A full year of Kindergarten math in 13 units and 123 lessons, free to print. Every lesson has a one-page lesson plan (how to teach it in about 35 minutes, the words to use, the mistakes to watch for) and an exit ticket, and every unit has a pre-check, a review and a test in two forms, all made to be read aloud. Each lesson plan points to the worksheets, worksheet makers, teaching tools and quizzes that practice it. The plan below counts one lesson a day, with a day for the pre-check, the review and the test of each unit: 162 days, which leaves room in a 180-day year for catching up, holidays and seasonal packs.
13 units123 lessons162 days33 weeks
The first math unit of Kindergarten: children count up to 5 things, one number for each, and learn that the last number they say tells how many. They write 1 to 5 and 0, count out a number of things, match numbers to groups and put the numbers in order. Everything is done with real things first (bears, cubes, fingers), then pictures, then numbers. Read every question aloud; most children cannot read the directions yet. Lesson 1.6 (seeing small amounts at a glance) is for the states that teach it in Kindergarten.
Children count, write and show 6 to 10. They count things in a row and spread out, write 6 to 10, see a ten frame as five and some more, count out up to 10 and match numbers to groups. Then they find the number that is one more, and the numbers before, after and between. Everything is done with real things first (bears, cubes, fingers), then pictures, then numbers, and every question is read aloud. Lessons 2.8 (one less) and 2.10 (counting back from 10) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children sort things by one rule (size, color or kind), find the one that does not belong, sort and count each group, and find the group with the most and the fewest. Sorting needs only counting to 10, so it gives the counting of Units 1 and 2 something to count. Sort real things first (toys, buttons, snacks), then pictures, and read every question aloud. Lessons 3.5 to 3.8 (reading and making picture graphs, asking a question and counting the answers, and reading a T-chart) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children compare groups and numbers to 10. They match two groups one to one to see which has more and which has fewer, count to compare, find groups with the same number, and tell which of two numbers is greater. Then they say greater than, less than and equal to, and write the signs >, < and =. Everything starts with real things (bears, cubes, cube towers), then pictures, then numbers. Read every question aloud. Lessons 4.4 (make a group with more, fewer or the same), 4.7 (put numbers in order) and 4.8 (first to tenth) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children name circles, triangles, squares, rectangles and hexagons of any size and any turn, find them in the room, and tell closed shapes with straight sides from look-alikes. Then they name solid shapes (cube, sphere, cone, cylinder), sort flat shapes from solid ones, and use position words to tell where things are. Real shapes come first: pattern blocks, paper shapes, blocks, balls and cans. The flat shape lessons are mostly hands-on (sorting, shape hunts, pattern blocks), with sheets from a few packs. Read every question aloud and name each shape as you point to it. Lesson 5.8 (the flat faces of solid shapes) is for the states that teach it in Kindergarten.
Children learn what adding means: putting two groups together, and some more coming to join a group. They act stories out with toys and fingers, draw a dot for each thing, write number sentences with plus and equals, and add with ten frames. Then they solve story problems to 10, learn the facts to 5 until they are quick and solve number sentences to 10. Everything is done with real things first, then pictures, then numbers. Read every story and question aloud. Lessons 6.6 (adding on a number path) and 6.10 (addition facts to 10) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children learn what taking away means: some go away, and we count how many are left. They act out stories with toys and counters, cross out pictures, write number sentences with minus and equals, take away in a ten frame and draw to solve stories. Then they decide whether a story adds or takes away, learn the subtraction facts to 5 until they are quick, and play games that mix adding and subtracting. Practice is hands-on first, with counters, plates, cups and drawings; read every story and question aloud. Lessons 7.5 (subtracting on a number path) and 7.10 (subtraction facts to 10) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children break the numbers to 10 into two parts in every way they can find: ways to make 5, number bonds, shake and spill for 6, 7 and 8, then 9 and 10. They write a pair as a number sentence (7 = 3 + 4), find how many more make 10, write the partners of 10, play a Make Ten card game and solve number pair stories. Every pair starts with two colors of counters or cubes, so each color is a part, then pictures, then numbers. Read every question aloud. Lesson 8.9 (the equal sign: both sides the same) is for the states that teach it in Kindergarten.
Children count to 20, count 11 to 20 things and write 11 to 20. Then they see a teen number as ten ones and some more: a full ten frame and some more, a stick of ten cubes and loose ones, and 10 + 6 = 16. In Kindergarten we say “16 is 10 and 6,” not “1 ten and 6 ones.” Read every question aloud. Lessons 9.7 to 9.12 (compare to 20, one more and one less, the number line, count back from 20, number words, numbers to 30) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children count to 100 by tens and by ones, see that the hundreds chart is ten rows of ten, and start a count at any number instead of at 1. The hard spot is counting over a ten (29, 30, never “twenty-ten”), so it has a lesson of its own. Count out loud every day, with movement and a big class hundreds chart, and with real things snapped or poured into groups of ten. Lesson 10.8 can move to the 100th day of school. Lesson 10.7 (counting a big group by tens and ones) is for the states that teach it in Kindergarten.
Children find what can be measured about a thing (how long or tall it is, how heavy, how much it holds) and compare two things directly: side by side from one start line, standing on one floor, in their hands or on a pan balance, and by pouring. There are no rulers in this unit. The goal is the words, said in full sentences: “The pencil is longer than the crayon.” Compare real things first, then pictures. Lessons 11.7 (putting three things in order), 11.8 (measuring with cubes) and 11.9 (counting the blocks that balance a thing or the cups that fill it) are for the states that teach them in Kindergarten.
Children look closely at the shapes they already know. They count sides and corners, tell how shapes are alike and different whatever their size or turn, and test which solid shapes roll and which stack. Then they build shapes with sticks and clay, draw them on dots, put shapes together to make bigger ones and fill outlines with pattern blocks and paper pieces. Every lesson starts with shapes to hold: blocks, sticks, paper shapes, cans and boxes. Read every direction aloud. Lesson 12.8 (building with blocks and counting them) is for the states that teach it in Kindergarten.
Every lesson in this unit is for the states that teach it in Kindergarten: teach the ones your state asks for and skip the rest. The parts need not come in a row. Coins (13.1 to 13.3), earning money and needs and wants (13.4 and 13.5), patterns (13.6 to 13.8), sharing (13.9) and the calendar (13.10 to 13.12) can each be taught when they fit the year; the calendar lessons belong in daily calendar time from the first weeks of school. Children name coins and say what they are worth, tell earning from gifts and needs from wants, continue and make patterns, share fairly, and use the days, the months and the parts of a day. Read every direction aloud.
Lessons marked ★ are taught in Kindergarten in some states and in other grades elsewhere; skip them if your state does not teach them in Kindergarten (without them and Unit 13, the year is 84 lessons). Unit 13 (money, patterns and the calendar) is for the states that teach them in Kindergarten, and it can be spread through the year: the calendar lessons fit daily calendar time. Lesson 10.8 can move to the 100th day of school.
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