DMG Blog

Articles tagged as developmental math (view all)

Number words are difficult for the young child

27 August, 2012

 The number words can be difficult for young children, especially the "teen numbers."  A Teen number is defined as "ten and some more."  So what is eleven and twelve?  In some countries the words actually match the quantity.  China has students saying er for two, shi for ten and shi er for twelve and er shi er for twenty-two.  Compare that with our language and no wonder the United States is a year behind in math at a very early age.  Have your children or students count daily.  

The words of math are important and children need to have what is called "a stable order."  That means that the child can say the numbers in the correct sequence and does it each time. Listen for numbers that are left out and stop and help your child/student so that the error pattern does not continue.

Now on Facebook

24 August, 2012

 We launched our Facebook page.  Please visit and "Like" us!

Our first article was:

As school begins, remember to have children talk about math on a daily basis.
Each week, we will write activities that can be done with young children.
Have children count out loud as you are driving in the car or walking home from school or being in the classroom. Have them count starting with different numbers. Listen to hear if the words are in the correct order.
To begin the year:
Prekinde
rgarten- Count up to 10

Kindergarten - Count up to 20. Listen for those tricky numbers from 11-20.

Grade 1 - Count up to 100. Start with different numbers. Listen for counting through the decade numbers (27, 28, 29...30)
Grade 2 - Count up to 120. Start with different numbers. Listen for counting past 100 (110, 111, 112 etc.)

Quote from District Math Coach

08 August, 2012

How do you feel about the DMA assessments and interventions?

I am so pleased to have this wonderful tool as a resource in my district.  As a Math Coach and the leader of the Math RtI Committee for our district, I am looking for tools to help identify students who struggle with Mathematics and require Intervention.  Not only does this tool give us the ability to identify these students, but the Intervention Handbook then helps us to know how to remediate these students.  The price is very reasonable, and the materials are all there for me.  I don't have to pull from here and dig around to find what I need!  I have also been told by several of the Intervention Specialists that the DMA is a huge asset in the writing of IEP goals for their Special Education students since it pinpoints areas of improvement for these students.                                                                                                                                                       ~  District Math Coach

 

Girls' Math Skills May Fall Short Of Boys' Because Of Male Impulsiveness

08 August, 2012

By: LiveScience.com, staff


From an early age, boys tend to take a more impulsive approach to math problems in the classroom, which might help them get ahead of girls in the long-run, suggests the latest study to touch on the gender gap in math.

The research claims girls may tend to favor a slow and accurate approach - often computing an answer by counting - while boys may take a faster, but more error-prone tack, calling out an answer from memory. The difference in strategies seems to benefit girls early in elementary school but swings in favor of boys by middle school.
"In our study, we found that boys were more likely to call out answers than girls, even though they were less accurate early in school," Drew Bailey, who led the study, said in a statement. "Over time, though, this practice at remembering answers may have allowed boys to surpass girls in accuracy." [Cool Math Games - See http://www.livescience.com/19453-cool-math-games.html ]

The University of Missouri study followed 300 students from first grade to sixth grade. During those first two years, the boys called out more answers in class than the girls but also had more wrong answers. Girls were more often right, but answered fewer questions and responded more slowly, according to the university. By sixth grade, the boys were still answering more problems than the girls and were also getting more correct.
Several recent studies have argued that gender differences in math performance have more to do with culture than aptitude - see http://www.livescience.com/5482-girls-math-culture-skewed.html ]. Research published last year found that certain countries - generally ones with more gender equality, better teachers and fewer students living in poverty - showed a smaller gap between males and females in math and some had no gap at all. [See http://www.livescience.com/17429-math-gender-differences-myths.html ]

Other research has pointed to inherent gender biases in the classroom. One such study found that high school math teachers tended to rate girls' math abilities lower than those of male students, even when the girls' grades and test scores were comparable to boys. [See http://www.livescience.com/19552-girls-math-teachers-bias.html ]

Gender issues aside, the researchers of the Missouri study - which was published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology - had some advice for parents based on the findings. "Parents can give their children an advantage by making them comfortable with numbers and basic math before they start grade school, so that the children will have fewer trepidations about calling out answers," David Geary, a co-author of the study, said in a statement.

National Conference in Philadelphia

23 April, 2012

 Debra and I are off tomorrow to attend the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Conference.  We will be both presenting and exhibiting.  We are excited to share our knowledge with other teachers who have a passion to help children in their learning of mathematics.  We will have an e-workshop on Thursday where we will present all of our products to those who attend.  Friday, will be a gallery workshop where teachers will be working with our materials and will have the opportunity to take samples with them.  On Saturday, our focus will be on Place and Value with what we consider to be eight essential steps to helping teach place and value to young students.

If you are in Philadelphia, please stop by our booth (1040) and say hi.  We would love to chat about our assessment and materials we have produced to help the young student and those that struggle with math.

OAEYC

21 April, 2012

 Debra and I had a great three days at the Columbus Convention Center sharing our products with preschool teachers.  We now have mats to use with the Bears and Chairs.  We have created five different mats.  The first is a game to help young children with counting, one-to-one correspondence and cardinality.  We have a two-sided mat with five beds on one side and ten beds on the other.  Children take the bears and use them to place in the beds.  We are helping the young child see the relationship to five and ten.  Our second mat is a play mat that can be used to retell the story of "The Three Bears."  The next three mats were created so young children from pre-kindergarten through grade two can work on problem solving by acting out the story.  We have a cave, table and zoo mat.  These mats are two-sided and can be used to help students with all of the different types of addition and subtraction problems that are listed in the new Common Core Standards.

Check our product page to see what they look like.

We are off to Philadelphia next week to share our products with teachers who will be at the NCTM conference.  

Professional Development on Number Concepts and new Common Core

15 April, 2012

 We have been very busy spreading the word about developing number concepts with the young student.  We have been doing either two or three day training sessions with make and take for the teacher so he or she can go back into the classroom with some tools to use.  

We have also been in districts helping them learn about the new Common Core.  We have done a full day on the practices and another half day on the different types of problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  We have also helped districts look at what is new to each grade level and what can be moved or eliminated.   This has been well received by the teachers.

If you have questions and/or are interested in knowing more about training, please email us for information.  dmg6@mac.com

NCTM in St. Louis

23 September, 2011

 October 26, 27, 28 and 29 we will have a booth at the Regional National Teachers of Mathematics conference in St. Louis.  Please stop by and say hi and take a look at the many products that we now have to help teachers instruct in their classrooms.  We will be presenting on Friday at 8:30 am. on the use of Bears and Chairs and our other products to help students learn the essential pre-number and early number concepts.  We are excited to be able to share our experiences and knowledge with you.  

New Products Now Available

08 July, 2011

 DMG is pleased to announce the following new products to help teachers and home educators build the essential number concepts with their students.

Interactive Number Line

5 and 10 Frame Dry Erase Panels

10 and 20 Frame Dry Erase Panels

99/100 Dry Erase Panels

Bears and Chairs

Chairs for Bears

Red and Yellow Foam Counters

Pentominoes

Please visit the product section of this website to see pictures and a description of each of these products.