PipSqueaks: a fun math game to teach kids counting and early addition

You can be your childs best math teacher.

PipSqueaks is a kids math app for parents. To help your child learn math, you need to talk about math. Its simple stuff, but you have to know what your child does and doesnt understand. This game will help you, the parent, learn.

Help them learn to play, play with them, then watch them. It will be obvious what they understand and what they dont. Your “number talk” with your child will change, and you will see them learn. As a bonus, the game slowly adjusts to keep your child at the right difficulty level.

Dont believe that your child can count just because she can recite the numbers from one to ten. I was surprised at how little number sense my daughter had (and shes our top beta tester!). She only recognized a few numerals and didnt have the organization to count more than three objects successfully. So we started talking about numbers a lot and played little “math” games whenever we had the chance. She loved it. Its shocking how quickly she picked it up once we knew what to work on.

Below are some skills your child may need to develop. By the way, their skills will improve just through playing the game with you!

* Counting. Counting is made up of at least two skills. One is the ability to say the numbers in order and another is to connect the numbers, in a one-to-one manner, to the objects being counted.

* Attaching meaning to counting (cardinality). Children need to learn that the last number they count represents the total number in the group. If your kid has to re-count to tell you how many, she doesnt have this skill yet.

* Organizing. Young kids need to develop methods for keeping track of which objects theyve counted and which they havent.

* Recognizing numerals. Its hard to select the correct response if they dont recognize all the numbers yet.

* Subitizing. People can learn to recognize the number of objects without counting them. PipSqueaks allows kids to practice this skill.

* Counting on (to add). Pip diagrams in multiple colours allow children to learn to “count on” to get to the correct response. This is an early addition skill.

* Understanding magnitude. The response screen is set up to show that higher numbers represent more objects.

* Understanding part-whole relationships. PipSqueaks helps kids begin to understand this with two-colour pip diagrams.