Week 7 of 8
Week 7
Kindergarten → 1st Grade · Number bonds 10 and Beginning sounds
Math
Number Bonds to 10
Knowing every pair that makes 10: 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, and so on. End of kindergarten. This is the single most useful fact set in early elementary math.
The mistake to watch for. Treating each pair as a separate fact to memorize, instead of noticing that as one part goes up, the other goes down.
How to help. Lay out ten counters and slide them into two groups. Move one across at a time and say both numbers. The pattern shows itself.
A worked example
Which number goes with 4 to make 10? Hold up 4 fingers. The fingers still down show how many more you need: 6. So 4 + 6 = 10.
Reading & language
Beginning Sounds
Hearing that words starting with the same letter start with the same sound. Early-to-mid kindergarten, alongside letter recognition.
The mistake to watch for. Matching by what a word looks like or means instead of how it sounds — pairing "whale" with "web" because both are animals, not because they start the same.
How to help. Cover the rest of the word and say only the first sound out loud, exaggerated: "mmm-ilk." Isolate the sound before asking for a match.
A worked example
Which word starts with the same sound as 'b': ball or sun? Say the first sound of each word: b-all and s-un. Ball starts with the /b/ sound.
Words for this week
- part
- One piece of a whole. In 3 + 4 = 7, the parts are 3 and 4.
- whole
- All of something. In 3 + 4 = 7, the whole is 7.
- total
- All of the things added together.
- ten
- The number 10, one more than nine.
- pair
- Two things that go together.
- sum
- The answer you get when you add.
- sound
- What you hear when you say a letter or a word.
- letter
- One of the symbols we use to write words, like a, b or c.
- alphabet
- All the letters of a language in their order, from A to Z.
- vowel
- The letters a, e, i, o and u. Every syllable has a vowel sound.
- consonant
- Any letter that is not a vowel, like b, c, d or f.
- word
- A group of letters that has a meaning.
Read this week
Spinal Column
A short the human body article from our Learn library, chosen for this reading level. Read it together, then ask your child to tell you one new thing they learned.