Building a maths mindset

BEST PRACTICE

With the International Day of Mathematics coming up on Thursday 14 March, we look at ways to immerse and engage little ones in all things mathematical

Have you noticed that if a child at your setting throws two toys from their highchair and you only retrieve one, they will ‘look’ for the other? This is early awareness of quantities.

It’s never too early to share numbers with children – even those not yet old enough to express their knowledge may understand what number comes next and their spoken order (ordinality). So, whether songs, games or counting together, there’s lots of ways to get children in the maths mindset.

Developing skills at two

Between ages two and three, children begin to understand what a number is and that it represents a quantity. They may say some numbers in order, use random numbers within play, and recite the numbers one to 10. Familiarity with what that number looks like in different contexts – balls, apple slices, doors, for example – is important to help them gain a thorough understanding of how number and quantity are linked.

How to support two-year-olds:

Sing lots of songs with numbers! For example, ‘Five little speckled frogs’, ‘Five little ducks went swimming one day’, or ‘One, two, buckle my shoe’.

Count steps, strides, slabs, claps, jumps, butterflies, cars, sticks, stones, apples, doors, windows, puddles – in fact, anything and everything you see!

Point out when you can see two, three or even four things that are the same.

Developing skills at three

Once children have a good knowledge of the number order, they may start to count more accurately saying one number name for each object. This isn’t as easy as we might think! To grasp this, they need to know number orders (one, two, three, four, five), to stop counting when there are no more objects, understanding that each object must be counted and can only be counted once. It sometimes takes a while to master all of these skills!

How to support your three-year-old: Encourage independent play in a shop or café themed area, where items have very simple prices on stickers. This can be modelled by an adult holding a bag as they count out three apples or six potatoes, for example.

Developing skills at four

At this age, children’s maths skills grow secure enough to count on more accurately and compare groups, with more recognition of numbers and quantities. Their knowledge of number order may allow them to count forwards (one, two, three) as well as backwards (three, two, one) – a great step towards addition and subtraction.

How to support four-year-olds:

Try integrating gentle number games or rhymes into physical play, such as musical bumps.

Count out loud with children whenever possible – “one, two, three, four – have we got enough paintbrushes?” or “have we got enough aprons for everyone?”.

Count how many red items they can see in the outdoor or messy areas.

And lastly…

Try to avoid either asking children to ‘check’ or correcting them if they count incorrectly. Confidence is key when managing maths, whether you are three or 33, so don’t diminish their enthusiasm by letting them feel that they are ‘wrong’.

Asking questions can make things feel like a test, so the best way to teach children about numbers and counting is to let them hear and see you do it – and to have fun!

This has been adapted from a previous Family Corner blog post by Nicky Sandford.

Further guidance

The Early Childhood Maths Group (ECMG) is a UK-based group of early years mathematics enthusiasts and experts. The website includes resources, ideas and evidence-based research into how young children develop maths skills: https://earlymaths.org.

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