To Market, To Market

Learning in Motion

This early math program designed mainly for schools presents a means for preschoolers and Kindergartners to practice essential mathematical concepts in the context of an open-air market. 3D animal hosts guide children through activities that build upon children’s natural understanding of the concepts of more and less, equality, and general number sense. Children need not be familiar with their numbers from 1-100 when they start with the program. Our favorite activity has children deciding which of two sets of objects contains more or less. Children can eyeball it, or use any of the grouping tools (group by 5, 10, 20, or 50) to help them arrive at the answer. The sets are counted out, often by skip counting, teaching kids number sense at the same time. Another activity, hosted by the Dragonfly, asks children to add or take away items from two customers’ bins in order that the number of objects is equal to, more than, or less than the other’s. Each activity is marvelously open-ended, providing a number of different ways for children to meet the requirements. Children earn 4 coupons in order to earn a "magical" object that can then be used in a Movie Production Studio. Here, children create math stories. This is an ambitious program that probably would be best for bright preschoolers as an enrichment program.

Pros: respects a young child’s ability to understand mathematical concepts that traditionally are only introduced to school-age children

Cons: expensive choice for a home setting

Movie-making activity isn’t easy to understand at first

We wish there were more activities to choose from