Children are natural mathematicians. The activities above provide children the opportunities to experience math concepts. Early math is not about the rote learning of facts, such as how much 5 + 7 equals. It is about children actively making sense of the world around them. Unlike drills or worksheets with one correct answer, open-ended, playful exploration encourages children to solve problems in real situation. When the situations are meaningful, children can gain a deeper understanding of number, quantity, size, patterning, and data management (Grossman 2012). For example, it is easier to understand what six means when applied to a real-life task such as finding six beads to string on a necklace or placing one cracker on each of six plates.
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How do infants and toddlers learn math?
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Math is Everywhere!
Using math talk...components of math:
Number and operations:
"You have two eyes. Let's count, 1, 2."
"I have more crackers than you do. I have 1, 2, 3 crackers. You have 1, 2 crackers."
Shapes and Spatial Relationships:
Geometry is not just for high school...
"Some of our crackers are round and some are square."
"Look, Jason crawled under the climber and you are sitting on top of the climber."
Measurement:
Size, weight, quantity, volume and time.
"You took a long nap today."
"Let's count how many steps it takes us to get to the playground."
Patterns and Relationships:
Recognizing and/or creating repetitions of objects, events, colors, lines, textures, and sounds; understanding that things change over time and that change can be described using math words.
"Marcus has stripes on his shirt; white, blue, white, blue, white, blue."
"Our plant looks taller today. I think it grew overnight."
Collecting and Organizing Information:
Gathering, sorting, classifying, and analyzing information to help make sense of what is happening in the environment.
"You put the big lid on the big pot and the small lid on the small pot."
"You always smile when your Mom sings to you!"
Involving Families...
Families play an important role in helping infants and toddlers learn about math. Ask families what math they see happening at home. If needed, help them identify opportunities during their daily routines and experiences to talk math with their children. For example, diapering, meal and bath times, walks around the neighborhood, and shopping trips are ideal times to count, point out shapes and sizes, talk about patterns, and describe how things are the same and different.
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Build math into your child's day:
