Maths/ Number work best practices for children

Building an effective preschool/early years math program

As your school reviews and retools its math program to meet current requirements, you as a parent/caregiver/teacher may want to ensure your program is aligned with current best practices. These include:

• Making maths real by teaching it in the context of preschoolers' everyday lives--at school, at home, and in the community. Math doesn't exist only on paper, a chalkboard, or a whiteboard; preschoolers learn math best by doing hands-on projects and activities and being reminded how the math they're learning "doing" is part of their everyday lives.

• Teaching the many aspects of math: "number sense," geometry (patterns and shapes), measurement, the language of math, and spatial relations.
• Teaching math across the curriculum rather than as an isolated subject. Blend math concepts into language arts, music, art, and science projects.
• Observing, documenting and sharing progress about individual students’ math competency and challenges with their parents.
• Individualizing math instruction to students’ needs, building on what they already know.
• Find out if the math program and materials you use are based on peer-reviewed research that has proven to be effective. 

The influence of culture, community, and socio-economic status

Just as a child’s family and neighborhood may influence the development of reading awareness and skills, these same factors may affect progress in learning math. Research has revealed cultural differences in when — and how — children are exposed to early math concepts at home.

Children who live in poverty are often at risk for poor math achievement (and for low academic achievement in general). These children may enter preschool suffering from an absence of intellectual stimulation at home, especially if their parents didn’t receive the benefit of a full education. Look for ways to provide rich math experiences for children and to engage their parents as partners by sharing with them the math concepts your child is learning at school and encouraging them to reinforce that learning at home.

Ten fun facts about Children

Fact 1:
The average age children begin to use a microwave is seven.

Fact 2:
A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

Fact 3:
Fathers tend to determine the height of their child, mothers their weight.

Fact 4:
On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.

Fact 5:
Watching television can act as a natural painkiller for children.

Fact 6:
In ancient Greece, children of wealthy families were dipped in olive oil at birth to keep them hairless throughout their lives.

Fact 7:
The great pharaoh Ramses II who fathered over 160 children.

Fact 8:
Childrens kneecaps only start to turn bony at 3 years of age, until that they are made of cartilage.

Fact 9:
Both boys and girls in 1600s England and New England wore dresses until they were about seven years old.

Fact 10:
Children under the age of six are at the greatest risk for crushing or burning injuries of the hand.