by Alix Tonsgard
Did you know that almost everything we do relies on some form of mathematical thinking? Think about when you serve a meal or set a table. How do you know where to set the plates or glasses or how many to use? To complete this task, we rely on our understanding of patterns, counting, and estimation skills. Imagine riding a bicycle without understanding distance, balance, or spatial orientation. Without these skills, many of us might still need training wheels!
At DCM, we understand how often math comes into play throughout our lives and that it is important to provide opportunities for children to investigate, practice, and reflect on math. Almost all young children engage in a substantial amount of pre-mathematical activity in their self-directed free-play. Through higher-level play, where children are presented with opportunities to explore patterns, shapes, and spatial relations, compare magnitudes, and count objects, young children can learn to “possess an informal knowledge of mathematics that is amazingly broad, complex, and sophisticated” (Education Commission of the States, 2013).
Research affirms that even seemingly trivial instances of “math talk” can demonstrate improvement in preschoolers’ math skills. Don’t know where to start? Talking about math is easier than you might think!
Count anything and everything, talk about the shapes you see while walking to the park, use words like on top of, next to, under. These things alone will benefit your child later on. Use descriptive words related to quantity, size, space, or number. You might try using the following words: more/less, large/small, tall/short, wide/narrow, few/many.
I think you will begin to see that throughout the day we all do a lot of math without even realizing it. For a list of fun ideas to incorporate math at home, visit my blog at dupagechildrens.org/blog.
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Alix Tonsgard is an early learning specialist at the DuPage Children’s Museum.
