One Hundred Sheep CD

My children and I absolutely love the skip counting CD! All the way down to my 4-year-old have learned it within a week and can't stop singing the songs! So when they have their math out and need to figure out a multiplication problem, they just start singing. It's actually the one my mom used when she homeschooled my siblings and I 30 years ago! So happy to see rainbow is keeping it alive!

"There were 6 12 18 24 and 30 dishes on the counter and man weren't they dirty?!" No I am not singing a song about my kitchen although I suppose I could be but that is not the point of this review! I'm singing about the dishes that were on the counter when Martha was worried about cleaning while her sister Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesusoh yeah and I'm skip counting! Skeptical? I was too Even after we bought the CD and listened through it once I wondered if was really going to work Were my kids (ages 4 and 8) really going to like it and were they really going to learn to skip count?! The answer to both of those questions turned out to be "YES!" Here's how we use it in our house: First we listen to the song a few times to pick up the tune Next we read through the lyrics and elaborate on the Bible story referenced so the kids understand what we're singing about I usually have them highlight a hundreds chart according to what number we are using to skip count and they use that as a listening guide until they can sing the numbers by memory along with the CD We listen to the songs when we have our snack in the morning or sometimes while we do our chores The tunes are catchy and although some of us honestly thought it seemed a bit cheesy in the beginning the whole family has grown to love this CD!

This CD has been published by Common Sense Press the same publisher who publishes Learning Language Arts Through Literature This cd has 9 songs Children learn to skip count by 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 8s 9s and 10s But this isn't your normal preschool skip-counting sesame street cd The tunes are catchy and fun They are fast though so your children may have a hard time catching the lyrics at first The first time we listened my oldest daughter declared that she didn't like the cd I explained to her that when songs are fast and we don't know what people are saying then we usually aren't prone to "liking" a song I suspected that once we sat down and listened to the songs and read the words the girls and Eli would love the cd A few days later we found out that I was rightWhat I love about this cd is both the skip counting and the meaning of the lyrics On Thursday my kids and I sat while I read the lyrics and discussed what the songs are about The first song is about a boy named Ezra who hears about Jesus' birth from the angels He counts the angels by 2s Each song is based on biblical passage(s) I read the passages to my girls and they enjoyed the songs The second song counts the years of Jesus' life by 3s I don't think my girls or I will forget that Jesus lived 33 years The songs prompted a good discussion between my girls and me I have read these Bible stories to my children many times already in their short lives but these songs allowed them to hear and think about them a little differently I used these songs as our morning devotion After playing the songs that morning my oldest daughter's new declaration was "Mommy I love these songs! I wish I had learned to skip count before addition and multiplication Eli is lucky he gets to!" She went on to explain that she's always struggled with 3s so she is very glad to be learning to skip count by 3s now I listened to her sing the 2s and 3s skip counting throughout the rest of the dayMy plan is to listen to 1 or 2 songs at a time read the words and discuss what the songs are about These are great songs because they allow children to practice singing along and listening I am encouraging my kids to sing along to the skip counting but listen to and think about the lyrics to the rest of the song After we have listened to each of the songs together we'll listen to the cd in the car I love to find music that we can listen to in the car that will help my children learnSkip Counting is the foundation of all of the math facts If a child knows skip counting the math facts will have a foundation to build on I've saw this when Autumn learned some skip counting for 5s 10s and 25s when she was learning to count money in kindergarten I would have loved to have this cd back then When Autumn has a question about quarters I just call that rhythm to her mind and she can count quarters quicklyOne reviewer on CBD likened the music's style to Jack Johnson's music I think it actually reminds me more of the fun music I still enjoy from the 1960s and 1970s If you have realplayer installed on your computer you can listen to a sample on Common Sense Press' website Scroll down the page and you'll find the linkThis would be an awesome preschool and kindergarten supplement for math It would also set the stage for kids to learn their math facts by singing them I am excited to use this cd as a part of my son's PreK and Kindergarten curriculumOne of the questions I faced as I listened to each of these cds is: Is it worth the money? A set of good flash cards costs $8 or so This cd is about $13 A math facts quiz book costs about that much If your child is an auditory learner I would say it is definitely worth it If you like me have a hard time finding the time to daily go over skip counting then again--yes it's definitely worth it If you're looking for a Bible-based cd for a devotional change then it's worth it If you're looking for a supplemental math resource that your family can listen to when your kids are out of school (if they attend public or private school) then this is a great way to make fun time a learning time without it seeming like homework This would be a great cd to listen to over summer break when your children are taking a break from math I can think of lots of great reasons to listen to this cdPlease note that I received a complimentary copy of this cd for review from Common Sense Press

I didn't know what to expect when we received this CD but I am pleased and my daughter (age 5) enjoys it I believe that the very biblically accurate stories presented in the songs are of much more value than the skip counting and that the counting is just a nice bonus! I was a little surprised to hear a male voice singing but was glad about this because so often these kids' music CDs feature women or other children singing and I like for my daughter to hear examples of men glorifying God as well The voice is pleasant and varied easy to sing along with In one or two of the songs the counting aspect seems to be sort of tacked-on but this is to be expected I supposeOne thing which took me aback was that the product title says "One Hundred Sheep CD and Book " but when I received the package there was no book to be found It turns out that the "book" is the little fold-out pamphlet from inside the CD cover Not what I would call a book or even a booklet really but it does have the lyrics printed there I was actually expecting a real book that could be held and used to follow along not a paper insert with tiny print Just a head's up about that But the CD is still worth the price even without it including a book It is enjoyable and educational both for the gospel stories and the counting

I purchased this a few months ago and it's still often requested in our van The variety of musical styles keeps the songs fresh and the stories keep the songs from being dry "number songs" My kids don't even know that they're learning skip counting :-) I've been very happy with this purchase

My kids love this CD! Both my 7 and 9 year love listening to this CD at bedtime as they go to sleep Gospel stories set to enjoyable music Easy and fun to memorize

I actually enjoy listening to this CD over and over and over again by popular request My 4 year old can now skip count some along with his siblings I lent the CD to a friend who promptly ordered several copies--for herself and others If you've got kids learning to skip count buy this it's worth every penny

Not only has our entire family (ages 7 to 42 with four in between) learned to skip count but we have had these gospel stories imprinted on our memories too -- not a bad thing! When we got the tape SEVERAL years ago my oldest daughter was probably 9 and no one ever thought the songs were corny -- although they could have! Instead they were intrigued by the combination of listening to the story and trying to remember the next numbers so they could sing along One issue my kids mention is that they now skip count to the beat of these songs not just directly repeating the numbers