Young children develop subtizing skills much like they learn to read sight words. The ability to take a mental snapshot of letters or objects and know what the number or word is comes because of opportunity, exposure and reinforcement. Eventually young children learn to recognize the number of small groups of objects simply by sight (we […]
When you engage in something “just for fun” they call it recreational. Here is an op-ed piece about recreational math. Imagine that! Math that is just for fun. Now you may think that because I blog about math that I am a math wizard (or wizardess) but alas, I am not. I am not even particularly […]
Yes – this is another article on the importance of outdoor, gross motor play and how it looks in Denmark. Citing the research that we all know but seldom see in practice, recess and active outdoor play may be more important for the longterm academic success of children than just about anything else that happens in […]
Take a look at this math blog. It is called Math For Love and I do not know how I didn’t know about it before today. Most of the writing is not intended for the audience of Early Math Counts but if you dig through it, you will find some gems. Take a look at […]
Thanks to my friend and colleague Carrie Nepstad for sending me this article from KQED.org. The title, How Adding Math to a Child’s Routine Can Advance Achievement, gives you a pretty good idea about the context, but it may even be one of those articles that you actually copy and give to parents because it describes […]
I saw these in a gift store. You can’t really tell from the picture, but they are really little, sized for a two or three-year old’s hands. They got me thinking about using every opportunity we have to encourage numeral recognition and mathematical thinking even labeling a child’s body with letters and numbers. Now, I […]
These pictures from classrooms around the world remind us that environments are important, but not nearly as important as the teachers who teach in them. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonwells/world-teachers-day-classrooms#.scEKBK1pR
If you are not connected to the Zero to Three organization, you really should be. According to their website: ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and the know-how to nurture early development. Neuroscientists have documented that our earliest days, weeks and months of life are […]
Last week we took a first look at how teachers of young children approach data analysis. I thought that we could look at the way the NCTM lays out this standard. According to the NCTM website: Programs should enable all children to: Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display […]
This past week, I observed a wonderful 30-year preschool teacher tell a story with her young 3s using a felt board. Can you tell from the picture below what the story was? It may be hard to see so I will give you some hints. There are 2 cookies, a glass of milk, a refrigerator, […]