November 06, 2008

Skip Counting Success!



Jacob has had math problems involving skip counting for several months now, but I've been giving him a skip counting chart to refer to instead of requiring he memorize them. He memorizes a lot of things just by repeated exposure, so I haven't put much energy into working on it with him.

But last week I decided to give it a shot and just get down to business. He has multiplication coming up in a few weeks, and I knew having these memorized would help. So I downloaded this album and we have done one song each time that set came up in his math assignment. I can't believe the results! In less than two weeks he has memorized his 3s, 4s, 6s, and 9s in addition to the 2s, 5s and 10s he already had. He has done a great job!

When we encounter a new skip counting assignment, we sit down at the computer and listen to that song a few times while looking at the skip counting pattern on a piece of paper. (He is very visual like I am.) He sings along with the help of the paper. Then we take the paper away and he sings along. After that he sits down to do his math and sings the song while he's completing the section.

I just can't believe the results in such a short amount of time. He is walking around the house singing the songs too! Actually, so is Mattie. :)

If you click above, it takes you to the site with the Bible Heroes songs, but the same company also has a secular album. And you can listen to clips of all the songs online to see if you think they're too weird or not. I have it on our computer, and I made a CD for the car as well.

Just wanted to pass on a recommendation!

1 comment:

mom said...

What a great idea! They sound like fun and kids do so well with music...