When a little girl wakes up one morning feeling "crummy, yucky, very sad," she cheers herself up by counting all her friends—which include pets, playmates, neighbors and even older sisters.
Not only can counting make you feel better, it is an essential math skill.
Illustrated by Fiona Dunbar.
Ask questions throughout the story, such as: "How many older sisters does the girl have?" and "Can you count the number of teddy bears snuggling in her bed?"
Help your child (or students) make their own "buddy" count. Write the names of some of each child's special buddies on note cards. Ask the child to draw pictures of these close friends on the cards. Gather the cards in groups, for example, parents, grandparents, playmates, pets, stuffed animals. Then encourage your child (or students) to count the different groups.
Gather all the things you need to bake a treat, for example chocolate chip cookies. How many mixing bowls, measuring cups, and spoons do you have? How many eggs, sticks of butter, cups of sugar or flour are needed? Most important of all-how many cookies did you bake? And how many did you eat?
