← Hands, Pencil, Numbers · Lesson 1 of 3
Hands first
Many schools now teach maths in three steps, often called concrete, pictorial, abstract. First real things you can hold, then a drawing of them, then the numbers.
At home that means spoons, buttons or pasta before any written sum. "Here are seven spoons. Can you make two groups?" The child's hands find the answer before the numbers do.
A five-year-old is learning that 7 can be 4 and 3. What comes first?
A lesson is kept once you've answered the question and written at least 8 words. Nobody grades it; it stays on this device.