Topic Editor: Jeff Bisanz, PhD, University of Alberta, Canada
Given children’s natural dispositions to learn about numbers, they should be encouraged to freely explore and practice their abilities in a range of unstructured activities. These learning experiences should be enjoyable and developmentally appropriate so that children stay engaged in the activity and do not get discouraged. Playing board games and other activities involving experiments with numbers can help children develop their numeracy skills. Materials such as blocks, puzzles, and shapes can also encourage the development of numeracy.
Parents can foster their child’s numerical knowledge by creating meaningful experiences with numbers paired with appropriate feedback (ex. asking the child how many feet she has, and using her response to explain why she needs two, and not one shoe). Parents and teachers should also create spontaneous educational moments that encourage the child to think and talk about numbers. Numbers can be introduced in several domains, including play (dice-throwing games), art (drawing a number of stars), and music (keeping a tempo of 2 or 3 beats).
Taking on children’s perspective and understanding that their interpretations of mathematical problems are different than adults’ are important components of effective education. Teachers need to know that numeracy follows a developmental process, and numerical activities must therefore be designed accordingly. To optimize interventions aimed at numeracy, kindergarten screening should ensure that children can recognize the quantity of small sets of objects (2 and 3) and make the distinction between these and larger sets (4 or 5 objects).
Early interventions in mathematics have important implications for school readiness. A successful ECME program includes a stimulating environment containing objects and toys that encourage mathematical reasoning (ex., table blocks and puzzles), play opportunities where children can develop and expand their natural mathematical abilities on their own, and teachable moments where preschool teachers ask questions about children’s mathematical discoveries.
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