Children are using early math skills throughout their daily
routines and activities. This is good news as these skills are
important for being ready for school. But early math doesn’t mean
taking out the calculator during playtime. Even before they start
school, most children develop an understanding of addition and
subtraction through everyday interactions. For example, Thomas has
two cars; Joseph wants one. After Thomas shares one, he sees that he
has one car left (Bowman, Donovan, & Burns, 2001, p. 201). Other
math skills are introduced through daily routines you share with your
child—counting steps as you go up or down, for example. Informal
activities like this one give children a jumpstart on the formal math
instruction that starts in school.
What math knowledge will your child need later on in elementary
school? Early mathematical concepts and skills that first-grade
mathematics curriculum builds on include: (Bowman et al., 2001, p.
76).
- Understanding size, shape, and patterns
- Ability to count verbally (first forward, then backward)
- Recognizing numerals
- Identifying more and less of a quantity
- Understanding one-to-one correspondence (i.e., matching sets,
or knowing which group has four and which has five)
More advanced mathematical skills are based on an early math
“foundation”—just like a house is built on a strong foundation.
In the toddler years, you can help your child begin to develop early
math skills by introducing ideas like: (From Diezmann & Yelland,
2000, and Fromboluti & Rinck, 1999.)
Number Sense
This is the ability to count accurately—first forward. Then,
later in school, children will learn to count backwards. A more
complex skill related to number sense is the ability to see
relationships between numbers—like adding and subtracting. Ben (age
2) saw the cupcakes on the plate. He counted with his dad: “One,
two, three, four, five, six…”
Representation
Making mathematical ideas “real” by using words, pictures,
symbols, and objects (like blocks).
Casey (aged 3) was setting
out a pretend picnic. He carefully laid out four plastic plates and
four plastic cups: “So our whole family can come to the picnic!”
There were four members in his family; he was able to apply this
information to the number of plates and cups he chose.
Spatial sense
Later in school, children will call this “geometry.” But for
toddlers it is introducing the ideas of shape, size, space, position,
direction and movement.
Aziz (28 months) was giggling at the
bottom of the slide. “What’s so funny?” his Auntie wondered. “I
comed up,” said Aziz, “Then I comed down!”
Measurement
Technically, this is finding the length, height, and weight of an
object using units like inches, feet or pounds. Measurement of time
(in minutes, for example) also falls under this skill area.
Gabriella
(36 months) asked her Abuela again and again: “Make cookies? Me do
it!” Her Abuela showed her how to fill the measuring cup with
sugar. “We need two cups, Gabi. Fill it up once and put it in the
bowl, then fill it up again.”
Estimation
This is the ability to make a good guess about the amount or
size of something. This is very difficult for young children to do.
You can help them by showing them the meaning of words like
more, less, bigger, smaller, more than, less than. Nolan (30 months)
looked at the two bagels: one was a regular bagel, one was a
mini-bagel. His dad asked: “Which one would you like?” Nolan
pointed to the regular bagel. His dad said, “You must be hungry!
That bagel is bigger. That bagel is smaller. Okay, I’ll give you
the bigger one. Breakfast is coming up!”
Patterns
Patterns are things—numbers, shapes, images—that repeat in a
logical way. Patterns help children learn to make predictions, to
understand what comes next, to make logical connections, and to use
reasoning skills.
Ava (27 months) pointed to the moon: “Moon.
Sun go night-night.” Her grandfather picked her up, “Yes, little
Ava. In the morning, the sun comes out and the moon goes away. At
night, the sun goes to sleep and the moon comes out to play. But it’s
time for Ava to go to sleep now, just like the sun.”
Problem-solving
The ability to think through a problem, to recognize there is more
than one path to the answer. It means using past knowledge and
logical thinking skills to find an answer.
Carl (15 months old)
looked at the shape-sorter—a plastic drum with 3 holes in the top.
The holes were in the shape of a triangle, a circle and a square.
Carl looked at the chunky shapes on the floor. He picked up a
triangle. He put it in his month, then banged it on the floor. He
touched the edges with his fingers. Then he tried to stuff it in each
of the holes of the new toy. Surprise! It fell inside the triangle
hole! Carl reached for another block, a circular one this time…
