Math and Reading Made FUN!
I love reading and am a Scholastic Storybook Treasures SUPERFAN!
In late July, Weston Woods Studios released Chicka Chicka 123… and More Counting Fun (Scholastic Storybook Treasures), an engaging DVD for ages 2 to 6 ingeniously designed to sharpen reading skills and math concepts.
Over an hour of colorful animated stories teach number concepts (through the subject matter) and reading skills, thanks to the Read-Along captioning that highlights each word on the screen as it is spoken.
The title feature in Chicka Chicka 123… and More Counting Fun is of course “Chicka Chicka 123,” a musical number romp sung by Crystal Taliefero. 101 numbers run into trouble as they vy for the top spot in an apple tree!
Emily’s First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells is the second story on Chicka Chicka 123… and More Counting Fun.
Each day at school, Emily and her classmates are introduced to a new number “friend”. On the second day of school, for example, they learn the song “Tea for Two.” Will they learn a new number each day for 100 days and earn the party that Miss Cribbage has promised?
How Much is A Million? is a beautifully illustrated work that endeavors to visually conceptualize the mind-blowing concepts of “million”, “billion”, and even “trillion”.
The illustrations are so detailed and fun that you will want to watch How Much is A Million? to let it all sink in.
Did you realize that a goldfish bowl large enough to hold a million goldfish could hold a whale?
Or that one trillion children standing on each other’s shoulders would almost reach to the rings of Saturn?
Mathematical calculations ARE provided, with amusing explanations from Marvelosissimo the Mathmatical Magician!
Marvelosissimo the Mathmatical Magician returns in the last story on Chicka Chicka 123… and More Counting Fun in If You Made A Million.
This explains concepts of money that my 4-year-old has misunderstood. You know the age old confusion about how a nickle is larger than a dime so it seems like it would be worth more?
“One dollar is worth as much as FOUR QUARTERS or TEN DIMES or TWENTY NICKELS or ONE HUNDRED PENNIES,” Marvelosissimo explains, and the illustrations by Steven Kellogg show us exactly what that means.
We even visit a bank with Marvelosissimo and learn about interest and bank loans. I have a couple of friends who could use a refresher course on these concepts!
I feel like Chicka Chicka 123… and More Counting Fun can teach my children mathematical concepts that I personally have difficulty explaining.
And, while Chicka Chicka 123… and More Counting Fun does cause us to LEARN something, watching it is good fun!
1.) To enter to win leave a comment here letting me know a fun way to teach a difficult concept to a child. It can be something that you have used or that someone else used to teach YOU!
Try to show that you actually did visit the site. Don’t make me doubt you!
Please don’t just comment with “Enter me” or “Sounds great”. That totally annoys me. Those entries are not eligible to win.
One winner will be chosen by random number generator.
This giveaway is open to those with a US mailing address.
2) Daily entry available! Simply Vote for my mom, Cathy, in the Single Sensational Act contest. Comment here the message you got after voting. You can do this once per day!
3.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.
Already a subscriber? Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.
Want to subscribe? Just click here: Subscribe to Mom Most Traveled by Email (Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)
4.) One extra entry for every social bookmarking site you submit this post to (examples: Digg, StumbleUpon, posting on Facebook). Leave a comment for each with your user name.
4.) Twitter about this giveaway (include a link to this page and @MomMostTraveled ) and comment here with your Twitter name.
5.) Blog about this giveaway, including a link to this post.
You have lots of chances for extra entries!
This contest will close on August 28, 12 midnight CST
Giveaway closed, winners selected and notified!*
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21 August 2009, 2:53 am
Quite by accident, we found that those fortune tellers (the paper squares that you move back and forth and then open one side to reveal an answer) work well for remembering strings of things (particularly numbers). My daughters wrote a friend’s phone number on one so they wouldn’t forget and started chanting the number instead of randomly counting (you usually pick a number and then count up to it moving the fortune teller each time). Now they have their friend’s phone number memorized along with my cell and dh’s.
It could work with words too. Write the word on each corner and have them spell the word out loud while moving the fortune teller.
21 August 2009, 2:57 am
tweet: http://twitter.com/ReizaM/statuses/3441779511
21 August 2009, 11:35 am
I had to take a week long business trip when my kids were small (2 and 3). Grandpa and Dad were going to be in charge. They kept asking “But when will you come home?”. Saying that I would be home on Friday didn’t mean much to them. I put out five stacks of clothes and told them that they could pick ONE stack to wear each morning when they got up. The day they wore the last set I would come home in time for supper. (It also gave me the peace of mind knowing that they would be dressed reasonably well (at least color coordinated) for the week.) Their grandpa said that every time they wondered when I would be home they went upstairs and counted the stacks of clothes.
21 August 2009, 11:35 am
i like using educational dvds and cds to help teach concepts that i am unable to easily teach myself
21 August 2009, 11:35 am
subscriber
21 August 2009, 11:37 am
Voted for your Mom - we need to get her into that top seven!
21 August 2009, 11:40 am
Tweeted.
http://twitter.com/slmiresse/status/3448066098
21 August 2009, 11:41 am
I’m an email subscriber.
21 August 2009, 12:28 pm
Tying shoes has always been hard for little ones,I learned alittle song that helps led them thru the process an it seems to work well so far with the grandchildren also
21 August 2009, 12:29 pm
I voted for your mom,but didnt see a count number
21 August 2009, 12:31 pm
I am a subscriber
21 August 2009, 12:32 pm
I tweeted;vickiecouturierhttp://bit.ly/3GtnXz @MomMostTraveled
21 August 2009, 12:33 pm
I posted on facebook;Chicka Chicka 123, Math and Reading Lessons on Scholastic DVD! | Mom Most Traveled
21 August 2009, 2:39 pm
When I was student teaching, we had two students that were ELL (English Language Learners.) They both spoke Spanish, so we had flashcards for them - pictures of, say, a chair with the word in English. We drilled a few times a day. Their command of the English language improved in no time, especially when they were able to make their own flashcards. What fun!
21 August 2009, 2:40 pm
I’m a subscriber.
21 August 2009, 4:49 pm
I have used Skittles to teach add and subtraction to my preschooler
21 August 2009, 4:49 pm
I subscribe
21 August 2009, 7:55 pm
I know measuring ingredients for baking helped me with fractions-especially if I had to halve or double a recipe!
21 August 2009, 7:56 pm
I subscribe by e-mail.
21 August 2009, 8:51 pm
I love to make up songs to teach a concept for my girls.
21 August 2009, 8:51 pm
I subscribe.
23 August 2009, 3:36 pm
as an adult i continue to use the ditty: 30 days has september april june and november all the rest have 31 except February. btw my grandchildren sing the chicka chicka boom boom song and will love the connection
24 August 2009, 4:18 pm
i have found the best way to teach difficult things are to either make up a song that goes along with it or acronyms
24 August 2009, 4:18 pm
subscribe in email
24 August 2009, 4:34 pm
[...] Mom Most TraveledWhat: Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 DVDHow To Enter: Leave a comment on the giveaway/contest postDeadline: [...]
24 August 2009, 8:54 pm
flash cards are awesome.
24 August 2009, 9:21 pm
Taking familiar songs and changing them to fit with what you are teaching works very well. The children already know the tune so it makes it easier than having to learn a new song. When I teach an insect unit we use this song that has the tune of “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” except it has the parts of the insect “Head,Thorax, Abdomen.
24 August 2009, 9:49 pm
teach about bugs on your back lawn mverno@roadrunner.com
24 August 2009, 9:59 pm
Name veggies funky names like carrots are orange torpedoes! Kids have better chance of eating them.
tvollowitz at aol dot com
24 August 2009, 10:00 pm
I subscribe as well
tvollowitz at aol dot com
24 August 2009, 10:52 pm
I used circulars reinforced with trips to the grocery to teach my children math concepts like 3 for 99cents what is the cost of one. 59 cents a pound 4 pounds is how much.
24 August 2009, 11:39 pm
we try to incorporate songs into difficult concepts….but of course this works best now because my daughter is still young
25 August 2009, 2:33 am
My middle school teacher tied math lessons into Pokemon cards because at the time we were all obsessed with that!
25 August 2009, 11:04 am
Positive reinforcement all the way!
25 August 2009, 11:39 am
I was teaching a music class and needed to fit some math in so we learned fractions with music notes. They seemed to have fun and learned math in the process.
25 August 2009, 12:14 pm
I use educational dvds and cds to help teach concepts. Re-watching helps reinforce concepts, too.
25 August 2009, 12:17 pm
Tweet! http://twitter.com/Facetwit17/status/3533585279
Facetwit17
25 August 2009, 12:29 pm
I teach difficult concepts by making up stories, about how did I learn them and how difficult it was at first and in the end how proud I was.
25 August 2009, 12:30 pm
tweeted
http://twitter.com/hminnesota/status/3533745614
and already a follower
25 August 2009, 12:39 pm
I like to teach during snack time.lol. We have taught letters using the alphabet tatertots, abc cookie cutters to make letters out of bread and cookie dough, abc jigglers, alphabits cereal, etc. The kids love using food and it makes for a more interactive experience.
25 August 2009, 1:58 pm
I try to put it into concepts he can understand, like object permanance with going to work…
25 August 2009, 2:10 pm
My daughter loves the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ABCs! I try to use arts and crafts to help her learn to write her letters and numbers. I will do dot-to-dots and have her trace them with finger paints or crayons so she gets the idea of the pattern to write the letters.
learningmama at yahoo dot com
25 August 2009, 5:29 pm
I teach piano and many of the theory concepts I try teach are challenging. I have found that if I have kids draw the concept, rather than just look at them, they tend to learn much more.
25 August 2009, 6:10 pm
you can teach kids to count using lots of fun items - like pasta or beans or beads!
25 August 2009, 6:12 pm
subscriber
25 August 2009, 8:08 pm
A fun way to learn arithmetic is to imagine that each number, 0-9, is a character with it’s own personality. I taught my younger sister this way, and it made it a lot less scary for her. Thanks for the giveaway!
25 August 2009, 8:10 pm
I subscribe via email (sunnyview99 at gmail dot com)!
25 August 2009, 8:10 pm
I stumbled (sunnyview99)!
25 August 2009, 8:11 pm
I posted on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/posted.php?id=100000081168130&share_id=123090564067&comments=1&ref=nf#s123090564067
25 August 2009, 8:13 pm
I blogged: http://wut-givz.blogspot.com/2009/08/mom-most-traveled-chicka-chicka-123-dvd.html
25 August 2009, 8:14 pm
I tweeted: http://twitter.com/sunnyview99/status/3541878735
25 August 2009, 8:36 pm
When I was in girl scouts (way back when) we had some of the children that didn’t want to help clean up. Some where along the way our leader started singing a song that meant it was time to clean up. We sang that song over and over until everything was complete. It worked great and everybody loved that happy tune. I still sing that song to this day when taking on huge cleaning tasks.
25 August 2009, 8:37 pm
Subscriber!
25 August 2009, 9:58 pm
Use marketing techniques that sugary cereals do to get your kids to eat fruits and veggies. Sugary cereals make their product look exciting. So put your child’s favorite stickers on the washed whole apple or on the plastic baggie full of carrot sticks. Or pack them in attractive containers. Draw pictures with a Sharpie on the plastic baggie or on the banana peel. It’s all in the marketing.
25 August 2009, 10:10 pm
I love the Chicka Chicka Boom series, the book of the year for my class is how much is a million. To teach concepts I try to use real life items that the children in easily indentify with. Thanks for the giveaway
sharr1226 at yahoo dot com
25 August 2009, 10:43 pm
By letting them try to do it by themselves. Children do learn a lot more this way.
26 August 2009, 12:09 am
I taught my daughter her abc’s and phonics using multi-sensory approach! I have alphabet flashcards with pictures of things that start with that letter, I draw a large letter on cardstock and have her glue macaroni or other items on the line making the letter, we sing, read books, watch dvds that teach phonics, play doh with cookie cutter letters, etc.
26 August 2009, 12:12 am
I subscribe.
26 August 2009, 1:38 am
Flash cards work really well with my kids!
26 August 2009, 1:38 pm
enter me thanks
26 August 2009, 4:30 pm
To help my daughter learn her colors I put each color on a paper plate and spread the plates out on the floor. Then would play a game hopping to the right colors
Thank you for the chance
tatertot374@sbcglobal.net
26 August 2009, 11:30 pm
Singing a song helps my kids learn. It is fun and the tune helps them remember what they are learning.
27 August 2009, 12:57 am
i used a story about a bunny chasing something under a log in teaching them how to tie their shoes. Works pretty well! My third grader still whispers it to himself!
27 August 2009, 7:14 pm
A song always makes things easier.
27 August 2009, 7:15 pm
Every vote counts, so thank you for making your voice heard. Feel free to vote for more stories too. You may vote for as many different stories as you would like, but you may only vote for a particular story once each day.
27 August 2009, 9:52 pm
Entertain, in some way, to educate!
27 August 2009, 9:59 pm
I find that using things that they like to teach a concept helps, like dolls for a girl, or using little toy cars for a boy.
27 August 2009, 11:01 pm
I believe the best way to teach a child a difficult concept is to give them concrete, hands-on experience with the concept as much as possible. For example, if they are learning about money…give them money to look at, play with, touch, and examine. Practice how much each coin is worth. It also helps to play on their interests.
28 August 2009, 12:03 am
i use dvds and cause and effect thanks for the chance to win eaglesforjack@gmail.com
28 August 2009, 12:03 am
i subscribe thanks for the chance to win eaglesforjack@gmail.com
28 August 2009, 12:55 am
We found that using the calendar and newspaper days (silly I know but it’s his chore) they we taught WeeMan about weekdays and weekends…
28 August 2009, 1:03 am
Use experiments and SHOW the kids how the concept works. That always works better than just words.
28 August 2009, 12:17 pm
We use money to teach our 5yr old how to do math
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
28 August 2009, 12:20 pm
subscribed by email
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
29 August 2009, 2:34 am
We teach difficult concepts with books and pictures
29 August 2009, 4:46 am
I find that using mnemonics help in learning difficult concepts.
29 August 2009, 4:47 am
I subscribed by email.
29 August 2009, 5:09 am
we use little dittys for tying shoes etc
01 September 2009, 4:53 pm
I write hands-on curriculum for a living, so teaching children math and science with building block manipulatives is an easy way to teach counting and spacial skills. A Lego or Duplo and you can teach nearly anything: Sorting, colors, counting, attributes, structures, engineering!! http://littleedventures.com/
01 September 2009, 4:54 pm
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