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In honor of my husband, a high school math teacher, I wanted my first post to be about the importance of teaching young children Math and how you can make it fun/educational.
As soon as you become a parent your taught how important reading out loud to your children is for their language development. I read to my children several times throughout the day and have books all around the house and car. It wasn’t until I read the Parents article, “Are Asian Kids Really Better at Math?”, that I realized math should also play an important role in our daily activities. In the article, Maya Thiagarajan talks about her move to Singapore. “I was struck by how focused parents on this high-achieving Asian island were on giving their kids a strong math foundation. It quickly dawned on me that parents in Singapore seemed to be doing for math what American parents do for reading.”
Math isn’t just about addition and subtraction, there are many different basic concepts children learn before they go to school. As parents we have this opportunity to set our children up for a great mathematical understanding. The following ideas are excellent ways you can introduce your child to mathematics, some of which you are probably already doing and didn’t realize. You can make everything into a math lesson, whether you count the steps as you walk up and down stairs or point to all of the shapes throughout your home and yard, math can be found every where.
Why so important?
- promotes memory
- improves attention
- enhances problem solving skills
Basic Fundamentals of Math (Birth – Pre-K):
shapes :: create an easy indoor/outdoor shape scavenger hunt
counting :: count during daily activities, for example while you walk up and down stairs
measuring :: let your child help measure while you bake
directions :: talk about right from left, for example “Please grab your puzzle on the right shelf.”
size comparison :: big vs. small, stacking blocks help children understand size
identify objects that go together :: ask your child to help you fold the laundry and put together the pairs of socks
“Research on children’s learning in the first six years of life demonstrates the importance of early experiences in mathematics. An engaging and encouraging climate for children’s early encounters with mathematics develops their confidence in their ability to understand and use mathematics. These positive experiences help children to develop dispositions such as curiosity, imagination, flexibility, inventiveness, and persistence, which contribute to their future success in and out of school (Clements & Conference Working Group, 2004).” NCTM
“The development of mathematical knowledge and skills contributes to children’s ability to make sense of the world and solve problems they encounter in their everyday lives.” (RI Learning & Development Standards PDF)
I hope this post has inspired you to add more mathematical concepts into your daily activities! Below are some great websites about mathematics for children, RIELDS is an amazing site that has PDF files you can download to track your child’s progress in all aspects of his or her life. I also included some of my favorite educational toys/puzzles and books relating to math. We have several of these and highly recommend them for your children or even make great gifts.
Resources:
rields.com
parents.com
NTCM.org
Toys & Puzzles:
Books:
