How to make math part of your child’s everyday world.

Children at an early age utilize mathematics in their everyday life. They compare quantities, find patterns, and share an equal amount of cookies with a friend. Math helps children make sense of their world, and once in school, it helps them with other subjects as well. Beginning to teach math concepts to children at an early age helps them develop critical thinking and reasoning skills. These skills are the foundation for success as they progress in school.

Math is not about rote memorization and worksheets. Math is the world your child experiences each day. Open-ended and playful exploration encourages children to solve problems in real situations, so it is up to you to help them experience their everyday, math world. When you make the situations meaningful for your children, they will gain a deeper understanding of number, quantity, size, patterning, and even data management (Grossman, 2012). For example, it is easier to understand what the number 8 means when applied to a real-life task such as finding 8 books to read or placing 8 blueberries in each of three bowls.

Children need to feel confident in their mathematical skills. This confidence will follow them throughout school and life. Everyone knows that children who are not reading at grade level by 3rd grade are fated to struggle academically throughout school. However, did you know that the predictor of later academic success is based on early math skills? A 2007 study demonstrated that early math concepts, such as knowledge of numbers and ordinality, were the most powerful predictors of later learning.

Parents may feel uncomfortable with the idea of teaching math skills. However, children are already using these skills to explore the world around them. So, you can begin teaching math concepts everyday, and the easiest way is to begin with play. Through songs, puzzles, and games, you can enhance their understanding of math.

Purposeful Play

Children learn through playing, so take these opportunities to show them math skills. As children play with blocks, you can ask, What can you do to make the block tower taller? Then have them create a pattern with the blocks such as two yellow blocks, one blue, two red.

How many cars did you use to make that train? Can you add (or takeaway) three cars to the train?

You can create counting games when you go to the grocery store. Your child can help you pick out 7 apples and 6 oranges. They can then add all of the fruits together. They can also count how many people are in line at the checkout counter and determine if one line has fewer people than another line.

You can discuss measuring the length of a piece of string and then have your child cut out 5 pieces of string of the same length, or for additional learning, have your child cut each string a certain amount longer than the last.

Children are often fascinated by variations in size. They get excited about the enormity of a skyscraper and the tininess of a ladybug. They naturally look at the size of the amount of ice cream in their bowl and compare it to their friend’s bowl. Their curiosity with comparisons fosters a curiosity with units of measurement.

According to Douglas H. Clements and Julie Sarama, authors of Learning and Teaching Early Math: The Learning Trajectories Approach, measurement is the best way for young kids to learn about math; it can help develop reasoning and logic. Measurement also helps to connect geometry with numbers. This learning will help ready your child for future and more difficult math problems.

These simple ideas demonstrate some of the fun and everyday opportunities parents can use to incorporate math into their child’s world. It’s important to remember that the ability to count can sometimes just be rote memorization. It’s great for children to learn how to count, but do they really understand what the number means? With purposeful play, you can turn counting into addition and subtraction.

Speak Math

You can talk math anytime and anywhere. Have conversations where children can compare which object is bigger. You can count out the number of forks you need to set the table. You can discuss the temperature outside and decide whether it is too hot or too cold to go out.

You want to take the conversations beyond just rote counting. While at dinner you can ask your child to compare items on each person’s plate. Ask, “Do we each have the same number of green beans on our plates? How many more green beans do I have than you have? Are there more strawberries on your plate or in the bowl?”

You can also give children problems to solve. Explain that we have 7 people in our family, but I only have 4 spoons, how many more do I need so that everyone in the family gets a spoon? From there, you can give different word problems. For example, I have 4 spoons on the table, 7 people in the family, but your brother will not be here for dinner, so how many spoons do I need for dinner? These basic math problems can be changed and made more challenging depending on the age of your child.

As a parent, one of your most important roles when teaching your child math skills is to help build their self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief in an individual’s ability to succeed at a task. When children are positive about learning and feel that they can succeed, they are more likely to be successful. So, encourage your child every chance you get. Make math learning fun and your child will develop the necessary skills to succeed in school and in life.

References:

Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2021). Learning and teaching early math: the learning trajectories approach. Routledge.

Grossman, P. D., & Colburn, J. C. (2012). Capillary Electrophoresis Theory and Practice. Elsevier Science.

Stipek, D., Schoenfeld, A., & Gomby, D. (2012). Math matters: Even for little kids. Education Week.