September 18

A small jar of coins is a mathematical treasure trove. Adults aren't the only ones motivated by money. Here are a few things you can do with coins when children are in Grade One.

1. Sort coins. At first, children will sort by value because the coins look different. When that is easy, suggest more challenging sorting. Use the images on the coins or the dates for sorting.
2. Count coins. Begin with a simple count of how many coins there are in a small handful. Then talk about whether there are more pennies or more nickels. Then talk about how many more pennies there are. How many more is a difficult concept for children this age, so don't rush this.
3. When children can count comfortably and correctly to 50, you can introduce counting nickels by 5s and dimes by 10s. You can also mix dimes and pennies and find the value of the selection. This shows the way we form numbers. (Twenty-four is 2 dimes and 4 pennies.)

Keep the activities playful and the coin jar will remain a favourite activity for years and could lead to a serious hobby of collecting. For now, simple sorting and counting are enough of a challenge for most of our class.

Miss Owen