Introducing Numbers: There are many nursery rhymes and kids songs available to help babies and toddlers become acquainted with numbers. Becoming aware of numbers and math needs development of many skills like number identification, counting, pattern recognition and grouping. Many different resources exist today to introduce numbers to kids. These include rhymes which can be free download kid songs YouTube as well as Kids channel subscriptions available on YouTube.
Methods: Babies and young children learn numbers by different methods like singing, finger play and counting. Nursery rhymes help in learning patterns associated with counting and facilitate learning. There are many kids songs available like One Two Buckle My Shoe, Ba Ba Black Sheep, Five little speckled frogs, One Two Three Four Five, The Ants Go Marching etc.
Lesson Plan: Kids need practice in recognizing numbers and naming them. They also need to learn to associate these numbers with the things. They need to understand that three number also means three things like cars or balls. Appropriate lesson plan can be constructed to facilitate their learning process.
Activity with number: Planning different play activities with numbers can help a lot. Kids can be given counting practice at home by encouraging them to count regularly. They can count stairs, eggs, balls, toys, crayons and bottles. Anything available can be turned into learning tool for kids.
Interesting facts about few popular nursery rhymes:
1. Ba Ba Black Sheep
Origin: There are few theories surrounding the origin of this nursery rhyme. It may have been developed to tell about heavy taxation on wool in 1275. Another theory is that it is mentioning about slave trade in The United States.
2. Five Little Speckled Frogs
This rhyme is very simple and has actions associated with it which help kids to learn numbers and see them decreasing slowly.
3. One Two Buckle My Shoe
Origin: This rhyme first appeared in a book called “Songs for the Nursery” in 1805. There have been made many changes in it since then. It is very popular among kids and preschool teachers as it introduces kids to numbers in a fun way.
4. One Two Three Four Five
Origin: It was first recorded in Mother Goose’s Melody in 1765. The original version included hare. It helps kids in learning basic counting skills.
5. The Ants Go Marching
Origin: This song was written by Robert D. Singleton. It was introduced in Barney’s Campfire Sing Along in 1990.
Discussion:
Nursery rhymes, Finger plays, Counting lessons and songs with actions can help kids learn counting and number in a fun filled environment. Counting is a basic skill which is required from every individual. Activity with number can make it interesting as well as pleasant experience to work with numbers. This can help kids in learning numbers while having fun with their friends. Introducing kids to numbers and math will help them in becoming comfortable working with them later during school years.