Teacher Training 30-39

For personal home schoolroom use only. Permission must be granted by the author for any other usage.

When we reach the larger numbers our lessons will take on a slightly different rhythm with 30 onward taken in groups of ten. Each set will take approximately 7-10 days to complete. We don’t want to rush this but neither do we want to plod along. Numbers lessons should have a certain liveliness to them while not going so quickly that our child isn’t allowed to discover ideas and principles. I will give a bit of an outline here to help but please remember that we don’t want anything to become mechanical or a stale system. We also should not be more attentive to an outline than we are to our child.

We have an entire beautiful applied philosophy of education here. The methods rest firmly upon sound principles so if you have questions at any point, look back to the principles. Respect the personhood of your child and move in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Review the Habits section in the Mathematics: An Instrument of Living Teaching to be sure you are nurturing good habits in your child and in yourself.

Introduce the new set (say 30-39) using ten bundles and units, first seeing if your child knows which number comes next. Ask what 2 ten bundles are called (20). Your child may recall that it is called twenty because ty stands for tig and means ten. What would 3 ten bundles be called then?
Has the idea been impressed upon your child that with just nine figures and a zero we can make all the numbers we could ever name, even if we counted all day and all night for a year? If so, your child may recall this wonderful thing. If not, do so now.
Using ten bundles (on the left) and units on the right, see if your child can count up to 39. This simple act has ideas of magnitude of numbers, order, where numbers are in relationship to each other.
Write the numbers in a column and have your child read them. Now they may write a few of the numbers (in order) on their slate and/or in their Numbers Notebook. If they are eager and able, they may write the whole set.
Give interesting sums in random order using manipulatives. You may begin by using questions that name the concrete objects in use but then change the wording to things other than the objects to form mental pictures. Here are just a few examples:

Grace needs 38 craft sticks to make a bowl. If she has 22 sticks, how many more does she need?
If you have 20 sticks and I give you 10 more, how many have you?
There are 19 sheep and 15 lambs in a field. How many in all?

You may, at times, have your child write the sum while or after they are solving it on either the slate or in his notebook. Just as your child moves from oral to written narration in other subjects, you will help your child develop into more written work in mathematics.
Spend some time reviewing back numbers with interesting problems.
On a day where your child is bright and eager, see how he/she does with pure number, e.g., 26 + 8 = ?.
Do this over the next two weeks or so using a variety of manipulatives but also add in on days of your choosing Counting as well as Numeration and Notation Review. Relax, mix it up, and enjoy this time with your child.
- Counting: Have your child count out 39 counters/objects to 39.
- Ask how many tens and units in 35.
- Have your child divvy the counters up in groups of 5 and then count to 35 by 5’s.
- You may do this with groups of 2 in 30, 3’s in 33, etc. Counting by the groups when finished.
- Have child count forward and backward 1-39.
- Numeration and Notation Review: Write on either a slate or on paper and have your child read: 34, 6, 21, 12, 30, 7, 29
- Dictate while your child writes the following in a column: 15, 11, 38, 24, 9, 2