7 minutes read
April 14, 2022
Common Topics in Math for 6-Year-Olds to Learn
Math isn’t totally new for six-year-olds since they are likely to have learned basic counting and number identification before that. As kids develop confidence in playing with numbers, parents and tutors can introduce them to more complicated concepts. The article will throw light on some topics that will make children more proficient in math.
Math Topics to Boost 6-Year-Olds’ Math Skills
Time
The ability to tell the time is a necessary skill in our daily life, yet it may be difficult for kids to master. You should first help your kids understand how time relates to their life before teaching them to interpret it. With simple activities and games, children will develop an awareness of the passage of time from a young age.
Kids learn about time and seasonal changes throughout school years. Six-year-olds memorize the hour and half-hour markings of a clock and are able to tell how many minutes comprise an hour and how many hours are in a day. Also, they get to differentiate between the “quarter to” and “half past” concepts. With the help of top math learning sites like Brighterly and math games for 6-year-olds, your child’s time-telling skills will improve.
Money
Educating your kids about money is essential in preparing them for life in the real world. You can introduce physical money, worksheets, or money math games for 6-year-olds to practice skills and enhance their understanding of the concept. Brighterly’s money games, virtual coins, and other activities involving the use of the concept can help your kids learn about money in a fun way.
At six years, pupils should be able to recognize monetary denominations and sum currencies in coin and bill form. Combining whole dollars and cents may be difficult for six-year-olds; however, your kids will appreciate the financial applications of math with constant practice.
Addition and Subtraction
When teaching addition and subtraction concepts to kids, you should start with addition first. Most children understand the idea of gaining better than that of losing thanks to the interactions with their parents and toys in their toddler years. When they get comfortable with addition, introduce them to subtraction.
But don’t take away toys as a way to teach kids subtraction since the approach can fuel resentment toward learning in children. Instead, use math worksheets for 6-year-olds or play games that subtly teach subtraction and addition. Also, don’t forget about the importance of repetition as a system for reinforcing ideas you’ve introduced to children.
Counting
Counting is among the basic math skills 6-year-olds should master as it paves the way for other math topics on this list. Six-year-olds can count to a great extent, often up to 200, which reveals the vastness of numbers to kids. This math skill provides the ground for more complicated math operations as kids advance in their academic journey.
Continuous practice and constant evaluation are essential for your kids’ math mastery; you can integrate counting into everyday activities or use basic math games. To further boost the counting skill of your kids and make counting enjoyable for them, use colorful items or math toys for 6-year-olds. Have them point and arrange each item in a line, then count them aloud.
Add fascinating and complex exercises like backward counting to your math for 6-year-olds curriculum. You can use a simple range like having them count from 10 down to 1 or from 20 to 1. Don’t go above 50 so that the activity wouldn’t get too complex and tedious for the students.
Fractions
Fractions should be more of a visual concept for children than a written one. On paper, for example, children may be unable to comprehend what ⅚ means. But they will have no trouble understanding it when you explain that if they eat five slices of pizza out of a six-sliced pizza, they have consumed ⅚th of the whole pizza.
Before moving to more complex fractions, make sure your youngster understands basic fractions such as half, complete, and smaller fractions like ⅓, ⅔, etc. Halves (½) and wholes (1) are concepts that children quickly grasp with the help of everyday activities. You can help your kids learn the concept of fractions by describing relatable scenarios like how two half glasses of coke produce a full glass.
Shapes
Geometry is one of the central themes that six-year-old kids should understand because of its prevalence in daily life. Shapes around us are often either in 2D or 3D forms, but six-year-olds won’t know the difference without your help. So, familiarize your children with fundamental shapes like rectangles, circles, cylinders, squares, and triangles.
To make your six-year-old master geometry, use games that require your kid to identify or match a set of shapes. If you want to be involved in their learning, you can point to different items in your environment and ask your kids to specify their shapes. Then explain the difference between forms on paper and the physical, tangible objects.
You can also make your child participate in painting and craft-making activities. For example, you can ask a 6-year-old struggling with math to cut out images of objects from a newspaper or magazine. Afterward, ask them to organize their cutouts based on the similarities of shapes to demonstrate creativity.
Conclusion
To most six-year-olds, math is a challenging subject. Therefore, it is vital to provide a better foundation for them, and Brighterly’s math activities can prevent the phobia of math. You can use math manipulatives for a more hands-on approach, but the knowledge of fundamental math topics you need to focus your efforts on is the first step to building your child’s interest in math.
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