All About Math Manipulatives (G710M)

The All About Math Manipulatives Kit is a one-time purchase used for all five levels of All About Math. These carefully chosen items are designed to help you take abstract concepts and make them concrete. 

What's included:

Two-Color Counters -These are disks that are red on one side and yellow on the other and are extremely versatile for mathematical learning. The two-color counters in our kit are made of a foam material that keeps them from sliding around and makes them easier to handle. The All About Math Manipulatives Kit includes 50 two-color counters, and they are used in all five levels.

One of my favorite uses of these is to show all the ways possible to compose a number. You start with 5 red disks and 0 yellow ones to show 5+0. Then, you turn over one disk so that it goes from red to yellow, and you show 4+1. Turn another to show 3+2, then 2+3, 1+4, and 0+5.

Connecting Cubes - These interlocking cubes connect on all six sides, allowing for a variety of building options. Our connecting cubes are a nice three-quarter-inch size and include 100 cubes, 10 each in 10 different colors. These are used in all levels of All About Math.

The connecting cubes are great for helping students visualize composing and decomposing tens (also known as regrouping) when adding and subtracting two-digit numbers. Loose cubes are brought together to make a tower of ten to compose, and a tower of ten cubes is broken apart to decompose.

Counting Bears - These cute, inch-tall teddy bears are fun and motivating for children. Our kit includes 40 of them—10 each of 4 different colors—and they will be enjoyed by All About Math Level 1 and Level 2 students.

As the name implies, these bears are useful for learning counting, but also so much more. They are teaching tools for sorting, sequencing, pattern recognition, addition and subtraction, and other concepts. Plus, they make great game pieces for math games!

Base-10 Blocks - Our manipulatives kit includes a set of base-10 blocks. There are 100 small unit cubes, 50 long tens rods, 10 square hundreds flats, and 1 large thousands cube. This set makes the relationship between ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands so concretely clear and will benefit students in all levels of All About Math.

The base-10 blocks are helpful for adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers with composing and decomposing (regrouping) and for learning decimals. They are essential for a deep understanding of our base-10 number system.

Fraction Tiles - This set includes 51 tiles, representing 1 whole, 2 halves, 3 thirds, 4 quarters, 5 fifths, 6 sixths, 8 eighths, 10 tenths, and 12 twelfths. Finding equivalent fractions is so easy with this manipulative. The fraction tiles are used in All About Math Levels 3, 4, and 5.

In addition to finding equivalent fractions, this set can also be used for adding and subtracting fractions, understanding and using mixed numbers, dividing fractions, ratios, and more.

Ruler and Protractor - These simple tools are indispensable for measuring length and angles. The 12-inch ruler includes both centimeters and inches. The protractor measures angles from 1° to 180°. The ruler is used in Level 2, and the protractor is used in Levels 4 and 5.

Dry-Erase Pocket - While not technically a manipulative, the dry-erase pocket allows you to reuse any page again and again. One is included in the All About Math Manipulatives Kit and is used throughout all the levels to enhance learning and allow for repeated review and gameplay.

As wonderful as the above examples of math manipulatives are, they won’t teach your child very much by themselves. Sure, playing with the fraction tiles may help a student understand equivalent fractions with no other input, but without explicit teaching, a child won’t know how or why to use equivalent fractions to find common denominators for addition and subtraction.

That’s where the All About Math program comes in. Each lesson directs how to use the manipulatives to teach both simple and complex mathematical skills and concepts. You’ll find scripting so you will know exactly what to say for your child to understand what the manipulatives are representing, how to use them, and how they relate to the real-world application of the math involved. All About Math will give you complete confidence in how to make good use of these essential learning tools.