We are learning Touch Math. This is a method I learned as a child and then was trained in as an undergrad. I still use Touch Math to this day when balancing my check book! Read below for some more information. I have sent home our first packet with the Touch Points on the numbers. Practice these with your children! We will continue mastering our touch points in a variety of ways and using them to learn addition and subtraction. This especially comes in handy with two and three digit problems!
"Trademarked TouchPoints.The secret to TouchMath is simple. In fact, it can be summed up in one word: TouchPoints.Each numeral from 1 through 9 has TouchPoints corresponding to the digit's value.
Numerals 1 through 5 have single TouchPoints
Numerals 6 through 9 have double TouchPoints
As students count the TouchPoints, they associate numerals with real values. They learn that a numeral (3, for instance) is not just a squiggle on a page. It represents a quantity such as three apples, three ladybugs, three buttons or three TouchPoints.
Using pictorial objects and our trademarked TouchPoints, we teach young children to associate numerals with real values (number quantities).Touching/Counting Patterns.Students count aloud as they touch the single TouchPoints once and double TouchPoints twice. This multisensory approach engages students on auditory, visual and tactile/kinesthetic levels. To ensure that students arrive at the right answer, it is important that they touch the TouchPoints in the correct Touching/Counting Pattern for each numeral. The Touching/Counting Patterns are shown below. Counting is the key.Computations are easier using TouchMath because all basic operations are based on counting. In TouchMath addition, students count forward. In subtraction, they count backward. In multiplication and division, they count in sequences. Students touch, count and repeat each problem and answer aloud to reinforce fact mastery."
"Big results for little people. 'It's easy to teach math by rote, but it doesn't become concrete and internalized," comments Lisa. "With TouchMath, however, children learn that 2 is not just a number; it is a concept, a quantity. Students can apply this knowledge to any skill and graduate to higher levels of math without being apprehensive. We're introducing 3-column addition with regrouping to our kindergarteners and it's not a struggle for them.' "
**excerpts taken from the Touch Math website: http://www.touchmath.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.how
