Reading and math are the two foundation subjects in school. If your child succeeds in these subjects, he will succeed in school. Success in school equals success in life. Help your child accomplish this by giving him a love of learning from the beginning.

How? With preschool math activities. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Counting

This is an easy preschool math activity that you can do all the time with your child. You need no materials or planning ahead - simply count. When you are playing outside with your child help your child count objects. Ex. count the trees, riding toys, swings, balls,s fence posts, and anything else you see.

Learning Numbers

One of the first concepts you need to teach your child is to recognize that a number means a certain number of objects. Ex.: The number "3" is equal to 3 rocks. Begin teaching this concept by following these steps.

Step #1

Begin one number at a time. Clearly print the number you are teaching your child on a lunch sack. Make the number large and brightly colored -- keep it interesting.

Step #2

Show your child that the number "2" means two of something. Demonstrate this several times. Tell your child you are both going on a hunt for two objects. You can do this inside and collect household objects (two spoons, two earrings, two toys, etc.) or you can pick a nice day and turn it into a walk.

On the walk find sets of two (two flowers, two rocks, two bugs, etc.)

Step #3

After your "hunt" empty the sack and count each set.

"You found two flowers! One...two."

"You found two sticks! One...two."

This may not sound too exciting to you, but to a preschooler it's as fun as an Easter egg hunt.

Step #4

After your child understands the concept of a number, let her find the sets of a number by herself.

Give her a sack that has whatever number you've been teaching and let her hunt for the sets herself. She then brings them back to you and you count together.

Learning Shapes

Preschool math activities that involve your child learning their shapes is also good. This can easily be done by introducing the shapes one at a time. Your child needs to learn these shapes:

• Circle

• Triangle

• Square

• Rectangle

• Diamond

• Moon

Learning these shapes not only helps in math, but it is a pre-reading skill too.

Step #1

Draw a shape on a piece of cardboard or poster board - large and bright.

Step #2

Teach your child the name of the shape.

Step #3

Take a walk and look for objects that have that same shape. Tricycle tire = circle etc.

Go through these steps with each object until your child knows all of her shapes and can find them during everyday activities - in the house, outside, trips to the store, while being read to.

As you can see, preschool math activities are simple but by doing these activities and including them in your everyday life, it is giving your child a head start in learning math concepts. Remember to keep these activities fun and exciting for your child. By doing this, you will be instilling a love of learning in your child.