What is Math?
When people hear the word math, many think of solving math problems,
like 1+1=2. However math is much more than that! Mathematics for young
children should be rich and varied and have a conceptually oriented,
meaningful and focused purpose.
It includes:
-Number and operations: Number sense is much more than merely
counting, it involves the ability to think and work with numbers
easily and to understand their uses and relationships. Number
sense is about understanding the different uses for numbers
(describe quantities and relationships, informational tools).
Number sense is the ability to count accurately and competently,
to be able to continue counting—or count on—from a specific number
as well as to count backwards, to see relationships between
numbers, and to be able to take a specific number apart and put it
back together again. It is about counting, adding, and
subtracting. Counting and becoming familiar with numbers will help
your children understand all other aspects of math
-Patterns, functions and algebra: Patterns are things that repeat;
relationships are things that are connected by some kind of
reason. They are important because they help us understand the
underlying structure of things; they help us feel confident and
capable of knowing what will come next, even when we can't see it
yet. Patterns and relationships are found in music, art, and
clothing, as well as in other aspects of math such as counting and
geometry. Understanding patterns and relationships means
understanding rhythm and repetition as well as ordering from
shortest to longest, smallest to largest, sorting, and
categorizing.
-Geometry and spatial sense: Geometry is the area of mathematics
that involves shape, size, space, position, direction, and
movement, and describes and classifies the physical world in which
we live. Young children can learn about angles, shapes, and solids
by looking at the physical world. Spatial sense gives children an
awareness of themselves in relation to the people and objects
around them.
-Measurement: Measurement is finding the length, height, and weight
of an object using units like inches, feet, and pounds. Time is
measured using hours, seconds, and minutes. Measurement is an
important way for young children to look for relationships in the
real world. By practicing measurement your child will learn how
big or little things are and how to figure that out.
-Data analysis and probability: Using graphs and charts, people
organize and interpret information and see relationships. Graphing
is another way to show and see information mathematically. Charts,
including calendars, can be used to organize everyone's weekly
activities. Even older children in elementary school may find it
hard to keep track of calendars, but, when adults use them with
children, calendars can be helpful tools to learning and
understanding how we organize information.
To know math is to do math. Young children need opportunities to solve
problems, reason and think, communicate in a variety of ways, represent
concepts with symbols, and make connections between specific areas of
mathematics, mathematics and other subjects, and mathematics and their world.
Children learn math by doing, talking, reflecting, discussing, observing,
investigating, listening and reasoning.
Here are some activities you can do to build your help develop your child's
math skills:
NUMBER SENSE:
-Count anything and everything! Count in many different ways. Count
by ones, tens, fives and twos. Count backwards. Try counting up from
a different number than one. Count real things to help children
use their own experience with objects to better understand numbers.
Therefore, one of the best math activities you can do with your
children is to have them count real objects.
-To help children learn to count accurately and efficiently, up and
down:
-Point out that counting lets them know how many things
there are in a group.
-Point to the object as you recite each number name.
-Use fingers to count. Put up a finger one at a time as you
count it: fingers are tools you always have with you.
-Help your children count without skipping numbers or
counting something twice.
-To help children learn that numbers are used to describe quantities
and relationships, encourage them to:
-Sort objects looking for similarities in either color,
shape, or size.
-Sort objects looking for differences, like which box is
bigger.
-Talk to your children about what numbers are used for, such as
keeping score in a game, or finding an apartment or street
address.
PATTERNS. FUNCTIONS AND ALGEBRA:
-Help your child find patterns in designs and pictures, as well as in
movement and in recurring events such as the days of the week or the
seasons of the year.
-For a hands-on activity try stringing wooden blocks or pasta necklaces
into a simple red-blue-red-blue pattern. As children get older they
can reproduce and create more complex patterns.
GEOMETRY AND SPATIAL SENSE:
-You can help your child learn geometry by helping them learn to
identify different angles, shapes, and three-dimensional figures.
Ask them to identify and describe different shapes, to draw them in
the air with their finger, to trace over them with their fingers, and
to draw them on paper. Start with simple shapes: circle, square,
rectangle, and triangle. Then move onto more complex shapes: oval,
rhombus, trapezoid, and hexagon.
-Children learn geometry best through hands-on experiences. Things
they can touch and manipulate are particularly helpful, like blocks,
boxes or containers, shape sorters, and puzzles. Even cutting the
sandwiches they eat into different shapes and letting them fit them
together or rearrange them helps children learn about geometry.
-Geometry and spatial sense help children with directions and finding
their way around. Let them climb in and out of boxes, on or around
furniture, going under, over, around, through, into, on top of, and
out of different things to experience themselves in space. Use this
vocabulary as you talk to them about what they are doing.
-As children get older, they play games to find "hidden" triangles,
squares, or rectangles that are turned in different ways or have odd
shapes. Hidden shapes are ones that do not have flat bases, but are
turned in different directions.
MEASUREMENT:·
-Standard measurements like inches, feet, and yards are only one way
to measure. Let children pick their own unit for measurement--
" Emily is four cereal boxes tall."
-Many daily activities involve measurement: cooking, gardening,
grocery shopping, sewing, and woodworking are only a few examples.
Keep your child involved in these chores by talking with them about
what you are doing, and by asking them to help you when possible.
-Young children won't understand the concept of time. However,
They can learn that some activities take longer than others.
-Compare one activity with another to figure out what takes more
time. Start by asking simple questions like "Who can stand on
one foot longer?"
-Set end of time limits. "You can only play for 5 more minutes,
then we have to go catch the bus." At first your children won't
know what the minutes mean, but gradually the children will
understand the idea of time passing.
-You can relate units of time to counting by using a watch to
time events and counting the ticks on the second hand of the
watch by saying, "1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds" without
timing the event. This uses counting to help children develop a
sense of the passing of time.
-Start time talk with ideas like "after lunch" or "after dinner"
that provide solid milestones for children. It may take some
time until children understand more abstract notions
like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
DATA ANALYSIS AND PROBABILITY
-Practically everything you do is "chartable." For example, you can take
the stickers from bananas, apples, or pears and place them in columns
on a piece of paper. At the end of the week you can count them up to
see how many of each type of fruit you ate. Graphs help some children
reach a greater understanding of numbers because they can see
quantities displayed on paper. This may help them understand math more
than looking at numbers on paper.
-Use post-it notes or stickers to record any regular daily activity.
Put a post-it note next to the phone each time it rings, or have
people put one next to the front door to record the number of times
someone enters.
-Children love to take surveys. They can go around the house and
ask "What is your favorite color>" (Or favorite food, activity, etc).
They can make tally marks on a sheet of paper next to each color. You
can help them make a simple graph when they are done.
