Early Learning Foundational Skills
In mathematics, children make sense of the world around them as they investigate the relationships of numbers and shapes. There are five major areas of focus within mathematics in the age span of 3–9 years. In each area you will find mathematics skills and behaviors you might see your child demonstrate, as well as ideas that may help your child become stronger in their mathematics skills.
Mathematics
All children develop at different rates, and your interactions and support will help your child grow and improve no matter where they are in their learning journey. Finding ways to naturally incorporate mathematical skills in everyday activities or games is a great way to practice with your child.
Questions to Ask Your Child
Here are some question prompts you might use when talking with your child about mathematics:
- How do you know…?
- Can you explain how you solved that?
- Can you find… (in the room, yard, car, or store)?
- How is this like… (what you did in school or before)?
- How are they different or the same?
- When might you use this…?
- How did you do that?
- What do you wonder about that?
Numbers and Counting
How children learn to count, recognize "how many," and build understanding of time and money.
Problem Solving / Arithmetic
How children learn about addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and the concepts of putting together and taking apart numbers.
Patterns
How children investigate relationships, sequencing, ordering, and seeing structures within numbers and shapes.
Shapes
How children investigate basic shapes in both two and three dimensions, and how children learn about putting shapes together to build more complex structures.
Measurement
How children learn about basic measuring and investigate perimeter, area, volume, and angles.