Find this very tough for a 3 year old and initially, I merely went through this as a form of exposure, not expecting real learning from Zech. Was reluctant to teach place value as to me, this was something I taught before to the P1s. Some of the weaker ones could not even grasp the concept then. Halfway through, as we reached 4 tens, I decided to try teaching Zech, using a method I taught my pupils before.
With a place value mat and some lego pieces, I attempted to teach Zech but I don't think he fully comprehended the concept. Though he can count in tens, it's probably memory work.
I chanced upon the ten-frame mat on the internet. The ten-frame is supposed to develop the child's number sense and help them to organise objects by tens. I started with one mat first then 2 mats. We've used dinosaurs and teddy bear counters. Other tiny objects such as Lego, beans, pebbles etc. work too.
This method is great for young kids. It gradually builds up the base ten concept and even allows discovery learning and encourages kids to use Mathematical language. I'd start with a number and from there, I'd get Zech to add on or take away by either increasing or decreasing the number. It's really interesting to see how Zech struggled with adding on. He found a way eventually by removing all the counters and started counting all over again. When I decreased the number, he struggled once more. But he gradually realised he could simply take away one counter. In his own words, he told me as he placed one counter back in the container, 'I put one back.'
I'm still working on connecting Zech's understanding of 1 ten to the teen numbers to form 2 tens. Not easy for young kids but using the ten-frame mat means discovering other number concepts and relationships as well, which is the reason why I find this very beneficial. If you are keen to download the ten-frame mats, go to this website, http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/.
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