A note from the system’s developers, Back to top

Our names are Denise and Grant Ford and we are parents. In 1994, in response to the needs of our own children, we developed the Reading Master System for early reading.  Now, five years on, Reading Master is a number one selling early learning system.  We have been delighted and humbled by the responses that we continue to receive from purchasers of Reading Master, all with a unique story to tell, of how their child responded and conquered the elementary skill of reading - the basic right of every child.  Now, in response to many, many requests, we have completed a similar program for mathematics, the Reading Master Maths Program. 

Like reading, maths is a skill that requires mastery.  Also like reading, basic maths skills are easiest taught in the preschool years. There are certain things that we as parents desire our young children to learn.  In mathematics, these things generally include learning to count, add, subtract, multiply, divide, recognise different basic shapes, be able to tell the time, be able to use money, and to learn to weigh and measure things.  Most of us would consider these to be basic requirements– an essential foundation, if you like, for future knowledge to be built upon. This requirement is reflected too, in preschool and elementary school curriculums.  It is these key elements that we have focused on in our maths program.  It is important that these elements are mastered by the first few years of school, at the very latest.

The Reading Master Maths Program, therefore, is designed for the learning abilities of very young children but is useful for school age children as well. To facilitate learning at an early age, Reading Master Maths utilizes accelerated learning techniques in the form of ‘flash cards’, games and video presentations and uses music designed to accelerate learning. Reading Master Maths has been designed for parents to use at home with their preschool and junior grade children and for teachers in school and preschool environments.

Remember that even maths can be fun.  Whatever negative feelings you may have for mathematics, leave them behind and begin this voyage of discovery with your children.  The more energy and enthusiasm you inject into these sessions with your children the more rewarding it will be for all of you.

The youngest children learn the easiest Back to top

Children are actually best equipped to learn between the years of 0-4.  As studies by Benjamin Bloom have revealed, 50% of a child’s ability to learn is developed in the first four years of life and another 30% is added after this in the following four.  This does not mean that your child will know 80% of everything he or she will ever know by age 8.   It does mean that the rate at which your child can learn anything will be governed by the ability they develop during these first crucial learning years.  There are many other studies that support this idea but you only need to observe your own child and see the amount of information being assimilated in these early years to realise that this is true. At no other time does a child grow and develop and change so much. Physically a child will learn to roll over, sit upright, stand, walk, speak words, run, jump, skip, write etc. Mentally and emotionally the child will develop a bonding to the immediate family members. He will work out the code for speaking a language and put it to use (maybe for even more than one language). He will figure out what sort of reaction will be achieved when he smiles, and when he cries, etc. A child will work out how this new world he has arrived in works, in very quick order and at a very early age. The more there is for him to understand at this time the greater the ability to understand he will develop. The ideal time to teach a child to read is when he is learning to understand and to speak the language. The ideal time to teach a child to do maths is when she is experiencing for the first time that her friend has more chips than she does, or she has to wait 10 more days before she can open her Christmas presents. Numbers are an inherent part of life. They are not just some abstract notion that can be left to chance later on. The time to teach your child the basics of mathematics is right now, before he or she reaches school.

Praise, praise, praise,  Back to top

There is little that is more motivating to a young child than praise from a parent.  As you play these different games and complete the different activities in the Reading Master Maths Program together, focus onrewarding your child for not only every right answer but also for every positive step made in the right direction.  The best kinds of reward are those from the heart – smiles, hugs and kisses and heaps of enthusiasm and encouragement.  By spending time doing these activities with your child, you will be demonstrating to your child the importance you attach to learning mathematics and more importantly the importance you attach to their learning anything. You will be demonstrating to your child that he or she is worth spending time with. What an investment for the future!

Maths as part of real life, Back to top

Keep the abstracts till last!  I was stopped in the supermarket the other day by a woman about my own age.  She had two children with her of similar ages to my own.  She showed me two packs of meat, one with diced beef, the other with uncut gravy beef.   She asked me which pack would work out the cheapest to buy.  Obligingly, I looked at the weights and quantities printed on each pack.  I did a quick mental calculation and told her that the undiced gravy beef was better value for money as it had almost twice as much meat in it for only $2.20 more.  She very appreciatively put back the diced beef, thanked me and went on her way.  I had earlier seen the stranger in the supermarket, put a pack of meat in each hand to try to estimate which was the heavier.  She probably had already guessed that the undiced beef was about twice as heavy as the diced beef.  It was a short step from there to work out that if it was less than twice as much money it would be value for money.  That would have been a good beginning but she obviously felt she needed confirmation of this and did not trust herself to calculate the right answer.  Afterwards I thought how much mathematics is part of everyday life but how much we take it for granted.  The process of estimating, we are now discovering, actually uses a different part of the brain than the process of calculating.  It is the link between the two however, that is critical for a good working knowledge of mathematics.  For this link to happen, it is important that anyone beginning mathematics gains an understanding of the meaning of numbers and quantities, weights and measures before being presented with their abstract numerals and symbols.  Mathematics curriculums acknowledge the importance of this and we have done the same with the Reading Master Maths Program.

Children are naturally fascinated by sorting things into piles of equal quantities or by making up stories about how many socks they would have to provide if the dog decided he would like to wear a different set of socks each day of the week.  It is this part of mathematics, the application of maths in the child’s real life, that is of the greatest interest.  It is something else that just has to be worked out and the sooner they can get on with it, the happier they are. It is this application of maths in real life that gives maths its meaning.  You will find lots of practical problem solving cards and lots of activities in the Reading Master Maths Program, that in the beginning do not use numerals at all.  What we must do first is teach the concept of quantity (Packs 1, 2, 3, 4), then the idea that quantity can change. (Packs 4 and 5)  It is not until Pack 9 that number symbols or numerals (1, 2, 3, ...) are introduced.  We advocate teaching 2+2=4 by initially showing:  2 objects then putting another 2 objects withit and coming up with 4 objects. While doing this, we recommend saying "2 plus 2 equals 4". By doing this, the children will work out the rules for themselves.

We save the numeral cards till later on once the child has understood the concept of one thing, beingThen the numeral one, 1, can be introduced.  The numerals are abstract in that they are only the symbols that represent certain quantities.  They can be compared in this regard, to the letter names of the alphabet.  For example, a child can be taught cat is spelt c, a, t but this does not help the child to work out how the word is pronounced or what it actually represents. If the child, however, has been taught the sounds of the letters when they see the word cat they can go "kih", "a", "tih" and work out what it says. The same can be said of numerals. Learning 3+2=5 does not have much meaning unless the child has first learnt "3" means

and "2" means and that + is just the symbol or shorthand way of telling someone that we are adding some more, etc.  Children can actually visualise quantities in their minds and add to them or subtract from them.  It is adults who have lost this ability, who resort to mechanical manipulation of symbols. When finally presented with 1+1=2 (in abstract form), your child will be able to visualise this in his head.

The flashcard technique Back to top

Glenn Doman pioneered the flashcard technique in America.  It is the principle technique used in the Reading Master Maths Program.  Flashcarding is a very simple yet powerful technique for teaching young children.  It works on the observation that children’s minds are like sponges.  They can soak up correctly presented information at an incredibly fast rate.  It is also based on the knowledge that children, especially young children spend most of their waking hours seeking out learning.  Learning is a form of survival.  And more than this, children want to learn valuable, factual information they can use in their day to day life.  If you want to learn more about what can be achieved through flashcarding read some of the books by Glenn Doman listed on www.readingmaster.com under Recommended Reading.  The technique itself is fast and simple.  However, you do need to know a few things before starting.  Cards are best grouped into sets of approximately 10.  Be familiar with the cards before you start and make sure they are in the required order. Before starting each group of cards, announce what it is that you are about to present.  Then it is a case of showing one card at a time and saying what is on it.  Make sure that what you say is factual and unambiguous.  (See appropriate wordings to use under each of the card pack sections, later).  Spend no more than one second per card.  Imagine how boring it is to have a card held in front of you for even a few seconds longer than you need to have recognised it.  It does not take very long to absorb that whole image.  You will find your child will be impatient to see what other wonderful things you have to show him. Therefore, starting with the fish cards in pack 1, put the cards into order and announce to your child that you are about to teach him quantity. Say, "these are all fish".  Then hold up the card with one fish on it and say, "this is one fish".  Then hold up the card with two fish on it saying, "this is two fish".  Go through as many fish cards as your child is interested in.  As you proceed, he will get the idea that all of the cards are fish and you can start saying "six, seven..." and leaving off the word "fish".  As you can see, flashing the whole set of fish cards will take only around 10 seconds. Doing this quickly and often is more effective than spending more time on each card.  Praise your child liberally and then put the cards away. Do this another couple of times during the day. For variety next time, use a different set.  Initially, show the cards in order each time that you present them.  The other packs in the system that will require this flashcard technique are Pack 2- quantity cards (11-50), Packs 7 & 8 - geometric shapes, Pack 10 - counting in 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s, Pack 13 - the fraction cards, Pack 14 - multiplication and finally, Pack 15 - clocks. ( Full pack details and how to use them occur later on in this guide book).  Make sure that you are familiar with the shapes in Pack 7, by reading the section in this guidebook starting on page 22.  Before you begin, make sure youannounce that they are all shapes.  Hold them up one at a time, for about one second per card and state clearly what each shape is.  "This is a square, this is a circle, this is a rectangle." As always when flashcarding, it would be beneficial to play some accelerated learning music, from the list in the back of this guide book, at the same time.  Pack 8 is for accelerating those children who have grasped the basic shapes and who are interested in learning some more.  Use these in the same way.  In the Reading Master – Maths Program we have made sure, that the basics have been covered but the child has the opportunity to extend and accelerate as well.  When you use flashcard techniques, you will find your children will advance beyond normal curriculum requirements for their age.  Pack 10 teaches counting in 2’s, 3’s, 5’s, and 10’s.  Start with counting in 2’s.  Find a nice quiet place when the time is right and say, "we are going to count in 2’s". Starting with 2, go through in numerical order spending no more than one second per card.  "This is the numeral 2, this is the numeral 4, this is the numeral 6, 8, 10, ..." etc to the end.  Do this several times a day.  Do not test your child to find out if he knows it yet.  He will just join in saying them and then start to anticipate each card as it comes up when he is ready.  You must put in for a while before you will get anything back, like so many things in life.  Wait for this to happen rather than testing your child. Pack 13 – the fraction cards are double sided. Use the pictorial side showing fractions as segments before showing them depicted as numerals. Announce you are going to learn fractions together. Then go through one at a time, saying 1/3rd, 2/3rds, etc from the backs of the cards.Pack 14 teaches multiplication. Start with the ‘1 times’ tables. Announce that you are going to learn multiplication and "today it’s the ‘1 times tables’ using Zebras". Show the pictorial side of the cards to your child whilst you read out what is on the back.(i.e 1x1=1, 2x1=2,.........12x1=12). Finally, Pack 15 teaches time. Ask if your child would like to learn to tell the time. Say, "These are all o’clocks" (or half pasts depending on which cards you are showing). "This is one o’clock" (through to twelve o’clock).

Where do I start in the system? Back to top

The packs have been put into the logical order to successfully go through the system starting with Pack 1 and to finish with Pack 15.  Just as in reading, you should not assume that just because your child is of a certain age he has assembled all the components he needs to have by that age.  If your child already knows some of the first concepts, then you will just move through them faster.  It is still good experience for your children to recognise different number patterns even if they can already proficiently count to 10.  The 11-50 objects in Pack 2 will extend even the most capable children.

Pack One: Quantity Cards - Pack 1 contains 65 cards with a green forest backing.  These include: an instruction card for the pack and an additional instruction card for Nature Match, plus 10 butterfly cards, 10 fish cards, 10 eagle cards, 10 cougar cards, 10 mixed image cards, 2 blank cards and 11 numeral cards from 0 -10 inclusive.  The Green Forest cards teach the concept of quantity (including zero), number pattern recognition, and estimation.  They are also used in conjunction with the Green Forest game board for playing "Nature Match"(copyright).  The first application we recommend for these cards is to flash them in sets (eg. the set of butterflies, the set of fish,) to your child as mentioned on page 7.  Keep the cards in order. E.g. "zero butterflies, one butterfly, two butterflies... 10 butterflies."  Remove the numeral cards from the pack initially, as these are best left until the concept of quantity has been understood.  We recommend the numerals from this pack be introduced after pack 8 - only sooner if your child is already familiar with numbers.  After flashing the cards, praise your child liberally and then put the cards away.  Do this another couple of times during the day.  Continue with this until you think your child has absorbed the information.  

Pack One: Quantity Cards 0-10 - Back to top

Then you can start showing the cards out of order. Eg. "2 fish, 6 fish, 3 fish, ...". Following that you can mix the different sets of cards up, "1 fish, 3 eagles, 7 butterflies, 4 eagles, etc....."  Let your child shuffle the cards and take some control over the process.  Sometimes children have difficulty understanding that having different objects or different sized objects appearing in the same set makes no difference to the final quantity.  Therefore, we have included a mixed set of cards with different images and different sized images.  When using these, just state, "here are five objects, here are nine objects, etc. Once you begin flashcarding quantities with these cards, use any opportunity you can to count objects.  Count the fruit in the fruit bowl or the dog biscuits as they are placed in the dog bowl. Count different sized objects so that your child learns that the size is irrelevant.  Be sure to investigate the concept of 0.  When playing with fruit, say "How many bananas do I have now?" while holding up no bananas.  Then introduce the blank cards in the sets and include those in your sessions.

Another good thing to do is to throw down different numbers of objects up to ten.  For example you could take turns throwing down coins, and guessing how many there are.  This is a good way to practise estimation and also introduces some more number patterns.  Eventually, your child will visually recognise the number patterns without having to count the number of objects. Try not to test your child, as this is stressful.  The object of the exercise is to make learning fun. Use lots of positive reinforcement in the form of praise and reward stickers at every opportunity possible. When you think your child is ready, have a go at Nature Match.  Get other members of the family to join in.  This should be fun for all the family and rewarding for your child.

 Quantity Cards and Nature match - Back to topNature Match is played with the Nature MatchÓ board that comes with Reading Master Maths.  To play use Pack 1 with the two blank cards removed.  If your child has not done numerals yet, then remove the numeral cards 0 -10 as well.

How to Play - Each player is dealt an equal number of playing cards.  Starting with the youngest player, and moving clockwise, each player turns over and places a card face up on the appropriate pile on the game board.  While doing so, he states the number of objects on that card. For example, if player 1 draws the card with 2 fish, this card is placed on the fish card on the game board and the player says "2".  The next player would then draw a card from the pile, turn it over and place it on the appropriate pile.   If that were the mixed image card with nine objects, for example, then that card would be placed onto the mixed image space on the game board and the player would say "9". Whenever 2 cards with the same quantity are turned up across the piles, the first person who calls "it’s a match" takes the cards from both piles and places them face down on the bottom of their pack. This player then begins again.  The object of this game is to teach number pattern recognition. As winning is not important, we have included a lot of cards in the hope that no one will run out. The game finishes with a hug and some  Animal Match stickers at a time that seems appropriate, before interest starts to wane!  While playing this game try not to count out loud if you are having difficulty recognising 7, 8, 9, and 10 as number patterns.  Give your child the opportunity to try and recognise these patterns without counting.  Every time a card is put down and called out your child will associate this quantity of objects with that number.  This will teach him to recognise and name these patterns. Children taught by this method have gone on to be able to recognise at a glance 78 objects or 92 objects as easily as we might 3.  Also, when playing with younger children, give them a chance to respond before you do. You will already probably recognise number patterns up to five or six and may have an initial advantage.  However you are also likely to have some learned inabilities to recognise larger groupings than these, that your child will not have.  With patience, however, using this game, you will be able to teach your child and yourself to recognise number patterns up to ten.

Quantity Cards 11-50 (Pack 2), Back to top

Pack 2 contains 40 quantity cards from 11-50, plus an instruction card.  The waterfall cards are used for understanding quantities beyond 10, and random number pattern recognition.   Use these cards the same way that you did with pack 1. If you wish, you can follow them on from one of the sets in Pack 1.  As your child learns, remove the first card from that pack 1 set and include the first card (11apes) from pack 2.

 Just continue on in this way, removing the lowest number and replacing with a higher number.  This way the pack is always changing and remains interesting.  As you place each card down, clearly state the number of objects.  Gradually work your way through, in sets of tens, to 50. 

By doing this your child will be noticing that the ‘50’ card has many more objects than the ‘11’ card. Your child is actually capable of looking at 38 crabs and knowing there are 38 of them without counting.

Pack 3 and Geographic Map Cards Back to top

Pack 3 contains an instruction card and 31 animal cards for counting and sorting into sets.  These animal cards are used with the six A5 geographic map cards provided for North America, Africa, Australia, Arctic, South America and Asia.  Pack 3 develops your child’s ability to group objects into sets.  It teaches them to see order.

Where Am I From?Ó: Back to top Put the 31 animal cards into a pile. Space the six continent cards, continent side up, well apart on a table or on the floor. Then ask your child to put each animal on the country where she thinks it lives. Make this fun. The first time, give your child lots of clues.  What colour animal can’t be seen on the Arctic snow? (White animals).  What animals do lions eat? (Zebra, giraffe, antelope).  Australia has different marsupials.  Marsupials are animals that carry their young in a pouch.  Can you see any marsupials? (Kangaroo, koala and wombat).  Do you think giraffes might live in Antarctica? Why not? Do you know which bird eats squirrels? (Eagle).  Koalas like gum trees.  Do you know which bird likes to sit in gum trees? (Kookaburra). Which other animals are on grasslands like the lion on the Africa card? (Elephant, giraffe, zebra, gazelle, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cheetah from Africa).  For South America, comment how the 2 macaws are sitting over a river, and say I wonder what swims in the river (Discus fish).  South America has lots of jungle, I wonder what likes to swing through the trees of the jungle like Tarzan? (Spider monkey, tamarin).

I’m sure you’ll have lots of other ideas to help your children work out where the animals come from. The Reading Master Learning System reading books will also come in very handy! Your child will probably notice that some of the animals also appear on the A5 continent cards. These should get them off to a good start.

Animal Sets (Pack 3)Back to top

In order that the children can play "Where Am I From"Ó, by themselves, the answers are printed on the backs of the geographic map cards in words and pictorially. Here is the complete list of animals under their correct geographic maps.

Arctic: polar bear, white whale, snowy owl

North America: bald eagle, red squirrel, cougar

Australia: kangaroo, koala, laughing kookaburra, dingo, emu

Africa: lion, zebra, elephant, giraffe, baboon, antelope, chimpanzee, rhino, hippopotamus, cheetah

South America: llama, macaw, discus fish, spider monkey, Amazon parrot, tamarin

Asia: panda, tiger, red panda, orangutan

When your child has completed placing the animals into geographical sets, count the numbers of animals in each set. Then ask questions such as "Which group or groups have the most animals in it", "Which has the least?"  "Do some groups have the same amount?"  Once these concepts have been understood, introduce the symbols < (less than), > (greater than), and = (equals) from Pack 11.  Throughout the process, give as much help as is required.  After a few games your child will become familiar with where these animals come from and will also be learning that things can be grouped together based on all sorts of different criteria.  This categorisation will help to create the ability to order things in the child’s brain.  She will be starting to learn what goes with what or what can be filed away with what.  Order other things too. Here are a few examples of what you can use: Fruit: sort into different types eg. apples, bananas, lemons, and pears. Mixed Vegetables: Pour some frozen mixed vegetables into a bowl and sort into carrots, peas, beans and corn. Shells: Gather some shells from the beach and sort into sets of the same kind. Remember you can sort by different criteria too. eg. Shells may be sorted into piles of small and large, dirty and clean, or into piles of like kind.

You can also go back to Pack 1.  Shuffle the cards together and get your child to order the cards into sets of butterflies, fish, eagles and flowers.  Then order them by number.  Put 2 fish, 2 butterflies, 2 eagles and 2 flowers in one pile; 3 fish, 3 butterflies, 3 eagles, and 3 flowers in another pile, etc.

Butterflies & Hummingbirds (Pack4) Back to top

Pack 4 contains 20 double-sided hummingbirds, 20 double sided orange and black butterflies, 15 double sided yellow-winged butterflies and 5 blue-winged butterflies (with yellow-winged butterfly backs) on small discs. The sixty discs have been included in the kit primarily for use with the problem solving cards in Pack 5 and for playing "Butterfly 5+5"Ó.

How to Play Butterfly 5+5,    Back to top

Sort out the five blue-winged butterflies (with the yellow–winged butterfly backs) and five of the double-sided yellow-winged butterfly discs. Rule up a sheet of paper with a column for each player. Divide each player’s column into three. Label one column "blue-winged butterflies" the next column "yellow-winged butterflies" and the last column "10".  Play starts with the youngest player throwing down all ten discs at once onto a hard surface.  Players then count up the number of yellow-winged butterflies and the number of blue butterflies that are showing face up.  The number of blue-winged butterflies is recorded in the "blue-winged butterflies" column, the number of yellow butterflies is recorded in the "yellow winged butterfly" column.  The two are added together to make sure they add to ten and the number 10 is then written in the "10" column.  Following this, the next player gathers up the ten discs and has a turn.  This process continues until a player gets "5 and 5", that is, five blue-winged butterflies and 5 yellow-winged butterflies in their throw.  The player who achieves this, gets awarded ten extra ‘points’ in their blue butterfly column.  The players then add up their blue-winged butterfly scores.  The most blue butterflies wins!

Playing this game teaches the different number combinations that make up ten: 0 + 10, 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, and 5 + 5. The counters are designed so that 5 + 5 comes up less frequently than most of the other combinations. During the course of the game, players will begin to

observe the recurrent number combinations and will only need to count the blue butterflies and subtract this number from ten to come up with the number of yellow butterflies there are.

Counting Practice: Encourage counting wherever possible. Once your child can count, try counting in new ways. Use the butterflies to count up to 20 – forwards and backwards! Try counting every second butterfly.

Addition and Subtraction: Teach basic addition and subtraction using English rather than the language of mathematics. If there is one butterfly and one more arrives; now I have two.  If I had ten butterflies and I take away two, now I have eight.  Another way of teaching basic addition is to rule a vertical line down the centre of a sheet of paper.  If teaching addition to 3, then use 3 butterfly discs. Place 0 discs on the left side of the line and 3 on the right. Say, "0 plus 3 is 3". Then place 1 butterfly disc on the left side and 2 on the right and say, "1 + 2 is 3".  Place 2 on one side and 1 on the other, then 3 on one side and 0 on the other until all the combinations are covered.  This is a great way to show that there are always 3 discs no matter how they are combined.  Repeat this for all the numbers up to 10.  For larger numbers, it is fun to throw the butterflies down on the sheet of paper and record where they land as an equation.(e.g for 3 left of the line and 7 right: 3+7=10)  Sets: Sort the discs into sets of different coloured butterflies and hummingbirds. Use these sets to learn about fractions. Count the number of objects in each set. Divide them so that both of you have the same number. Tell your child "this means you have half and I have half". This is also a good opportunity to talk about odd and even numbers. "If we both have the same amount then the original amount must have been an even number. If it had been odd then one of us would have one more disc than the other." Repeating patterns: Another fun activity is to create repeating patterns.For example, place down in this order - 1 blue butterfly, 1 hummingbird, 1 blue butterfly, 1 hummingbird. Have your child repeat the pattern by putting down another blue butterfly followed by another hummingbird, etc.  The variations of this are almost endless. To get you started, here are some others to try: (1)1 blue butterfly, 1 yellow-winged butterfly, 1 hummingbird (2) 4 hummingbirds, 3 orange butterflies, 4 hummingbirds, 3 orange butterflies (3) 2 yellow-winged butterflies, 2 hummingbirds, 2 yellow-winged butterflies, 2 hummingbirds (4) 1 blue butterfly, 2 hummingbirds, 3 orange butterflies, etc.  See if your child can explain the patterns as he continues them.  Estimates: You may have introduced the idea of estimating or guessing when you were using Pack 1.  Here is another opportunity of throwing down random quantities of different objects and trying to guess how many there are.  Count them to see who is right.  Your child should be much better at estimation than you are after having completed the activities in Packs 1 & 2. Don’t be too surprised if they show you how much better they are at this than you.  If no one showed you this before it was because few people knew then what we know now, and although you will be slower than your child you can still learn to do this with repetition.  Introducing symbols: If you think it is appropriate at this point, the symbols from Pack 12 may be introduced in examples like 1+1=2 (with quantity cards) and 2-1=1. Make up some examples using the less than and greater than symbols as well. Finally Pack 4 is used to teach problem solving in conjunction with the cards in Pack 5.

Butterfly House Cards (Pack 5) Back to top

Pack 5 has 1 instruction card and 20 problem-solving cards. There are 20 questions based around Magda and Michael in the butterfly house. These cards introduce addition and subtraction up to ten. Use them in conjunction with the 60 discs in Pack 4. Your child can count out the right numbers of butterflies and hummingbirds to answer each of the questions. It is often fun to reverse roles, letting your child become the teacher and you become the student. You may also like to use the discs on different backgrounds from magazines and create some new stories with new mathematical problems to solve.

Fruit Fractions (Pack 6) Back to top

Pack 6 contains 9 fruit fraction flashcards –2 apple cards, 3 banana cards, 4 watermelon cards and an instruction card.  Use them as jigsaw puzzle pieces and reconstruct them back into whole fruits.  Now instead of dividing sets into fractions, single objects are being cut up into fractions.  Fractions are numbers less than 1. Therefore, fractions such as half and quarter involve cutting up and sharing out.  It is the same idea but instead of using 1 set (a set of butterflies), we are now using a single object (a banana cut into equal thirds).  The fruit puzzle pieces teach wholes, halves, thirds, and quarters. Teach wholes and halves first using the two apple cards.  We are still dividing up into equal quantities to get half.  Talk about half as being one piece out of two or as being an equal quantity each for two people.  Split up the Nature Match pack – "half for me and half for you" before playing the game.  Explain how that means that both people have the same amount of cards.  Follow halves with quarters using the four watermelon cards.  Now instead of one out of two, it is one out of four.  Then introduce the thirds using the three banana cards.  Each third is one piece out of three.

Geometry Cards (Pack 7) Back to top

Pack 7 consists of an instruction card and 12 cards of basic geometric shapes that children are required to know in the first few years of school. These are easily learned as flashcards using the flashcard technique described earlier. While learning geometric shapes, it is a good time to learn about symmetry. Encourage your child to draw the shapes. Can a line be drawn through the centre of the shape that would cut it exactly in half? Does it look the same on both sides? If so, the shape is symmetrical. Children often enjoy drawing faces and then drawing a vertical line through the face cutting it exactly in half. All of the 2-dimensional shapes in this pack are symmetrical: the ellipse, square, circle, rectangle (oblong), hexagon, diamond, pentagon and triangle. (The pentagon and triangle are symetrical if cut one way but not the other.) There are also four 3-dimensional shapes in the pack. Three-dimensional means that they are not flat. These are the cube, box, cylinder and sphere. When learning about these, also look at everyday objects and containers around the house. Find some cartons or blocks, cardboard rolls and different sized balls. Use these to demonstrate box, cube, cylinder and sphere shapes. Any boxes that are not quite square (rectangular prisms), can just be referred to as boxes at this level.Another good game to play is putting actual 3D objects into a bag, blind folding your child and then getting him to put his hand into the bag and draw out an object.  As your child feels the object ask him to describe what he is feeling until he can guess which 3D object it is. While learning geometric shapes it is a good time to introduce the idea of reflection.  Draw the 2-D shapes from Pack 7, on a piece of paper in front of a "mirror" line.  Then draw how the reflections would look on the other side of the line.  If you have a small mirror, then use it to demonstrate how the shapes appear in the reflection. This is the same as flipping it over from a fixed base. ie. Along a straight line in much the same way as you turn the pages of a book. Copy these shapes and their reflections onto paper. 

Now is also a good time to introduce the idea of rotation or turns.  Play around with the shape cards, rotating them through half, quarter and full turns.  A full turn is when the shape turns around 360 degrees back to its original position.  A half turn is when the object is rotated around 180 degrees until it is "upside-down".  A quarter turn is when the object only goes around ninety degrees and the card is now longer than it is tall. 

Turns can also be learnt by playing turning games or making up different dances. This also produces an ideal opportunity to introduce the direction concepts of clockwise/anti-clockwise and left/ right.  It is also a good idea to get your child to try and draw, then colour-in the shapes.  For very young children, cut out some of the shapes in heavy duty cardboard and let them trace around them.

Extender Geometry (Pack 8) Back to top

Pack 8 has an instruction card and 12 more 2D geometric shapes to learn.These are more advanced shapes that will not be required initially at school.  They will be useful, however, for further discussing concepts such as straight sides (versus the curved sides of the circle and oval), the number of sides, parallel sides, equal and non equal sides, equal and non equal angles, top, bottom, edge, face, and corner.  This pack is also for advancing students that require more than the basic shapes presented in Pack 7.  Use the flashcard technique for learning these shapes.  The shapes in this pack include the isosceles triangle, scalene triangle, equilateral triangle, quadrilateral, trapezoid, parallelogram, rhombus, isosceles trapezoid, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon. 

To help parents, a brief description of each of these shapes follows: (the printed guide book has extensive pictures as well)

3 sided figures: Isosceles triangle: An isosceles triangle is a triangle with two sides of equal length.

Scalene triangle: A scalene triangle is a triangle with no sides equal in length.

Equilateral triangle: An equilateral triangle is a triangle with three sides equal in length. This means that it also has three equal angles.

4 sided figures: Quadrilateral: A quadrilateral has four straight sides. All of the special cases of quadrilateral like squares, rhombuses, rectangles etc, are still quadrilaterals but have their own special name by which they are known .

Trapezoid: A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with just one pair of parallel sides.

Isosceles trapezoid: An isosceles trapezoid is a trapezoid whose non-parallel sides are equal in length.

Parallelogram: A parallelogram is a quadrilateral whose opposite sides are parallel- i.e. two sets of parallel sides.

Rhombus: A rhombus is a parallelogram with all sides equal in length- i.e. two sets of parallel sides, with all four sides the same length. (Note: a square is a special form of rhombus. It has two sets of parallel sides, four sides the same length and four equal angles made by each corner. These are 900 or ‘right angles’.)

More than 4 sides: Heptagon: This heptagon is a regular heptagon meaning that it has seven equal sides and seven equal angles. Octagon: This octagon is a regular octagon meaning that it has eight equal sides and eight equal angles. Nonagon: This nonagon is a regular nonagon meaning that it has nine equal sides and nine equal angles. Decagon: This decagon is a regular decagon meaning that it has ten equal sides and ten equal angles.

A good activity for Pack 8 is to group all of the shapes into 3 different sets corresponding with the above - 3 sided shapes, 4 sided shapes, and shapes with more than 4 sides.

3Dimensional Shapes: (from Pack 7)

Sphere: This sphere is a 3 dimensional circle. Every point on its surface is an equal distance from its center.

Cylinder: This cylinder is a circular prism. The ‘side’of the cylinder is a rectangle wrapped around the edges of the two circles at each end.

Cube: A cube is a special form of rectangular prism. It has six faces and all of them are perfect squares.

Rectangular Prism: A rectangular prism has three sets of parallel ‘faces’. At this level rectangular prisms are usually referred to as ‘boxes’.

Numeral Cards (Pack 9) Back to top

Before beginning with this pack, make sure you read the section called Maths as part of real life on page 5 of this guidebook.  We also recommend revisiting Pack 1 and introducing the numerals from it.  Therefore, flash the numerals as you did the images so that the child is familiar with all the numerals from 1-10. Also play Nature Match with the numerals back in the pack. Pack 9 contains 4 sets of the numeral cards from 0-9, 2 activity cards and a ‘Scatterbean’ instruction card. All cards have the fruit and vegetable backing on them. You will notice that the 4 sets are colour coded – one black set, one red set, one blue set and one green set. The same colour coding appears on the words thousands, hundreds, tens and ones on the Place Value board. Pack 9 numerals are designed for use with the Place Value board and the ScatterbeanÓ game board. They can also be used alone to make up any number between 0 and 9999.

Place Value Board   Back to top

Use the numerals from Pack 9 with the Place Value Board. The Place Value Board goes up to thousands for the children that require this. Start, however, with just putting numerals from 1-9 in the ones column and state that the number 6 is 6 ones. To do this, find the green numerals from Pack 10 and place the green six in the ones column. Let your child place each of the green single numerals in turn, in the ones column and say that that number represents "2 ones, 3 ones, ...". Then proceed to two digit numbers from 10-99. 10, 21, 36, and 99 are placed on the board as below. Remember to use the blue numerals pack for the tens column and the green numerals pack for the ones column. Therefore, the number ten has 1 ten and 0 ones. 

The number 21 has 2 tens and 1 one.

       The number 36 has 3 tens and 6 ones.

       The number 99 has 9 tens and 9 ones.

Bigger numbers are even more interesting. They are also easy to understand as the name actually describes the place values. Forexample, three hundred and sixty four tells you that there are 3 hundreds. Or nine thousand, five hundred and one is represented right.

The easiest way to start playing with this board is to get your child to put numbers on it for you to read out. Then change to you putting numbers on the board and getting your child to read out what the numbers are. For variety you can also get your child to punch these numbers into a calculator before reading them out. Included in this pack are two activity cards. Complete the activities on this card together, for sticker rewards.

Once you are familiar with the Place Value board play "ScatterBean"Ó.

Scatter Bean  Back to top

ScatterBean is played with the numerals in Pack 9, the Place Value board, the ScatterBean board and the 9 bean counters. You will also need a pen and some paper for keeping score.  To keep the counters together we recommend placing the ScatterBeanÓ board inside the upturned box lid.  Before you begin, if there are 3 or more players, allocate roles to each of them. You will need a "caller" next to the ScatterBeanÓ board who is responsible for calling out where the bean counters fall. You will need a "numerals person" next to the Place Value board who is in charge of putting the numerals from Pack 9 onto the Place Value board as they are called out.  You will need a "scorekeeper" who writes down the score for each person on a separate sheet of paper as they are posted on the Place Value board.  (If it is a parent and young child playing, the parent and child complete all roles together.  Together they count up the thousands, and place the corresponding numeral on the place Value board, etc. You can choose whether to keep scores or not.)  Before beginning the game, rule up a sheet of paper into columns.  Have a separate column for each player.  It is also advantageous to rule up each of these columns into ones, tens, hundreds and thousands to make it easier for the scorekeeper to write down the numbers as they are called.  Then place the colour coded numeral cards from Pack 9 into 4 piles, under the right columns at the bottom of the Place Value board prior to starting. This will make it easier to find the right numerals quickly.

To start the game, the youngest player throws all of the nine bean counters together, onto the ScatterBean board.  Any beans that go off the board or are in dispute as to where they land, get re-thrown onto the board.  When all nine beans are on the board the official "caller" calls out where the beans have fallen. eg. 2 thousands, 3 hundreds, 1 ten and 3 ones in the above game for Magdalen.  As he is calling these out, the "numerals person" places the numerals onto the Place Value board as shown. As they are doing this, the scorekeeper writes down the score onto the scorecard as shown above.  Play then goes to the player on the right. The same process continues until all players have had five rounds.  The person with the highest score at the end of five rounds is the winner. This is a great game for teaching Place Value without the players even knowing that this is what they are learning.  It doesn’t take long for even the youngest of players to work out that the way to get the biggest score is to get the most counters into the thousands section of the board.

2s, 3s, 5s & 10s (Pack 10)  Back to top

Pack 10 prepares children for learning their times tables. It contains an instruction card and 40 numerial cards to teach counting in 2’s, 3’s, 5,’s and 10’s. These packs are best learned as flashcards using the flashcard technique described on page 7. Start with counting in 2’s. Find a nice quiet place when the time is right and say, "we are going to count in 2’s". Starting with 2, go through in numerical order spending no more than one second per card. These cards are also excellent to play with. Mix them up and ask your child to put them back into order;ascending and descending.  Put them in line with a couple of cards turned over. Ask your child to guess which cards are the overturned cards. Match them with the quantity cards from Packs 1 and 2. E.g. use the green counting in 2’s cards laid out 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 in a line and underneath, lay the corresponding quantity cards from Packs 1 & 2. Work out the rule for each pack.  When counting in 2’s beginning with 2 and ascending to 20, the rule is ‘+2’. For descending from 20 to 2, the rule is ‘–2’.  When counting in 3’s beginning with 3 and ascending to 30, the rule is ‘+3’. For descending from 30 to 3, the rule is ‘-3’, etc.  Ultimately you want your child to memorise the orders of these card sets. This will be useful later for learning 2x, 3x, 5x and 10x tables (using Pack 14).  Because our number system is base 10, counting in tens is very important.  Therefore we have also included a gameboard (10 Oranges) to teach counting in tens starting from any number from 1-10 inclusive.

10 Oranges (Pack 11)   Back to top

Pack 11 includes two packs of question cards with oranges on the back, ten orange cards numbered from 1-10 and an instruction card. You also need to use some hummingbird or butterfly counters and the double sided "10 Oranges" game board.

10 Oranges Game Back to top

10 Oranges is played on the double sided game board. It has a simplified side for beginners where the numbers are lined up in columns, and a more advanced side where players have to consider where to place their counters each turn. Correspondingly, there are two different question packs – an easier pack to use with the beginners game board and an advanced pack to use with the advanced game board, or any combination of your choice. 10 Oranges teaches children about the number 10 in our counting system, which is a Base 10 system. Both the game board and the questions are designed to get children thinking about the number 10.  The question cards reinforce what has been learnt from earlier packs.  Children also learn about Tally Marks when scoring "10 Oranges".

10 Oranges may be played by 2 - 10 people.  Place the question cards face down in a pile within reach of all the players. Before starting, all players draw a number between 1-10 inclusive, from the numbered orange cards.  To do this, shuffle the ten cards and get each player to draw one.  Each player keeps the card they have drawn.  This way they know that each number they move down to will end in that number. E.g. if they drew a 4, then their next move is to 14, then, 24, 34, 44, 54 – 94.  Players place their counters on the number of the orange they drew.  Cards 51-54 are wild cards where other players get the opportunity to make up a question for the person turning over the wild card.  For young players using the simplified game board, we recommend using the butterflies and hummingbirds as ‘counters’ to help work out the answers.   Back to top

Starting Off: Play begins with the youngest player.  Choose the side of the board and the question pack you wish to play with, depending on the ages of the players.  The youngest player begins by moving his counter 10 spaces on the game board.  This will take him or her down to the next row of the board. For example, if the player started on 6, they would proceed to 16 on their first turn.  The player takes the top card from the question card pile and attempts to answer the question.  If the answer is not correct that is the end of this turn, and play continues with the player on their right.  If the player answers correctly, he or she gets to answer one further question from the pack before it is the next players turn.  Every correct question answered is given a point, recorded as a tally mark under each players name on a separate score sheet.  A maximum number of 18 tally marks can be achieved.  Cards are all numbered and their answers appear in the back of this guidebook.  As soon as the first player reaches the bottom row of numbers, all of the number cards are collected, reshuffled and laid out in a row.  As players reach the bottom row they try to draw their own number.  If they do not succeed, the card is shown to the other players and turned back over and the next player then tries to draw his card.  At this point, ‘10 Oranges’ becomes a memory game too.  When a player manages to draw his own number, he is awarded two bonus points which are added to his tally marks and the game is over.  The number of tally marks per player are added up and the winner is the person with the most tally marks.  If the game is being played by several adults and one child, you may choose to have two winners - the person who completes the board and draws their own number card first and the person who has the most tally marks.  This way the game is fair to younger players who may get some questions wrong but will still proceed down the board at the same rate as everyone else and participate in the draw. (Note: This version of the game sees people of all abilities moving down the board at the same rate.  It is designed for younger players to progress equally with older players. However for a group of older children, ‘10 Oranges’ can be played with each correctly answered question progressing players further down the game board.)

Symbols Cards (Pack 12)     Back to top

Pack 12 contains 7 different symbols for 7 different mathematical operations. There are 5 sets of these symbols making a total of 35 cards plus the instruction card, in this set.          The symbols represented are:

The symbols cards have been designed to use with the other packs in the Reading Master Maths Program.  As with the numerals, the symbols are abstract and should be brought out only once what they represent has been understood.  For example, the ‘less than’, ‘greater than’ and ‘equals’ symbols are best used with Pack 3 (Animal sets) once you are sure your child understands that you are comparing the quantities in each set.  "The set of African animals has more animals in it than the set of Arctic animals therefore the African animal set is ‘greater than’ the Arctic animal set." Below are some more examples of how to use them.

Used with Pack 1 - Nature Match Pack

Used with Pack 2 – Quantity Cards 11 - 50 

Pack 2 cards are useful for demonstrating the greater than and less than symbols with.

Used with Pack 3 – Where Am I From?         Back to top

The Pack 3 animal cards when ordered into sets can also be used to demonstrate the greater than, less than and equals symbols.

The hummingbird and butterfly discs in Pack 4 are ideal to use with all of the symbols in this pack.

Once your child can easily answer the problems in this pack, demonstrate them in the language of maths using the symbols.

Finally, use the symbols with the numerals in Pack 9.  It is a good idea to combine the numerals initially, with the butterflies and hummingbirds from Pack 4 so that the child can see the equation visually too.

Fractions (Pack 13)            Back to top

Pack 13 contains an instruction card and 28 colour coded fraction cards .  These double-sided cards include 1/2s, 1/3s, ¼s, 1/5s, 1/6s, and 1/8s, as both symbols and pie graphs.  (It is beneficial to have a good understanding of the fraction cards in Pack 6 which introduce 1/2s, 1/3s, using segments of fruit, before using this pack.)  On one side of the cards are the abstract "number symbols" and on the other side are the corresponding pie graph pictures.  Introduce children to fractions using the pie graph sides first.  Notice that the cards are colour coded.  On the ¼ card for example, the 1 on the numerals side is in red as is the ¼ segment on the other side, and the 4 is in blue as is the remaining ¾ of the segment. Pack 13 may be used as "flashcards".  Ask if your child would like to learn about fractions.  If so, start by showing the pie graph side of each card for approximately one second while reading out the fraction on the back of the card.  Show these cards in sets to your child.  We suggest flashing the 1/2s, 1/3s and 1/4s first, making a set of nine cards; then 1/5s and 1/6s next making a set of 11 cards.  Finally, show the 1/8s cards. All of the fractions in this pack are listed below.

1/2 is one out of two, or half.    2/2 is two out of two, or 1.    1/3 is one out of three, or one third.    2/3 is two out of three, or two thirds.   3/3 is three out of three, or 1. 1/4 is one out of four, or one quarter.   2/4 is two out of four, or two quarters, or half.   3/4 is three out of four, or three-quarters.   4/4 is four out of four, or 1.   1/5 is one out of five, or one fifth.   2/5 is two out of five, or two fifths.   3/5 is three out of five, or three fifths.   4/5 is four out of five, or four fifths.  5/5 is five out of five, five fifths, or 1.

An additional activity you can do together is measuring out quantities in a clear measuring jug. Invite your child to fill up the jug to the 1 cup mark. Then ask him to pour it into a larger container, say a 2 cup measure. Get him to guess how many cups it would take to fill the new container, how many ½ cups, etc.? Test it out!

Multiplication & Division (Pack 14)  Back to top

Pack 14 contains an instruction card and 12 sets of 12 multiplication/division cards.  Use these cards to teach multiplication and division up to the 12x tables.  We don’t recommend introducing multiplication and division until your child is reasonably confident with addition and subtraction. You may wish to give a simple explanation of the process of multiplication using the butterflies and hummingbirds from Pack 4 before showing the cards in this pack.  Start with the 2x tables.  Lay out 2 butterflies side by side.  Say "One lot of 2 or 1x2 equals 2".  Add a second row of butterflies underneath the first row and say "two lots of 2 or 2x2 equals 4".  Continue adding on rows of two butterflies in this way. Explain that it is quicker to go 4x2=8 than 2+2+2+2 =8 but that both mean 4 "lots of" 2.

When you believe your child is ready for Pack 14, begin with the 1x table.  Flash these as per the directions on page 7 of this book. Use the appropriate maths language as printed on the backs of these cards when "flashing" them. E.g. 1x1 =1, 2x1 = 2, 3x1 = 3 ...12x1= 12. Counting in 2’s, 3’s, 5’s, and 10’s should be familiar after playing with Pack 10.  Therefore, after the 1x table, proceed to the 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x tables before progressing to the more difficult tables.  You can also use these multiplication cards to count in different numbers (e.g. 4’s, 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, 9’s, 11’s and 12’s) as introduced in Pack10 which introduces counting in 2’s, 3’s, 5’s, and 10’s. E.g. "Here are groups of 4 butterflies – lets count in fours – 4 butterflies, 8 butterflies, 12, 16, through to 48."  Finally, once mastery has been achieved with times tables, division can be introduced. Just as subtraction is the reverse operation of addition,division is the reverse operation of multiplication. Using the 2x multiplication fish cards to teach divided by 2, for example:

Using the cards in Pack 14, the processes of multiplication and division are very visual. In division the answers present themselves very clearly as the number groups on each card and in multiplication the answers are the total number of objects which are easily counted in their groups.

When your child has mastered this, try combining the multiplication pack with the symbols pack. You can set up equations and ask your child to find the new card with a different image on it that describes the answer to the equation.

Clock Cards (Pack 15)      Back to top

Pack 15 contains an instruction card and 24 clock cards. They are designed to teach all of the o’clocks’ and the ‘half-pasts’. These cards are to be used as flashcards using the technique described on page 7 of this guidebook.

Other things to master-Money            Back to top

Introduce children to money by letting them investigate the different types of coins and notes. "Coin rubbings" are a great way to get children used to the different coins.  Do these by placing coins under a thin sheet of paper and lightly colouring over the coin impressions with coloured pencils.  Show your children that counting in the different coin values is no different to counting in those numbers with the flashcards introduced in Pack 10. I.e. counting how many cents in ten 5c pieces is the same as counting in 5’s ten times.  You may like to create a chart together showing the different ways to make up the value of each coin.  Read price tickets together.  Discuss which things cost a little and which things cost a lot.  When you start to give your children pocket money, create a pot for spending and a pot for saving.  If your child really wants something, see how much it is together and start him on a savings program.  Work out how many weeks it will take to save the amount required. Play shop at home.  Take turns at being the customer and the shop assistant.  You can set up a shop of anything around the home; kidney beans, jellybeans, pencils or any combination.  Write out price tickets and put a price on each item. Divvy up some coins and "go shopping".  Also give your child money to make a real purchase in a shop. Explain how much the item costs, how much money you have given him and whether to expect any back or not.  Including children in these processes increases their awareness of money and its value.

Weighing and Measuring         Back to top

Weighing and measuring are also learned best through day to day activities.  Involve your child when you do the baking.  Let her help you measure out the ingredients. Keep height and weight charts of all children in the family. Use the height chart in ReadingMaster-Maths.  On the first day of each month mark on the chart how much each child has grown. Explain the measures to your child. If you have kitchen scales, compare the weights of different household objects. Estimate how much they might weigh before you weigh them.

Reading Master-Maths Video 1           Back to top

The ReadingMaster Maths Video 1 is designed for use from birth.  Quantities from 1-10 (out of Pack 1) are presented first. They appear in ascending, descending and random order.  This teaches recognition of quantity patterns up to 10 and counting up to 10 without the use of numerals.  Quantities are then continued up to 50 (drawn from Pack 2) as a preparation for understanding that numbers, even larger ones describe quantities.  A segment on sets follows (drawn from Pack 3). Finally numerals from (Pack 9) are introduced, to link the child’s understanding of quantities, adding, subtracting etc with the abstract concept of "numbers".

The ReadingMaster Maths Video 1 combines the flashcard graphics with real life footage of animals and children. Children’s voices are used to teach many of the basic facts as young children enjoy learning from older children.   As with the ReadingMaster videos, music to learn by is used to help children assimilate and retain the information and the material is presented at the optimal learning rate of approximately one image per second.  In the ‘11 to 50’ quantity footage at the beginning of this video, the children do not need to count the number of animals as they appear on screen.  The idea is that they see 50 objects and see that it is many more than 10 objects.  Children who have been taught maths using this method often can tell how many objects there are without having to count them.  We who have not learned this way find this almost impossible and difficult to believe.  However there are many cases well documented of children being able to tell that a particular card has 78 objects and another 99 at a glance.

The ReadingMaster Maths video supplements the material in the flashcards by re-presenting it in a format for audial-visual learning.  It also gives the children the opportunity of learning by themselves without additional input or supervision from you.

How to use the Sticker Frieze Back to top

Mount your sticker frieze on a wall at a level where it is easy for your child to see.  There are four different scenes; an American forest, an African plain, a South American rainforest and the Amazon River.  The 36 stickers included have 5 different animals that occur in North America (eagle, grey squirrel, red squirrel, cougar, turtle) plus one colourful leaf; 5 different African animals (elephant, antelope, rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe); 2 different South American animals (spider monkey, tamarin), 1 bird (toucan) and 2 fish for the river. There are also 15 butterflies and 5 hummingbirds to place around the frieze.

Give these stickers out as rewards. Do not limit them to the times when your child gets something right. Use them whenever your child has demonstrated an eagerness or enthusiasm for learning. Further stickers will be available for purchase on the world wide web eventually from www.readingmaster.com.

Accelerated Learning Music  Back to top

It has been found that music with about 60 beats per minute - ‘largo tempo’, sets up waves in the brain at a frequency where learning can most easily occur. A brain that is exhibiting these ‘alpha’ brain waves is very relaxed and more receptive to learning. Many excellent instrumental pieces around this tempo can be sourced from the Baroque period of music, that occurred between the years 1685-1750. Bach and Handel are the most well known composers from this period. We have included a list of some music that meets the ‘largo’ criteria including pieces by both of these composers. Play them in the background when using the flashcards and playing the games in Reading Master Maths.

1)Fantasy in G major, Fantasy in C minor & Trio in D minor. 2) Canonic Variations and Toccata Air in D major (Air on the G string) – from Suite no. 3 for Orchestra BWV 1068

3)Largo from Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056. 4) Concerto for flute in G minor, BWV 1056. 5)Largo from Harpsichord Concerto in C major, BWV 1043.

6)Concerto for 2 violins and string orchestra in D minor BWV 1043 - Largo.

1)Adagio in G minor for strings and organ. 2)Concerto in D minor for oboe and strings, op.9, no. 2.

1) Largo from Concerto no. 10 in F major from Twelve Concerto Grossi. 2)op. 5 Concerti Gross. 3)op 6, no. 2, 8, 5, & 9. 4)op 6, no. 10, 11, & 12

Largo from concerto for Mandolin & Strings   Back to top 

Oboe Concerto in D minor - Adagio

Canon & Gigue in D major

Largo from Double Fantasia in G major for Harpsichord

1) The Four Seasons – Largo from Winter. 2)Largo from Concerto in D major for Guitar and Strings. 3)Largo from Concerto in C major for Mandolin, Strings and Harpsichord

Piccolo Concerto in C Major, RV537. 4) 5 Concertos for Flute and Chamber Orchestra

Flute Concerto in D, Op. 10 No. 3, RV 428 ‘Il Gardellino’ - Cantabile

Water Music: Suite No. 1 in F - Air Largo from "Ombra mai fu" - Xerxes.

Information on sources of these pieces can be found on www.readingmaster.com

Conclusion.    Back to top   Reading Master-Maths covers all the main international curriculum areas and activities that are covered both in pre-school and the early years of school.  By starting early with your children, you will be assured that your children will have the foundational understanding they need to be able to pick up maths easily at school.   By making maths a fun enjoyable experience in the home and at pre-school, your children will also come to enjoy maths as a subject at school.  The greater your child’s early ability the more they will enjoy doing everything.  There are no norms out there as to what your child is capable of mathematically speaking, in the early years.  No matter how far you get, you will be taking your child forward at a time when it is the most beneficial for him or her.  You will be assisting her brain to develop by your being able to answer the many mathematically based questions she has when she wants them answered - in the early years.  Relax and enjoy this program with your children. Use the activities to create a learning bond with them and the rewards will go far beyond that of just mathematical know how.