Doc Rainey Pre-School/Kindergarten Maths Resources

Flick Stick Fun-Abacus Maths

‘making maths hands-on, visual & fun'
 

Dr. Des Rainey
PhD (Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio),
MA (Victoria, Wellington)

Contact:

Doc. Rainey Ltd.

15A Coronation Rd

Glenfield, Auckland

New Zealand.

Tel:+64 9 4198356

USA fax (208)4415510

office@earlymath.com

What's It All About?....

Children are widely different in the Number knowledge and skills they bring with them when they start school. Those who are advanced when they start tend to stay advanced or increase their lead. Those who are behind tend to stay behind and the gap widens, especially for girls.

Research by Jenny Young-Loveridge (1991) found six abilities which give children an advantage and all of them can be developed pre-school. They are 1). ability to form sets (‘gather 9 blocks together for me’), 2) recognise numbers, 3) recognise small-number patterns (as on a dice), 4) rote count, 5) forward sequence (know which number comes next), and 6) enumerate.

Findings clearly show that children who started school with these critical skills were able to build on these skills more quickly than those who began without them and needed to master them before they could progress to more advanced levels.

'Flick Stick Maths' gives children maths experiences to build ability and confidence in the six critical areas and ensure they are well prepared for school. More than this it provides additional activities which further extend their skills and understanding.

The Flikstik Fun-Abacus™is hi tech at the simplest level. It provides several simple but powerful models that help in the early stages of learning maths.

The Flick Stick Pre-School/ Kindergarten Maths Pack, $35

Parents! Find here all the simple maths things your kids can benefit from learning & doing pre-school. The pack contains 2 Flick Sticks plus a guide and activity booklet. The guide clearly explains.

• number recognition activities! 

• dice and board games with the Flikstik dice!

• Flikstik number line activities to 5 and then to 10 and beyond!

• the 'imaging' of number patterns and instant recognition of number groupings

• number-pattern games and ‘number family’ games!  See photos of children at play.

The Flikstik Maths Machine™ or ‘Fun-Abacus™’ is hi tech at the simplest level. For children of pre-school age or about 4 or 5 it provides several simple but powerful models that help in the early stages of learning maths.

• As a Flikstik Number Line (a special sort of number line) it enables children to count and add and subtract in a way that gives a very clear visual picture of what they are doing.

• As a special sort of Dice – a dice of any size to 10 - it takes children into games that give them painless practice in important counting and early-addition skills. Young children benefit from first using the Flikstik as a dice of just 3 or 4, then 5 or 6 or more.

• As a sort of Super Dice it provides RANDOM Number Patterns – like
  with a 3-ball Flikstik children can strike all the combinations making 3.
  With a 4-ball Flikstik children can strike all the combinations making 4
    (like  ‘2 + 2’, ‘3 + 1', and ‘1 + 3’ , and so on).
  With a 5-ball Flikstik children can strike all the combinations making 5
    (like  ‘2 + 3’, ‘1 + 4', and ‘0 + 5', and so on).
  When games and activities are added it makes for a great new way of learning all Number Bonds to 10, then 20.

• As a maths exploration tool and toy the Flikstik provides fun ways of investigating, discovering, learning.

You will  come to see that the Flick Stick can be used in many different ways including imaginative and creative ways. Children love it and we are sure you will too.

Order: Within New Zealand send cheque with payment to Doc Rainey Ltd or email your order stating payment has been made to the ASB Bank, Glenfield, Auckland, to Doc Rainey Ltd, 123072-0477071-000. Add $3 postage.
International orders: Request quotation for int'l airmail deliver and safe payment options to office@earlymath.com
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Songs for children based on
the poems of A A Milne.

Des Rainey also now offers A A Milne poems in SONG and in story.  You may like to find out more about Des's children's musicals