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Sunday, September 9, 2007

Skip Counting Resources

I've been shopping for a skip count cd to help aid our learning in a more fun way. I figured I would share the resources I came across because there is a small selection out there and even I had a hard time deciding! Especially since the samples online at times only give you 40 seconds of the song.

There is a difference in addition, multiplication cds and skip counting. Skip counting is a sequence of numbers: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20...and multiplication songs are usually the facts: 1x1, 1x2, 1x3, etc. There is one exception that I found.

Sara Jordan's Multiplication CD has the multiplication facts and within each number's song, there is a chorus of skip counting for that number. http://www.sara-jordan.com/product-111.shtml

Strictly skip counting cds options:

Intelli-Tunes Skip Counting CD. This is the one we decided to purchase because it wasn't distracting with a bunch of lyrics and got down to the nitty-gritty of the number sequences, much like I've been doing on my own.
http://www.songsforteaching.com/store/Intelli-Tunes-Skip-Counting-CD-p-1182.html

Skip Count Kids has two versions, one that would be considered secular and one that has Bible songs. We own the The Skip Count Kids Bible Heroes and like it but the number sequences only go so far in some of the songs. This has been great for us and I like the Bible Hero lyrics. Camille still sings these songs for fun.
Skip Count Kids at SingnLearn.com, link to Bible Heroes version too.

One Hundred Sheep is another skip count CD available at Singnlearn.com, I was unable to determine how complete the sequences were but the sample sounded good. This has been recommended by other homeschoolers yet without more information I could not commit to purchasing it. One Hundred Sheep at Singnlearn.com

Googol Power Skip Counting Zone CD is a lot of fun with all different types of music. The samples are great, providing a sample for each song, which I was grateful for! Unfortunately, Camille prefers not to have so many lyrics, although this isn't lyric heavy in my opinion. It is definitely a CD that I would consider "fun" listening but I didn't have the need to purchase more than one CD at this time. Googol Powers's Skip Counting Cd link

Musical Mathematics with Skip Counting CD by Liz Robinson is a filled with different types of music and provides the instrumental versions of the songs so that you can see if your child can skip count without the lyrics. There are worksheets and teacher's aids available as well. I thought this was great but we're picky (or Camille is) and didn't prefer the music. Link to Musical Mathematics

Math-U-See Skip Count Songs is for Math-U-See users although some have bought this without using Math-U-See. I didn't explore this further than other homeschooler's reviews of it, it seems that no one has really enjoyed this and tend to look for other options, the sample doesn't help in my opinion either. Link to Math-U-See Skip Count Songs

Skip Counting CD by Little Giant Steps. I couldn't find much information on this other than it says there is no music. I didn't consider this further due to lack of information on the product (hint, hint to the vendors and suppliers!).
Link to Skip Counting by Little Giant Steps

Obie Leff's Skip Counting Fun, this is great for the number sequences but Camille said the music is boring. His songs are available at iTunes Music Store so you can preview each song yourself, CD Baby has the song samples as well. This was a contender until we found Googol Power and Intelli-Tunes. Link to CD Baby's listing of Skip Counting Fun

TouchMath's Skip Counting CD and Poster set. This looks great but I can't afford the $75 for it. I think it's a great idea but a resourceful teacher could easily recreate the posters if he/she wanted to. I couldn't find samples of the songs either. Touch Math link

That concludes our search for skip counting CD's, the search gets a little mucky after these selections- some CDs have skip counting songs on them mixed in with other math related songs. If you know of another that you feel should be added to this resources list, let me know. The comments made above are only Camille's (7yo) and I opinion of what we sampled, one of these resources that we didn't like may be the perfect thing for your family.

 

2 comments:

MARIA said...

Hi, My younger dd learned to skip count by fives very easily, she listened to her sister who just read the numbers off a number chart every day until one day she was able to say the numbers without the chart.

BUT even though my younger dd skip counted by 5s like an expert, when I asked her to skip count with a number chart, a clock etc. she couldn't!! She could only "do it fast" she said. I think she never actually learned what she was doing. She was not able to use her knowledge in any practical way.

So what I am saying is beware of leanrning to skip count without learing what it really means.

Eclectic Homeschooling said...

Thanks so much for these links! I am on the search for a skip counting cd.