Pyramid Solitaire: Math Teaching Tool

 Pyramid Solitaire is a game, but it is, also, a great way to teach children how to make combination that equal 10.

I remember my Mom teaching me this game when I was young. She told me that it was supposed to help me learn addition. I already knew my combinations-to-equal 10 by heart. I thought it was a fun game, and really liked the fact that it counted for school. Wink. 

Fast forward 20 years, now I have a 5 year old son that I want to teach math. I could not remember how to play Pyramid Solitaire. I looked up "playing card math games" online the other night and found some really good instructions at multiplication.com. They have really quick and easy how to play instructions there. I don't feel like I would do as fine a job explaining the rules as they have. You should go check it out! One thing that I think improves the game is using the "draw" pile like you would in regular Solitaire: turning over the top three cards until you find a card that works, so forth. Using the draw pile in this manner helps the game last a lot longer.

I highly recommend this game as a teaching tool. I am using it with my son, not only to teach him addition, but also recognizing the number symbols. I think playing cards are working really well because they have the heart, diamond, spades, or clubs icons that can be counted to come up with the correct number.

Another counting device I have been using with my son is an egg carton filled with rocks. We count them and then take away 1 rock and count what is left, then we take away 2 rocks and count what is left, etc., etc....

I was interested in buying an abacus to help teach the early maths. Maybe I will end up buying one, but I am finding that the free "manipulatives" are working fine, so far. 

Do any of you have suggestions when it comes to teaching young children counting and math?