Friends
by
Illustrated by
Before Talking
Talk with your child before they can talk or even understand the words. Point at, name, and describe things you see, such as shapes, colors, comparisons, and quantities. As your child begins to understand words, ask about a thing and have your child point at it. For example, “Where is the ball?” If your child can’t find the thing, point to it for them.
Early Talking
As your child begins to understand and say words, mix in simple questions. Freely help with answers as needed. If you point and say “Is this red?” and they don’t know, supply the answer. If you say “Count the blocks.” and your child does not know how, point and count the blocks with them “one, two, three.”
Math Themes and Words
This story has counting to 6, colors, and shapes. Practice words: how many, numbers to six, one more, two more, one less, two less, color names, stripes, solids, pentagon, hexagon, round, same, and different.
Read, Talk, and Have Fun!
The supplied questions and comments are just the beginning.
For the 1st reading, read the red questions and comments.
For the 2nd reading, read the blue questions and comments.
For the 3rd reading, read the green questions and comments.
After that, follow your child’s interests and let your discussions go in fun directions.
My name is Simo.
- Count together the different colors of stripes on Simo’s shirt.
- Simo’s ball has two colors and is round. A pentagon is a five-sided shape. Point at the dark pentagons on Simo’s ball. Do you see any pentagons around you?
- A hexagon is a six-sided shape. Point at the hexagons on the ball. Hexagons are often used in tiling patterns. Do you see any hexagons around you?
