Using Board Games To Teach Numbers | Teachers College Columbia University

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Using Board Games To Teach Numbers

Using Board Games To Teach Numbers
Learning to count by rote memorization doesn’t necessarily translate into understanding whether one number is smaller than another, and why. Yet children’s understanding of such “numerical magnitudes” correlates strongly with their performance on achievement tests, said Carnegie Mellon’s Robert Siegler, who delivered TC’s 2010 Tisch Lecture in February. Numerical boardgames can enhance that understanding, Siegler said. Chutes and Ladders, a game that traces its roots back to ancient India, has proven effective at exposing low- and middle-income preschoolers to verbal, visual-spatial, kinesthetic, auditory and temporal cues to numerical magnitudes.

Published Wednesday, May. 19, 2010

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