Free Stuff

Readiness Drills - - Pre-K to 1st Grade

Counting to 100 by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's

This is an array of 100 circles, organized for easy counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's.

Go slow on this.  Don't ask a child who's not comfortable counting to 20 to extend her reach to 100 in one or two sessions.  Keep it in the comfort zone. Try to maintain a steady cadence.

To download, just go to the page and click on 'Print,' either on the toolbar or in the 'File' menu. Counting to 100

Number Writing Practice

The child writes the number in the proper square and says the number out loud as she does it.  The only rule is "one number to a square," which is a first introduction to place value.  Don't push her to '20' before she's comfortable getting to '10.'  Keep it in the comfort zone.

If she writes a number backwards, turn the paper over and have her write the number correctly five times, then turn the paper right side up and keep on going.

Your child should be fairly comfortable counting and writing to 20 before starting on addition facts. Go to the page and print it.  Number Writing 

The Colors & Shapes Game

This is a hands-on way to familiarize your child with squares, circles, and triangles. The game involves  identifying geometric shapes and colors (2 attributes), as in "green triangle."

Putting the game together can be a rewarding project involving parent and child.  Your child will learn a lot just in helping to cut out and assemble the parts.  All instructions are printed on the page.  Be sure your printer is set up to print in color.  Colors & Shapes.

Arithmetic Tables w/ Fact Family Format

Addition & Subtraction Facts

You will you notice that the answers to subtraction fact queries are contained within the corresponding addition facts. For example, 8 + 6 = 14 contains the answer to 14 - 8 = ?. That's very good news. It means that when your child learns an addition fact, she learns a corresponding subtraction fact at the same time. She just doesn't know it yet. Math Path promotes the Fact Family approach to learning arithmetic facts, which encourages a child to re-state the query for an unknown subtraction fact in order to find the answer in a known (previously memorized) addition fact. Many hours of memorizing subtraction facts can be saved using the Fact Family method. 

14 - 8 = what? is rephrased as 8 + what? = 14. Since she already knows that 8 + 6 = 14), she has her answer. This takes a bit of practice, but it really works and will save much time if used.

As to memorizing addition facts, did you know that only 27 of 100 facts require brute memorization? Once those are mastered, the remaining facts can be accessed through simple tricks or simple logic.

Keep in mind that these memory aids are only interim steps on the road to complete mastery of addition and subtraction facts. The facts are not truly mastered until they are recalled from memory effortlessly and automatically. Addition & Subtraction Facts

Multiplication & Division Facts

As with the Addition/Subtraction Fact Sheet, the answers to division fact queries are contained within the corresponding multiplication facts. 8 x 6 = 48 contains the answer to 14 ÷ 8 = ?.  When your child learns a multiplication fact, she learns a corresponding division fact at the same time.  Multiplication & Division Facts