Counting by twos and fives

[Milkymommy]

My first grade daughter has a "test" on Friday where she will need to count by two's to 40 and by five's to 60. She is having a lot of trouble memorizing. She does well with things that she can figure out, but has always struggled with rote learning and memorization.

She is one of the youngest in the grade and last year she struggled in Kindergarten to keep up for most of the year then started blossoming at the end of the year.

She has been doing really well with all of her assignments this year and she has an awesome First grade teacher. I don't want her to get discouraged this early in the year. Do any of you have any tips or ideas that I can use to help her learn this?

Thanks!

[ikesmom]

My ds first grade brought 2's and 5's home the first week as homework. We had a hard time with it too. He has a grid of numbers on his folder 1-100. I had him put a counting bear on every 2nd or 5th space depending on which we were doing. By the third nite he was able to count using them however we have memory problems too. If I ask him today he probably couldn't remember how we did it. I have had the exact same problem all my life with math, numbers, and problem solving. We are doing groups of tens and ones this week. He is able to do it with me pointing and an occasional cue but I find myself feeling anxious about it. I plan on getting more manipulatives as this is the only thing I can think of .

Any ideas would be a help.

[CarrieMF]

My now 3rd grader struggled a bit with 2's & 5's, though they never did it until the end of Grade 1.

OTOH my 5yo has figured out counting by 2's & 3's. She freaks us out.lol

When my 5yo figured it out she said "oh you just skip 1". Since memorization is an issue perhaps make up a 100's chart where you have 1-10 in 1 line then 11-20 in the next and so on until you get to 100. Then show the children how to cover up the numbers(1, 3, 5, 7, etc) so they can visualize what counting by 2's is. The same thing with 5's. It may be a way for it to click.

[TiredX2]

DS was a little slower with 2s (5s are singsongy enough he figured those out quickly). He can do to 100 easily. Practice alone seemed to be enough for that.

What we did when he showed an interest was to practice counting by ones. I would very quietly wisper "one" then he would say "two", I would wisper "three" he would say "four" and so on. This was quite a while ago, though, so I don't remember how long it took.

With both kids skip counting ended up being a "car" thing--- just something to do while you're in the car.

[orca]

I taught grade one for years. I wouldn’t panic too much about a “test” this early on. Typically the tests are either to assess where the students are so that the teacher can direct her instruction at the right level. Or, if she has already taught the concept, to see if it requires further instruction. My best tips for skip counting are to spend alot of time looking at patterns as a whole in her daily life. Skip counting is part of that larger skill set and patterns are everywhere if she looks for them.

Keep it visual.

1.Get some coloured construction paper and write out each number to 60 on a separate piece of paper. Be sure all the papers are the same size. Now, choose a different colour for each skill. Say, blue for two and red for five. The other numbers should be on white or yellow. Something that does not stand out so much. Have her sort the numbers in numerical order and she should start to see the pattern. Have her point to each number as she recites it so that she sees the colour and the number. Do one skill at a time. 5’s are generally easier then 2’s, so start there. (You could have a double set of 2’s that are white for this purpose). Gradually, eliminate the other numbers and have her flip the cards over as she says them to solidify her understanding.

2. Get some beads and make bracelets or whatever. Same idea. Get big blue beads or such for each skill set and use the same procedure. Only this time it is more abstract. She’ll have it for sure by then.

I have a million other suggestions, if you want them let me know. That should get you started.

Most importantly, make it fun!

[wildmonkeys]

My first grader also finds the 5's easier than the 2's. They did this a bunch in kinder, but in a relaxed way where the teacher would have them all see how quickly they could get in line or whatever counting to 100 using their choice "1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 25s" and one of the only "math homework" assignments we were given over the summer was to count using 2s & 5s when we had a chance to count (hide & seek or clean-up or whatever) Maybe a couple a games of hide and seek will help without being too much like homework. DS and I also played a "bank game" where we rolled dice and got a penny for every dot...when he got to 5 he could trade them in for a nickel or dime and whoever got to $1.00 first won. He thought it was really fun and seemed to get the number sets more as we played.

That being said - I doubt the kids will be "expected" to know how to do that or be tested on it for awhile. If your dd doesn't know them I wouldn't worry about it.

BJ
Barney & Ben

[Flor]

Is it really a "test"? When I taught 1st grade we had to assess the kids at the beginning, middle and end of the year. One of the assessments was counting by 2's and 5's. They had to be able to do it at the end of the year, or maybe middle, to be "on grade level." Only 1-2 kids could do it at the beginning of the year.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Originally Posted by TiredX2

What we did when he showed an interest was to practice counting by ones. I would very quietly wisper "one" then he would say "two", I would wisper "three" he would say "four" and so on. This was quite a while ago, though, so I don't remember how long it took.

With both kids skip counting ended up being a "car" thing--- just something to do while you're in the car.

Yeah, us too. Except it was a game like this:

Daughter: I love you
Me: I love you too (two).
Daughter: I love you four
Me: I love you six...

And whoever got to 100 got to shout I LOVE YOU ONE HUNDRED!!! ONE HUNDRED!!!

Always, always in the car.

[oregongirlie]

Can she count to 60 by ones? If not, start there. Then, I'd make sure she could count to 60 by 10s. Can she write numbers? Depending on how high she can write them, I'd show her what counting by 2s and 5s looks like in numbers and then also with objects. Make a neat grid of 2 beans, 4 beans, 6 beans, 8 beans. Have her try to continue the pattern herself. Can she "count on" from a number? If so, I'd have her count on her fingers from a multiple of 5 up to the next. For example you say 30 and she counts 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. This also presumes she has 5 fingers on at least one hand (serious, because it has come up). I'd say the digits that end in 5 and have her say the ones that end in 0 back and forth. You start with 5 and she continues with 10, you say 15, etc. She should know 10s for this, though.

Now, I wouldn't focus on getting her ready for the test, though. I'd focus on having her understand the number patterns by using visual representations, auditory, and number chart practice. Do you have a 100 numbers chart? I'd cut off the bottom so it goes to 60 and then have her color in the 2s with yellow and the 5s with orange or circle the 2s and color the 5s. Try not to foucs on memory, but on her understanding of the number concepts. This really isn't developmentally appropriate for the first week of first grade in my area though. Hopefully, this is a pre-test! Since I don't know her background, maybe I'm totally out of touch...