Sorting Cups

I was so fortunate to get my hands on some used sorting cups (You can find similar ones here).  There are five different colored cups, and a bunch of little objects to go with them.  This morning I showed them to Xander, putting objects in their designated cups.  He was fascinated.  I gave him some objects and guided his hand to put them in the right cup, but he really didn't like letting go of the objects.  

Of course, dumping them out is half the fun!

After we sorted the shapes, I decided to try some more addition.  I used little bowls, because that is what I had.  I really would prefer to use paper plates, but mine were all too big.  Anyway, I showed him each bowl explaining that one plus two equals three, and a few other equations.  He already knows the quantities for each number, but his only exposure to equations has been with LM, which uses much more of a right brain learning technique.  He hasn't ever seen equations set out like this.  I am SO thankful that he was very very interested.  He paid attention the whole time.  We did it again this afternoon, and he was equally interested.  He also really enjoyed dumping the bears out of the bowls.