Playdate 13: Comparing small quantities
Playdate focus
Understand strategies for comparing small numbers and quantities.
Storybook properties
This has counting from 1 to 10; relationship words such as too big or too small; and spatial relationship words such as above and under.
Activities properties
These involve discovering shapes for quantities and playing with the order of numbers.
It takes time
All these beginning concepts and skills take lots of time for your child to master, and comparing quantities and getting a sense of the size of quantities is no different. Create many, many experiences that allow your child to touch, feel, and directly experience the sizes of quantities and how they compare.
Line them up
One simple way to compare the sizes of two quantities is to line them up in 1-to-1 correspondence next to each other. For example, if you play a card game and you want to see who won, you can line up the cards of the two players and see which line has extra cards.
Common misunderstanding
Be aware that a small child may think that two short sticks is the same amount as one long stick. This is perfectly understandable, but it is often not what the adult had in mind.
Give choices
Put your child in situations where they can choose between two groups of of the same things they really like. When they pick the bigger group, reinforce it by saying that the chosen group had more than the other group.
Games
You may be able to start playing simple card games, such as the game of “War.” Use the dots on the cards to allow your child to compare the quantities. Another good game to practice with is “I’m Thinking of a Number,” where you have a number line of cards with something hidden under one of the cards.
Number lines
Number lines are an excellent visual aid for seeing which numbers are smaller (the ones on the left) and which are larger (the ones on the right). This is a good thing to expose your child to from an early age, but be aware that both the numerals and their being in a line is fairly abstract, so it will be a while before they understand what is going on with this picture that has numbers.