concept of "how much" not "how many"

[kissingfrogs]

Dd2 is really struggling with learning to add money. She counts the coins but can't grasp counting the values.
e.g 2p+2p+2p= 3p (3 coins).
Dd2 is getting very upset that she can't get the right answers and I'm lost for ideas.
We've tried coin-rubbing to imprint the numbers from the coins onto paper to help her "see" the number, and once the numbers are on paper she can add them up, but show her the coins again and it's back to adding how many coins.
I'm asking for ideas, not just for her a friend's dc who is in yr6 and has the exact same problem despite lots of intervention.

Have you tried showing her two 1p coins and one 2p coin and explaining that they have the same value? You could do this with lots of different combinations of different value coins, trying to show that each coin has a value rather than just being a single object.
You could also play shopping games where she needs to buy something a price and can use different combinations of coins to buy it.
Are these ideas you have already tried?

thanks ruthchan, but yes I've tried those things. Racking my brains to explain the concept in a way she'll understand because standard methods don't work. There will be a way and I just need to find it. Think I'll try reposting in primary ed. Bit quiet in sen.

Hi

The concept is quite abstract, so I would suggest trying the following:

Change the 'object' from coins to something like playdough.

Prepare two small rectangles of dough, and another one that is exactly twice the size of the small ones.

Show her the smaller ones first, and let her count them (she will see that there are two) then show her the larger one, and count that (she will see that there is only one).

Next, get her to push the two small rectangles together, and compare it with the big one (she'll see that it makes up the same 'size' in total), even though there is 1 of the big one and 2 of the small ones.

The next step is to get her to think about how much you can 'do' with a big piece of dough, compared to the small pieces. You need both the small pieces to cover the same space on a piece of paper, for example, as is covered by the big one.

The final stage is to show that the 'value' of money is about how much you can 'do' with it (or buy). But it's not the same as the size of the coin. So, get your coins out and play a game where with a one pence coin you can buy one sweet, but if you have a two pence coin you can buy 2 sweets, and if you have a five pence coin you can buy 5, etc. Use real sweets or treats to illustrate. Give her a one pence coin, show her the number 1 on the coin and tell her that if she uses (gives you) the one pence coin she can have one sweet in return. Then show her the two pence coin, let her find the number two on the coin, and ask her how many sweets she should be given for a '2' coin. She may get the answer intuitively, but if not then tell her that if she gives you the two pence coin she can get two sweets in return.

Next, take it a step further (preferably on the same day, but not unless the earlier link is clear)to show her that if she has 3, 4 or 5 pence, she gets 3, 4 or 5 sweets). Let her work out how 'much' she can do with her coins (she'll need to add up the numbers to work it out. It's really important to let her make the discovery for herself, rather than you 'teaching' her.

Later, go back and show her that even though the 5 pence coin is smaller than the 2, it has a 5 on it, which shows that it can 'do' much more than a coin with 2 or 1 on it - it's more powerful, or valuable, and the value doesn't depend on the size.

Two other things to be introduced are that some coins don't have numbers on, and that a little coin can 'do' much less than a paper note (which is 100 or 200, or whatever.

Hope this might help - and don't worry if it takes a little time - have fun in the process.

Take care!

number shark is a really good computer programme that makes the process very visual.