My Thoughts On This Article:
I am an infant/toddler specialist and I totally agree that math and math words are over looked when it comes to younger children. Children encounter math several times daily. As an early child educator, I try to change this mindset with both the parents and children that I work with.
Children learn through their environment. I like use what I call unconventional teachable moments to teach math skills. I exposed them to new concepts and experiences on a weekly basis. The concepts they use one week are carried over into a new experience the next week. Because all children don't learn the same way nor at the same pace, I make sure that the same basic math concepts are taught in several ways. The more they use the concepts, the better they understand.
The article mentions that most parents are more likely to read to their children and feel that it is more important than math skills. Even with this being the case, there are books that introduce math words on an early learner level.I go to the children's section of the public library. There are plenty of fun picture books in the math and counting section. While reading picture books introduces a child to over 1000 new words, why not choose some books that will introduce them to math words and counting.
Math is used in critical thinking (putting a puzzle together), geometrical shapes ( playing with legos, wooden and magnitile blocks, shape sorting), cooking ( measuring ingredients, setting temperature of oven, setting the timer) sharing with friends or siblings (counting to make sure there are equal amounts) reading (how many more pages until the end of the story). There are many more ways to introduce math skills to young children through play and daily routines. These are just a few that I use with the infants and toddlers I work with.
Angela Johnson Sutherland
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