Early Math Project

What happened to the missing shoe?

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Math Connections: counting, cardinality, classification, subitizing

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Things To Do Together:

• Use Ten, Nine, Eight to reinforce counting objects. Each page has a different number of objects to count. As you read the book, pause on each page and count the objects out loud. For example, on the first page “Ten small toes all washed and warm.” Count the toes out loud, while pointing to each toe. 

• Incorporate counting into your daily routine from the time your baby is small. Count everything! It is more effective to point and/or touch objects as you count them. Encourage your child to point and touch as well.

• On the page with “Seven empty shoes in a short straight row” ask the child either what is missing? Or, where is the other shoe? Shoes come in pairs; this will become an important concept a little later in skip counting which leads to multiplication. Keep an eye out for that shoe! It shows up a few pages later. 

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Extension Questions: 

1. What are some things in your room you could count? How many are there?

2. Did you notice the numbers were counted backwards? Where else might you use or hear a countdown?

3. On the page showing seven shoes, what do you think is missing? How do you know? See if you can spot the missing object by the end of the book.

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Vocabulary for Building Math Concepts: 

around, eight, empty, five, four, nine, one, round, row, seven, short, six, square, straight, ten, three, two

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Please check out the Book Guide for Ten, Nine, Eight for more!

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Online External Resources for Ten, Nine, Eight:

• Math at Home resources for toddlers/preschoolers