This guest blog by Amy Tanner, professor of mathematics education at Brigham Young University and founder of The Kids’ Quadrant website, suggests ways to engage all children in early math learning.
Key Points:
My two children are very different and have been from the moment they were born. They have different food preferences, different fears, and different ways of showing affection. They also have very different interests: One…
By Jenny Yun-Chen Chan, Michèle Mazzocco, and Megan Onesti
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There are many opportunities in daily life to encourage young children to think mathematically. These early math learning opportunities can be informal and playful additions to family routines. …
By Christina Mulcahy, Julia Ratchford, Crystal Day-Hess, and Douglas H. Clements
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Don’t Burn Your Feet will get your child jumping around — inside or out — while exploring shape concepts. You can download the instructions and ideas for making this activity easier or harder here or at the end of…
By Cristina Carrazza, Michelle Hurst, and Susan Levine
Key Points:
Exploring math together as a family supports children’s early math development. But the learning goes beyond just the math content. The messages that parents and caregivers send to their children while engaging in math also shape the way that children think about math. …
By Claudia Kruzik, Emily McDowell, and Eric Dearing
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“Bravo!” Albertina declares, cheering on her young son, Angel, who has correctly picked the sock that comes next in a pattern they are creating with laundry. They sit side-by-side, grabbing black and white socks from a basket and working together. …
by Colleen Oppenzato
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A young child, Jennifer, is asked to solve a story problem. The rabbit has 3 carrots and the squirrel has 4 carrots. How many carrots do they have all together? Jennifer answers 6…
By Christina Mulcahy, Julia Ratchford, and Douglas Clements
In Magician’s Tricks, your child will use magic to figure out what number is on hidden cards that the other player picks. (The magic consists of clever counting!) All you need to play are some numbered cards, which makes this game easy to play anywhere you need to…
By Deborah Stipek
Key Points:
Whether children are attending preschool, in child care, or home with their primary caregivers, opportunities to develop math skills while having fun can be enhanced by early math learning apps. The problem is that there are too many! And they vary greatly in quality and the likelihood of actually supporting children’s learning. …
By Sarah Eason and Susan Levine
Key Points:
Research has shown that early math skills prepare young children for success in school and in life. Research has also shown that, concerningly, gaps in children’s math knowledge can start as early as preschool. A number of…
By Crystal Day-Hess, Douglas H. Clements, and Julie Sarama, University of Denver
Key Takeaways:
Many early childhood classrooms, especially preschool and kindergarten classrooms, feature a calendar as an activity to teach mathematics and sometimes other subjects (e.g., weather or days of the week). …
A network of scholars in early math education, conducting research & developing materials to promote young children’s math learning. https://dreme.stanford.edu