PRIMARY MEASURES FOR CHILDREN

The child has been taught to count. Now while he is telling you how many objects he is dealing with, teach him to tell how much he is dealing with.

In other words, have the child measure and compare as well as count.

Ideas of larger and smaller, longer and shorter, and the like, should be made important. The need at the outset, is to learn, in a simple way, the basis of all arithmetic—the comparison of quantity,—in as many of its forms as possible.

Measures of Length

Teach the child to estimate distances and then to verify every estimate by actual measurement.

Teach half inches as well as inches.

Long measure is used to measure length.

12	inches make 1 foot.
3	feet make 1 yard.
in.	means inch or inches.
ft.	means foot or feet.

For the Child to Do:

1. Cut a strip of paper 12 inches long and 1 inch wide.

2. Mark the inches on it.

3. How many inches long is it?

4. What do you call a measure 12 inches long?

5. Draw a line 2 inches long, as near as you can, without using a ruler.

6. Measure it with a ruler. Did you guess nearly right? Try again.

7. Measure this page. How long is it? How wide?

8. Draw a line on the ground 1 yard long.

9. ¹⁄₂ of a foot is how many inches?

10. 1 yard is how many inches? What is measured by the yard?

11. Ask your mother how many yards of cloth she needs for a dress.

12. What is measured by the foot?

13. How tall are you?