Teaching Math Concepts to Toddlers - A Critical Checklist For Parents
Mathematics and counting are a critical part of educational learning for toddlers and preschoolers.
Even before kindergarten, your child should learn beginning concepts in algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics and logic.
Over time, they will learn how to solve problems by applying their knowledge of math to new situations.
According to the U.
S.
Department of Education's Helping Your Child Learn series, they should be learning to think of themselves as mathematicians--able to reason mathematically and to communicate mathematical ideas by talking and writing.
So, if our children will have a head start by learning these concepts before they get to school, how do we teach math to our kids from an early age? Here is a checklist of the fundamental concepts used by curriculum developers nationwide, along with suggested activities that you can do together with your child: 1.
Number Sense: Knowing Value Your toddler begins to develop number sense when she or he counts from one to 10 or higher.
They should start to recognize the written numerals 0 through 9, understand the idea of position or sequence (such as being first or third) and link numbers to the real world.
One fun activity you can do is to sing counting rhymes and songs with your child.
Remember "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"? 2.
Computation: Knowing Quantity Basically, this means your child should know that the quantity of objects change by adding or taking them away.
You can play hide and seek games with objects around the house, or a set of objects, like plastic easter eggs, and have your child count aloud as she or he finds each item.
3.
Measurement: Knowing Relative Size and Order It is important for kids to learn how to measure both objects and concepts (for example, the concept of time like morning and tomorrow.
) You can show them how to measure objects with irregular measures like their hands, a length of string, blocks, and more.
You can help your child to understand qualitative differences in measurement (big, heavy, long) and to order items from smallest to biggest or shortest to tallest.
4.
Geometry: Knowing Shape, Position and Location Help your child to recognize and name shapes, describe position and location (a GPS navigation system is not required!) I was tickled pink the first time I heard the joy in son's voice when he correctly named an octagon! Go over simple concepts like up, down, big, small, inside, outside).
Sort objects by shape, color, size and help them understand that geometric shapes can be used to form other shapes (an example of this is the way slices of pie can form a whole circle).
5.
Data Analysis: Evaluating Difference Help your child with data analysis by thinking about real-world situations.
For example, encourage your child to identify her or his favorite color, not just name a color.
Help them to count how many pets are in the store by type--how many dogs, how many fish in the tank, and so forth.
You can also play guessing games while on walks, such as asking them how many steps it will take to get from your front door to the edge of the sidewalk.
Also help them to know that pictures and graphs can represent real information.
6.
Algebra: Understanding Relationships and Patterns At the most basic level, you can help your child to repeat simple patterns, like boy-girl, boy-girl or go for a walk and play games where you and your child take two big steps, then two small steps, or three jumps forward and three jumps backward.
Even before kindergarten, your child should learn beginning concepts in algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics and logic.
Over time, they will learn how to solve problems by applying their knowledge of math to new situations.
According to the U.
S.
Department of Education's Helping Your Child Learn series, they should be learning to think of themselves as mathematicians--able to reason mathematically and to communicate mathematical ideas by talking and writing.
So, if our children will have a head start by learning these concepts before they get to school, how do we teach math to our kids from an early age? Here is a checklist of the fundamental concepts used by curriculum developers nationwide, along with suggested activities that you can do together with your child: 1.
Number Sense: Knowing Value Your toddler begins to develop number sense when she or he counts from one to 10 or higher.
They should start to recognize the written numerals 0 through 9, understand the idea of position or sequence (such as being first or third) and link numbers to the real world.
One fun activity you can do is to sing counting rhymes and songs with your child.
Remember "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"? 2.
Computation: Knowing Quantity Basically, this means your child should know that the quantity of objects change by adding or taking them away.
You can play hide and seek games with objects around the house, or a set of objects, like plastic easter eggs, and have your child count aloud as she or he finds each item.
3.
Measurement: Knowing Relative Size and Order It is important for kids to learn how to measure both objects and concepts (for example, the concept of time like morning and tomorrow.
) You can show them how to measure objects with irregular measures like their hands, a length of string, blocks, and more.
You can help your child to understand qualitative differences in measurement (big, heavy, long) and to order items from smallest to biggest or shortest to tallest.
4.
Geometry: Knowing Shape, Position and Location Help your child to recognize and name shapes, describe position and location (a GPS navigation system is not required!) I was tickled pink the first time I heard the joy in son's voice when he correctly named an octagon! Go over simple concepts like up, down, big, small, inside, outside).
Sort objects by shape, color, size and help them understand that geometric shapes can be used to form other shapes (an example of this is the way slices of pie can form a whole circle).
5.
Data Analysis: Evaluating Difference Help your child with data analysis by thinking about real-world situations.
For example, encourage your child to identify her or his favorite color, not just name a color.
Help them to count how many pets are in the store by type--how many dogs, how many fish in the tank, and so forth.
You can also play guessing games while on walks, such as asking them how many steps it will take to get from your front door to the edge of the sidewalk.
Also help them to know that pictures and graphs can represent real information.
6.
Algebra: Understanding Relationships and Patterns At the most basic level, you can help your child to repeat simple patterns, like boy-girl, boy-girl or go for a walk and play games where you and your child take two big steps, then two small steps, or three jumps forward and three jumps backward.