after breakfast, or perhaps right before their first formal lesson of the day to help them settle down and get into learning gear. It’s a fun, hands-on activity and so it won’t wear them out like sitting down and writing numbers or letters on a piece of paper can.

Have fun with it, but whatever else you do, make or buy an early childhood calendar kit and incorporate Calendar Time every day with your four-to-eight year old (even older, if they continue to enjoy it).

All right, now the big moment you’ve been waiting for: THE FIRST STORY! J

Miss Bee Counts

Kindergarten Story Math, Story #1

Objectives covered:

Counting from 0 to ten, then 0-20; recognizing and naming the numbers 0-10, then 0-20; using concrete objects to represent the numbers 0-10, then 0-20.

Materials needed

· 20 flower patterns (see next page), cut out individually and glued onto posterboard or cardstock

· Small objects to count, such as kidney beans, bottle caps, pattern blocks, small wooden blocks, etc.

· Cards with the numbers 0-20 written on them (3X5 index cards work great)

· Crayons

· Pencil

Special notes

Read the story with the student. As Miss Bee introduces each number, lay down the corresponding number card and flower cut-outs to represent the number. When Miss Bee counts flowers, touch each flower to show how to count them.

If you think it would help the student maintain higher interest in the stories, cut out and mount on posterboard/cardstock the pictures of the characters in this book (see page 15) and make them do actions as you read the story.

ONE MORE THING: Many children benefit from singing counting songs. After the student gets through the number ten, teach the rhyme: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I caught a fish alive. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, I threw it back again.” Another song you might use is “This Old Man.”

After the student gets through twenty, teach my original addendum to the “I Caught A Fish Alive” rhyme: “11, 12, 13, 14, 15, the fish had a very big shin-dig. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, there were games and food a-plenty.” Rehearse the rhymes/songs every day until the student can count to ten, then to twenty, by rote just talking.

And now, to the story…

DAY 1, STORY 1

Miss Bee flies to a new place. There, she finds several rows of flowers. The first row has zero flowers in it.

Here is the number zero.

“There are no flowers here,” says Miss Bee. So she flies to the next row.

The next row has one blue flower in it. Here is the number one.

“I will count this flower,” says Miss Bee. “One.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar in the flower. “Yum!” Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has two red flowers in it. Here is the number two.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar in both flowers. “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has three yellow flowers in it. Here is the number three.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has four green flowers in it. Here is the number four.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has five white flowers in it. Here is the number five.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four, five.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!”

Count the number of objects in each row. With a pencil or crayon, trace over the number next to the row of objects.

END DAY 1, STORY 1

DAY 2, STORY 1

Miss Bee is still sipping nectar! Remember that she has just sipped from a row of five flowers in a garden. Now she flies to the next row. It has six purple flowers in it. Here is the number six.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four, five, six.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has seven orange flowers in it. Here is the number seven.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has eight pink flowers in it. Here is the number eight.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. Her tummy is beginning to feel full. But she still says, “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. It has nine flowers of different colors in it. Here is the number nine.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!”

Miss Bee flies to the next row. She flies very slowly, because her tummy is so full. This row has ten flowers of different colors in it. Here is the number ten.

“I will count these flowers,” says Miss Bee. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.” Then Miss Bee sips the nectar from all the flowers. “Yum!” And she is so full, she falls asleep.

Count the number of objects in each row. With a pencil or crayon, trace over the number next to the row of objects.

END DAY 2, STORY 1

[NOTE TO TEACHER: Use the following dot-to-dot pages at your discretion.]

Author Emily Josephine

Sample from "Kindergarten Story Math"