Hundred Chart (Part 2)

A quick and easy extension activity that you can set up for your child after they've become familiar with patterns on the hundred chart is what I call "hundred chart puzzles." In this activity, you include only parts of a complete hundred chart, fill in just one or two numbers, and your child's task is to determine the remaining missing numbers. Here are a few examples:

I've extended the third and the fourth puzzles beyond 100 so you can see examples of ways to increase the level of difficulty. You can also extend to numbers less than 1 should you desire to engage your child in a conversation about negative integers.

Tip: Make puzzles that spell out your child's name; they'll love that! Can you tell what I've spelled with my puzzles? : )

Hundred Chart (Part 1)

One useful visual tool in early mathematics is the hundred chart. I've had this one for about six years. It was originally posted on our playroom wall, well before my son knew what it was or what patterns exited. I particularly like this one because the columns have alternating colors, which makes it easier to visually track numbers (also for distinguishing even and odd numbers later on.)

Once your child is familiar with locating numbers on the hundred chart, you can use it to teach him/her to count up from a given number. For example, start at 6 and count 10 more. What number did you land on? You can start modeling how to record this process with a number sentence: 6 + 10 = 16.

Similarly, you can have your child count back on the hundred chart. For example, start at 15 and count back 10. What number did you land on? (15 - 10 = 5)

You can also ask slightly more challenging questions such as: I counted 10 and landed on 21. What number did I start with? (? + 10 = 21)

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting and welcome to my blog! I am really excited about sharing my experience in mathematics education. I will try to blog at least one idea per week that you can implement at home with your children. Grade levels will vary, so stay tuned and check back often for new ideas!