Money: Counting, Comparing and Adding
Lessons in this chapter
About Money: Counting, Comparing and Adding
Piggy Bank takes 1st grade’s coin recognition and turns money into something kids calculate with.
Recall the Names and Values of Coins and Bills is a deliberate refresher, because coin values are assigned rather than obvious and they fade without use. The dime being smaller than the nickel but worth more still catches kids out a year later.
Count and Compare Money asks which of two amounts is greater, which is harder than comparing numbers because the amounts have to be totalled first. A handful of coins has no value until it is counted, and counting it means switching between step sizes.
Add and Subtract Money brings the year's arithmetic to bear, including the decimal point in amounts like $3.45. The rule is that dollars line up with dollars and cents with cents, which is exactly the place value alignment from the addition chapters, applied where getting it wrong is obvious.
Recall the Names and Values of Coins and Bills, Count and Compare Money and Add and Subtract Money are three lessons, each opening as a worksheet in the page and marked as your child answers. Counting a mixed handful is the hard part, because the coins are not worth what their size suggests. All three are free to practice online.
Frequently asked questions
The names and values of coins and bills, counting a mixed set and comparing two amounts, and then adding and subtracting money. The arithmetic is the same arithmetic from earlier chapters; what is new is that the values are not in size order, so a child has to know each coin before they can count. It sits in Measurement and Data (2.MD), which is where money lives in the Common Core at this grade.
Recalling coin and bill values, counting a mixed amount, comparing two amounts, and adding and subtracting money including amounts with a decimal point.
Sort by coin first, then count each group by its value, largest first. Switching step size between groups is the actual skill.
Because each amount has to be totalled before it can be compared. Four coins might be worth less than two, so the comparison cannot be made by looking.
Line up the decimal points so dollars sit under dollars and cents under cents, then add as usual. It is the same place value alignment as any column sum.
Because size does not predict value. A dime is smaller than a nickel and worth twice as much, so the values have to be recalled rather than worked out.