Holiday Numeracy

It’s the first day of December! Many of you will set out an advent calendar to open with your child over the next 24 days - and that has me wanting to share the potential for counting that the holidays offer.

If using an advent calendar, with each new day, count through the growing sequence of numbers that you have covered, pointing to each as you go to arrive at the day and number you are on. This helps your child become more aware of the unfolding sequence of numbers - both spoken and symbolic.

You can also count through and point to each number as you go for the full 24 day sequence, separately from opening your window for that particular day, to help your child grow in awareness or review.

Here are a few resources for you, book-wise.

I encourage you to name and point to the numbers included in these as you read them. Start with lower sequences; move to larger numbers.

The Twelve Days of Christmas offers a natural opportunity to practice counting in sequence, set to a memorable song:

12 Days of Christmas, Lift a Flap Board Book by Roger Priddy

The Twelve Days of Christmas, by Lara Hawthorne

For the eight nights of Hanukkah, I suggest these two stories:

Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights, by Charlotte Offsay and Menahem Halberstadt

Eight Nights of Lights, A Celebration of Hanukkah, by Leslie Kimmelman and Hilli Kushnir

I love the new book Tamales for Christmas, which includes numbers through the hundreds up to 1000.