Technique 86 – Teach the numbers in a fun and natural way.
Nature must have meant for children to learn numbers from songs. Why do we think that? Because there are so many simple songs with numbers in them that are fun to sing. Here are some examples:
“Hickory Dickory Dock” – “The clock struck one!”
“Two Little Apples” – “Two little apples smiled at me.”
“Three Blind Mice” – “Three Blind Mice…” and “Old King Cole” – “And he called for his fiddlers three.”
“This Old Man” – all the numbers including four. The example is “This old man he played four, he played knick knack on my door with a knick knack paddy wack give the dog a bone, he played knick knack on my door.”
“Five Little Monkeys” – “Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.”
“The Ten Little Indians,” often changed to “The Ten Little Fingers” – specifically designed for counting fingers.
Parenting Insight…
These songs and many others have been passed down from generation to generation with variations in different cultures.
March! The Month of the Rainbow
Time to eat across the rainbow. Leave it to nature. If you and your child eat at least one food from each of the rainbow colors everyday, you and your child will have an eating day packed with high nutrition. Different colors provide different nutrients, and a variety is needed every day.
Fun for kids and good way to ensure good nutrition!
Sally, you are so right. These songs are great for young children. Young children learn from repetition. These songs also help to build the memory section of the brain. These songs help to build the Broca’s area: Structure located in the frontal lobe of the brain that controls the production of spoken and written language.
These songs also introduce young children to new vocabulary, patterns and movements. Sally, a lot of times we think that we are discovering this with the current research, but the old folks knew what they were doing generations ago. Now that we are adults I look back several times and say my grand mom did this, and it actually worked. I am sure that many of us have those moments.
Hi Daseta,
You and I must be soul sisters somewhere. We are certainly on the same wavelength. Yes, in years gone by parents followed their natural instincts and knew just what to do and just how to do it. It is today’s enormous complications and distractions that are keeping us back from what we know how to do and do well.
As you know from the work you do day in and day out, it is those complications that we must fight against so that children can once again be treated to the love, fun, and natural educational stimulation that they so much deserve, need, and enjoy.