October 2022 - COUNTING

Talk, Read, and Sing - Talking is Teaching
Created by Great Lakes Bay Parents - Informing parents since 2012!
You are your child's lifelong teacher.

"Talking is Teaching: Talk, Read, Sing" is a public awareness and action campaign that helps parents recognize their power to boost their children’s early brain and vocabulary development through simple, everyday actions ... "
LET'S TALK ABOUT COUNTING!
Let’s talk, read and sing about COUNTING! Your child is beginning to develop an understanding of math—even before she can say number words out loud.Counting with your young baby helps to build a solid foundation for future math skills like addition and subtraction.

Talking is Teaching has tips and resources to help parents talk to their children, even those who are very young. 

Learn More: TALKING IS TEACHING
LET'S TALK TOGETHER
Activities
Let’s talk about COUNTING! 

Let’s talk about COUNTING! Help your child learn to connect numbers to the quantities they represent by doing this fun and simple math activity together! Write down the numbers 1-5 on a piece of paper and below each numeral, make the corresponding number of dots. Have your child use their finger to trace each number and count the dots. Using their sense of touch helps your child’s brain make a stronger, long-lasting connection to what they are learning.
Counting Scavenger Hunt
Talking is Teaching

Together with your little one search for the items listed on the scavenger hunt. Be sure to use words to describe them. Talking about the things we see builds children’s vocabularies and their brains!


View & Print: SCAVENGER HUNT
Count By Numbers - Tip Sheet
Highlights/ Talking is Teaching

Talking is Teaching is a wonderful resource to help you talk with your child during everyday moments. This tip sheet has simple ways to talk math with your children when you’re in town.

Print & View: COUNTING TIP SHEET
Bedtime Math

Bedtime is a great time to snuggle up and talk with your little one. It is also a great time to introduce BEDTIME MATH to your little one! The Bedtime Math app for iPhone/iPad or Android, is available in both English and Spanish. A math problem is sent to you each day and you can work together to figure out the answer.

Learn More: BEDTIME MATH
Math in the Mail at the Bay County Library System

Math Kids for 3-year olds. Contact the Bay County Library to learn more.

Bay County Library System: MATH IN THE MAIL
Calendar of Activities
View & Print: CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
Online Math Fun
PBS Kids
11 Fun Math Games from PBS KIDS
Curious George Flower Garden from PBS KIDS
3-2-1 Snack Digital Games/ Peg + Cat from PBS KIDS
LET'S READ TOGETHER
Recommended Books & Videos
Reading to your child is the perfect way to stimulate and strengthen their developing brain. Did you know that snuggling is also essential for building your baby’s brain? Snuggle up with a few good books at bedtime and have your little one help by turning the pages as you read. Keep a tally each night of how many books you read and count the total together at the end of the week.
More Book & Video Resources
Visit or Contact Your Local Librarian
ARENAC COUNTY
Au Gres Community Library
989-876-8818

Mary Johnston Memorial Library (Standish)
989-846-6611

Omer Little Eagles Nest Library
989-653-2230
BAY COUNTY
Alice and Jack Wirt Public Library
(Bay City)
989-893-9566 ext. 2111

Auburn Area Branch Library
989-662-2381 ext. 207

Pinconning Branch Library
989-879-3283

Historical Sage Library
Bay City
989-892-8555 ext. 207
LET'S SING TOGETHER
Sesame Street: 0-20 Counting Songs! | Number of the Day Compilation
Let’s sing about COUNTING! 

Together with your little on join Sesame Street character sing about the number of the day. 
WHY TALKING IS TEACHING
How Kids Make Sense of Numbers
Sesame Street in Communities
Having “number sense” means knowing what numbers are and how they are used. Here are five important “number sense” skills kids need to develop:

  1. Recognizing written numbers. Just like learning their ABCs, kids need to recognize and name written numbers. They also need to know that each numeral has its own word (1=one, 2=two, and so on).
  2. Understanding that numbers represent the total amount of items in a group (if they ask for three crackers and are given two, they know one is missing).
  3. Knowing that numbers tell the amount of something (a tower is six blocks tall, the cookie dough gets three cups of flour).
  4. Telling how many objects are in a group by pointing to each item as they count it (if there are ten dogs on a storybook page, they put their finger on each one as they count it). This is called one-to-one correspondence.
  5. Comparing groups of items (lining up two groups of blocks on the floor to see which group is larger).

Look for moments to model these math skills with children (“Let’s count the dogs on the page and point to each as we go…one, two, three…”).
PARENT SUPPORT & CLASSES
Bay County Library System
LEAN START

Communication is key to learning about how your child feels.

Bay County Library System's LENA Start is a FREE 10-week class for families with children ages birth to 36 months old. The goal of the program is to help parents increase talk, which encourages their babies' literacy and brain growth.

MSU Extension Webinars
ONLINE EXTENSION EXTRAS PARENTING HOUR
Extension Extras Parenting Hour
WHEN: Tuesdays at 8 - 9:30 PM

October 25 - How Children Develop
November 1 - Essential Skills For Learning and Life
November 9 - Positive Discipline
November 15 - ABC's of Early Literacy
November 22 - Responding to Your Child's Cues
November 29 - Together We Can: Co-Parenting

ONLINE EXTENSION EXTRAS FAMILY
FAQ's Talking With Kids About Grief and Loss
October 20 at 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

FAQ's Sibling Squabbles
November 11 at 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

THE PARENT TALK SYSTEM WEBINAR SERIES - SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBER
November 3 – December 15 at 7:30 - 9 PM

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PARENTING WEBINAR SERIES - OCTOBER
November 9 - December 7 at 11:30 AM - 1 PM

LUNCH & LEARN
Mindfulness for Parents and Caregivers Monday
November 14 at 11:30 AM - 12:30P
Learn More & Register: MSU EXTENSION PARENT CLASSES
MotherBaby Cafe

DATES: Every Thursday at 10 am - 12 pm

LOCATION: 4101 East Wilder Rd., Bay City

Join other mothers and their children for weekly themes, Question and Answers, and guest presenters. Meetings will be at the Bay City Town Center in the Community Room near Game Stop.
Prizes will be raffled.

Learn More: MOTHERBABY CAFE
Bay-Arenac Great Start Family Network

DATE: 1st & 3rd Wednesday at 4:30 pm.

LOCATION: 583 E. Cedar Street, Standish

Drop in for an evening of fun. Connect with other parents, and learn about upcoming events and local resources. Each family will receive a meal kit to make at home.

Learn More; PARENT NETWORK
RESOURCES
Let's Read Together Challenge
Michigan Learning Channel
The Let’s Read Together Challenge is back! We are challenging students from Preschool to 12th Grade across the state to complete 1,000 minutes of reading during October and November. Classrooms and families who complete the challenge will be entered into a drawing to win prizes by age range.
STEM Passport
STEM Pipeline
The Great Lakes Bay Region is home to a variety of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) destinations and programs. The Great Lakes Bay Region STEM Passport is a learning resource for 19 different hands-on, dynamic STEM organizations in the community. Now locating them is easy! 

Learn More: STEM PASSPORT APP
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STAY INFORMED
*This newsletter was supported by the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiative (PDG B-5), Grant Number 90TP0055-01-0090TP0002, from the Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

**Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Child Care, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.