Mental development of young children is of prime importance in a generation of very competitive performance at a global level. Nations across the world are competing for jobs, position, significance and contribution. Addition and subtraction are foundation keys to success when developing a young child's comprehension and overall mental development. These skills will aid in the development of other faculties relating to problem solving, creative expression, language and grammar. Teaching children the discipline of addition and subtraction can begin with games and creative problem solving in the home in combination with solid curriculum at school.
Step 1
Teach a strategy when dealing with the concepts of addition and subtraction, as opposed to counting fingers or objects separately. Facts and strategy will create memorization of concepts that relate to the subjects of addition and subtraction in a big picture application. Young kids can start with counting "objects," but as they develop more mental capacities, should learn tables and facts regarding numbers.
Step 2
Use silly and fun objects for younger children who are first learning the basics of addition and subtraction, from teddy bears and dolls to army men or matchbox cars. Young children have a positive association to these objects, and will delightfully respond to exercises that incorporate them. Create teams or groupings of their favorite toys and tell stories about one toy going from one team to another, or a couple of toys taking a vacation away from both groups creating a whole new group, explain teachers and experts with MathCats.com. Use simple messages to communicate basics of addition and subtraction.
Step 3
Physically participate in activities that can apply the concepts of addition and subtraction, from bowling to checkers, dominoes or marbles. With these activities, you begin with an initial number of pieces or players; then, as the games progress, pieces are eliminated. Create equations with these scenarios and have your child learn the real life applications of arithmetic. The tactile aspect of these games will also cement the concepts into different receptors of the brain, developing long-term retention.
Step 4
Utilize the many online game resources developed for children of different age categories and developmental stages, such as KidsNumbers.com. These games have been designed by experts in child development and mathematicians to develop every kind of learning style in relation to arithmetic.
Step 5
Practice daily methods of building the children's memory bank with facts, figures and strategy by using flash cards that require memorization and strategy. This can stimulate their thinking and create new patterns of memorization and techniques for discovering sums and differences of numbered equations. Offer meaningful rewards for these activities such as a small dessert after dinner, game time with friends on the weekend, or something else that will relate the learning of these facts to a feeling of accomplishment.
