Teaching Math To Preschoolers
There is a natural progression to mathematics. Before attempting calculus, you must have mastered trigonometry, and before attempting trigonometry, you must have mastered algebra, etc. While you may not have thought of it this way, math skills learned in preschool and kindergarten lay the foundation for every math class taken in a student's scholastic career.
Shirley, stay-at-home mom and homeschooler, has developed at successful mathematics program for your preschoolers that highlights the foundational skills needed to succeed.
- Counting - A great introduction to numbers includes learning to recite them in order. This can be accomplished through interactive learning toys, counting songs, and other rhymes. Just like with the ABCs, while a child can repeat numbers from memory, true understanding of what these numbers represent is not necessarily achieved.
- Number Recognition - Making connections between a number and its picture/shape is an important part of the learning process. Drawing attention to numbers encountered throughout the day (i.e. page numbers, calendar dates, etc.) and flash cards are great ways to teach students what a number looks like and reinforce number recognition.
Other important foundational concepts for your preschool and kindergarten classrooms include: writing numbers, conservation of number, sorting, measurement, and estimating. Be sure to read the rest of Shirley's article at her site for more great activities and teaching tips!
