This Week in Preschool

Monthly math is a series focusing on different concepts in early math development, drawn from the Big Ideas of early math developed by the Erikson Early Math Collaborative. Each installment in the series focuses on a different Big Idea and how to encourage its development in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. This month's installment focuses on the idea of Number Sense.

As easy - and hard - as ABC

A preschooler playing a dice game-
dice are great for number sense games.

We know that being able to sing the alphabet song doesn’t mean that a child really has an
understanding of letters. It’s the same with numbers. Many children can count accurately without having a true understanding of what those words actually mean.

The understanding of a number, or number sense, comes through exposure to number and quantity concepts over and over again, and in different ways and contexts.

Number Sense Begins in Infancy

This infant is experiencing more.

Think babies don’t understand number? Think again. Studies show that babies are beginning to grasp basic ideas of quantity even as young as five months. By intentionally using mathematical language in their interactions with babies, adults can help them build a foundation for counting and quantifying.

Some of the first number sense concepts that infants understand are more and all gone. Snack time is a great time to talk with infants about these basic math ideas- “You ate all your crackers! Do you want some more?” “Look, you only have one goldfish left! You ate it- now they’re all gone.” Check out NAEYC’s article Math Talk with Infants and Toddlers for more ideas about how to work math talk into everyday interactions.

Toddlers: Keep it Simple, Keep it Fun

As children grow and develop, we start to see them imitating counting and using number words.

When a toddler tells her classmate “two people!” to let her know that an area is full, she’s telling you a lot about her understanding of number. She knows me and one more friend make “two people”. She knows the number word “two” and at least one situation where she can use it. But does she really understand two?

This child is using what he knows about "two"
to put two ears on his piggy bagel.

Most toddlers are ready to play games and enjoy activities around number, even if they don’t really have a full understanding of what they’re doing. “Movement Counts” are a fun way to engage children with numbers. Using a movement book such as Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe, roll a large die and do the movement that many times. For toddlers, you might want to make a custom die that only goes up to three or four. For older toddlers who are beginning to show some signs of number sense, most of the preschool activities below can be adapted for older toddlers as well.

Just as with infants, you can make math talk part of your daily routine. “Three of my friends are ready to go outside. Oh, here comes Maria- now four friends are ready.” “Look, you put three Legos together! One, two, three.” “You got two diapers. Let’s put one back. Now you have one!”

Preschool: See Me Subetize

Subetizing is the ability to look at a small set of objects and know how many they are, without counting. If you use Teaching Strategies Gold, it refers to this skill as quantifying. Either way, it is a skill that children are developing at the preschool age, and it is critical for later success in mathematics. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to encourage this skill in day to day interactions.

Dot cards are a great tool for all kinds of number
sense activities- use different arrangements to
help children understand that a quantity is
distinct from its shape.

At snack, ask the children to take a small number of pieces- three or four- and observe which can do it without counting them out. Play a matching game with dot cards, or use dot cards as a transition activity. Sing counting songs like “5 Little Ducks” and vary how you hold your hands to show the number.

Parents of preschoolers often mistake the ability to count with overall mathematical skill. Often those children still need lots of experiences with small numbers, and teachers need to feel confident explaining to parents why their advanced child is still learning about the number three. Fluency with small numbers is the foundation on which elementary math is built, and a child who is fluent to ten will have more success in kindergarten math than one who can count to 100.

Resources

I make my own dot cards, but if you're looking for an easier solution this Deck o' Dots looks pretty good. Disclaimer: I haven't purchased these, I just think they look like a decent product. I don't get anything out of promoting them.

I've used this free Race to 10 game in my classroom to great success. Custom dice like the author recommends are key- I bought foam cubes from the dollar store and made dice that only go up to three for my younger students. Older students who were able to subetize higher numbers could use regular 1-6 dice.

References (if not linked above)

Big Ideas of Early Mathematics- by The Early Math Collaborative

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/27/us/study-finds-babies-at-5-months-grasp-simple-mathematics.html