We have been playing several math games that involve rolling two dice and finding a total.  These games are a fun way to continue practicing number recognition (after finding the total children need to find the matching numeral on a game board),  counting, and for many children, learning basic math facts.  There is also an opportunity for deeper math thinking and connections, often made intuitively as children play the games multiple times - I hear comments such as "3 and 3 is 6 so 3 and 4 must be seven".

Soon I will send home a list of ideas for working on number sense along with several games that your child could play at home.  Number sense, which is essentially what numbers mean and how they relate to each other, is perhaps the most important math skill we work on in kindergarten.  Developing number sense is critical for fluency and flexibility in math.  In the words of well known author and math educator Marilyn Burns, number sense helps "students come to understand that numbers are meaningful and outcomes are sensible and expected."  Number sense is as important to math as phonemic awareness (knowing letters and their sounds) is to reading.  Both provide a critical foundation for future skills to rest upon.