Learning Coin Values

As I wrote in this blog post, I realized that J-jo knew plenty of basic kindergarten math skills and that I should probably start introducing money and time.

1. I started a nickel and dime jar and the kids receive 10 cents for certain chores.  Since the jar is full of nickels and dimes and they go get their own payment, J-jo has quickly learned the difference between nickels and dimes and that two nickels equal 10 cents.  They also get fined 10 cents for certain infractions like not putting their shoes away in the closet.

2. We have been playing the race to $1.00 game.  I used to play this with Bear when she was three.  It's a game I played with my third graders, too, when I was a school teacher. It's a great game to learn the value of coins.

I set up the strip of coins and cuisenaire rods in the middle to help him remember the values of the coins and help him see when he needed to do an exchange.  With Bear, I had used the Montessori bead bars.  

Here he is counting out five pennies to exchange for a nickel.

Here I was showing him how five pennies are the same as one nickel by showing him how five white cuisenaire rods fit into one yellow rod.  He initially had a bit of difficulty grasping that five coins could be the same as one coin.

 3. I have printed out a Nickel book for him.  This will help him solidify counting by 5s, which in turn will help him be able to tell time to the minute. (The link takes you to the post where I explain the Nickel book, but the link to the download in that post is a Scribd download, and I think Scribd now charges money, so just email me if you would like a copy of the nickel book.)

What are some ways you have taught your kids about money?