Mathematical Milestones: Counting How Many Days
March 31, 2016
I noticed recently that my daughter has acquired a new math skill. She can (with some help regarding the number of days in each month), figure out how many days it will be until some future date. This is an important skill for kids, because they often urgently want to know things like:
- How many days until my birthday?
- How many days until April Fool's day?
- How many days until summer vacation?
- How many days until Christmas?
Of course counting the days is fairly easy if your target date is within the same calendar month as today. It still requires either counting forward or using subtraction, so even this simplest case is useful. My daughter used to do this by going to the wall calendar and counting the days, but she has grasped the abstraction of the numbers at this point, and usually doesn't need to.
When the target date is in a future month, the calculations are more complex. You have to be able to count how many days remain in this month, and then add the relevant days from the next month (plus other months, as applicable). We went through this exchange on March 20th:
Daughter: "How many days until April Fool's Day?"
Me: "Let's figure that out."
Daughter: "OK. How many days in this month?"
Me: "31."
Daughter: "OK." Pause for thinking. "Ten, eleven, twelve. Twelve days until April Fool's Day!"
I was very proud. She counted by 10s to get to the 30th, then added in the 31st and the 1st. The next step will be counting the days until some event that's more than a month away. But there's no rush.
I think a key to the fact that she can do this calculation stems from my asking: "Let's figure it out." I ask that question ALL the time. If you train your kids to figure out the answers to numeric questions, instead of just telling them, they get used to it. They learn how to do it. They'll eventually do it on their own. Especially when the question is of vital importance, like knowing how long they'll have to wait for April Fool's Day.
Thanks for reading! I hope that some of you will find this useful. Wishing you all a fun April Fool's Day tomorrow!
© 2016 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.
Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter by Beth Fantaskey is set in 1926 Chicago and features a 10-year-old newsgirl who aspires to one day be a crime reporter. When Miss Giddings, a woman who has been kind to Isabel, is accused of murder (with Isabel having been the first on the scene) the intrepid young girl tries to prove Miss Giddings' innocence. In the process, Isabel gets to know a woman she has idolized from afar, Tribune reporter Maude Collier (who is loosely based on an actual historical figure). Isabel also becomes friends with Miss Giddings' son, disabled by polio, and the murdered man's daughter. Largely unsupervised by a mother who works nights, Isabel roams about, stirring things up and annoying the police detective assigned to the case. 
Finally last week I put it out with our breakfast books. She said: "OK, let's read that." I pointed out the shiny gold sticker on the cover, and remarked casually that this book had won a big award. I even added (though in retrospect I probably shouldn't have) that "some people believe this is the best picture book of all time." [I was thinking of the 
15 Authors Share Their Favorite Bedtime Stories for Kids (
On the 
"I still read (aloud to my older kids) because it pulls us close. There is intimacy in a shared story" 
Reading Pictures: What Comics Can Teach Young Children (emotions + more) 
Guest Post: P.J. Hoover at 
Good tips! The Top 6 Ways to Support a Mathematical Child (PDF download) 
Jenny Goebel: 
I'm reading 
The 
Weekends with Max and His Dad is the first of a new illustrated early chapter book series by Linda Urban. The book is divided into three multi-chapter sections. Each section recounts a weekend that third grader Max spends with his dad in his dad's new apartment (following his parents' separation). In other hands, a book for kids about adjusting to such a new family circumstance could have been didactic. In Linda Urban's hands, Weekends with Max and His Dad is flat out adorable. 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
Newbery / Caldecott 2017: Spring Prediction Edition from 
On Your Mark, Get Set, Read! Chapter Book List (inc. series) for 
On the 
Children’s Week Bookmark Reveal (psst . . . It’s El Deafo related!) — 
Escaping Series Mania, how + why to get developing readers to read outside of series fiction, Betty Carter 
Lois Lane is far more than 'just' Superman's girlfriend | 
Why Parents Should Not Make Kids Do 
How I Use 
Thoughts on nurturing grit + 
Pi Day and BOOKS Help Kids Get Excited About MATH! 
"If Daddy had a daughter with someone else, maybe she wouldn't have loved books."
I've blogged previously about ways to