Talking to children is very important, it develops their vocabulary and broadens their knowledge. So my children and I spend all of our days talking! From the time when they were infants, I narrated our day to them, describing our events in detail. I haven’t stopped talking to them. And, I don’t limit my vocabulary- I interject math related words into the mix naturally (well, as naturally as possible). Now that they are old enough to be part of the conversation, they do at least half of the talking and their vocabulary includes a variety of words.

Ordinal words

Using ordinal words is easiest for us when the children need to wait for their turn. There was a time when I watched a second two-year-old; three children needed to be patient to get into their car seats, to have a book read to them, or to use a bike or another toy.

“Molly and Peyton, you wait on the steps while I put Sam in his car seat first. I’ll get you next, Peyton.”

“Sam, I know you want to play with that dump trunk. You will need to let Molly use that first. You should let her know that you want a turn when she’s done.”

“Wow! There are so many books to read here! First I’ll read _Little Blue Truck_; second we’ll read _The Giving Tree_; and we’ll read a High Five magazine last. When we’re done reading our books, I’ll need to get lunch ready for us.”

Positional words

I cannot be everywhere my kids need me to be. However, I am able to use my words to describe where I need to them to go or what I need them to do.

“Please put your shoes on the tray.”

“Are you looking for your green car? I think it’s under the kitchen table.”

“These dirty wipes can go in front of the closet door.”

“Can you put your dirty clothes in the hamper?”

Comparison words

I take my children to many different places for our daily outings. At two of the places we visit (the library and the museum), there are other children there who my kids don’t normally interact with. Every now and then, my daughter will run into a younger child who isn’t the best at sharing or might just grab a toy out of her hand. I then have the conversation with her that I’ve had many times before. “Some kids who are younger than you are still learning how to be a kind friend. I just need you to understand and be a kind friend.” “Some two-year-olds push…” With a younger brother, she is pretty used to having to be understanding.

My two-year-old son gets excited when he sees just about any vehicle!

“The green one is a big garbage truck. This yellow garbage truck is small.”

“Crane so tall!”

“That’s a fast motorcycle!”

“Look at how long that semi truck is!”

Beside identifying the colors of the cars and trucks he sees, I’m able to use mathematical descriptive words to also describe them.

I do my best to have meaningful conversations with my children. It is great to hear those same kinds of words coming out of their mouths.

January is the first month of the year – so we call it “1.”  February comes next, so we call it “2.”  Then comes March, and we call it “3.”  It is the 3rd month of the year.  Each day of the month is also numbered and Pi Day is on the 14th day of the month of March.

This very simple explanation includes dates, cardinal numbers, and ordinal numbers. Although I wouldn’t expect most of your youngest children to really make sense of this (dates and times are far too abstract for preschool-aged children) early exposure to these concepts is absolutely fine.

There you have it – Pi Day Group Time.

Benchmarks

9.B.ECa Show understanding of location and ordinal position

9.B.ECb Use appropriate vocabulary for identifying location  and ordinal position.

Example Performance Descriptors

Respond appropriately to request to place an object somewhere in space in relation to other objects (i.e., put doll in front of pillow; place shoes under the table).

Use appropriate vocabulary for location and ordinal position during play activities (e.g., can demonstrate concepts such as near and far, over and under).

Respond to questions about ordinal position of an object (e.g., respond correctly to questions like “who is first in line?” or “which car came in third?”)

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Many months ago when I was thinking about activities that would support early math skill benchmarks, I tried really hard to consider ways we use ordinal numbers rather than cardinal numbers with young children.

The most obvious to me was about lining up (which you can see above is one of the Example Performance Descriptors).  It is clear to children that being the “Line Leader” means that you are first in line, especially if the adult uses that vocabulary with the children. (“Today, Joey is first because he is the Line Leader.  Tomorrow, someone else will have a turn to be first in line).  This is one of those examples that works perfectly with the egocentric child because it plays right into their development (they really like being FIRST).

It is equally obvious that someone is also last in line.  Often the “Light Marshall” is last in line as it is his responsibility to turn off the lights when leaving the room.  This job softens the blow of ending up last in line as sometimes that also means last to pick a toy on the playground or the most coveted swing.

The in-between ordinal numbers are harder.  Being third or fourth or fifth means that children are translating the cardinal numbers into ordinal numbers which is far more complicated to do.  If your group is small, let’s say less than 8 children, you could create small number cards, numbered 1-8.  When taking turns, you might pass these out to the children and have them line up in order.  Once in line, they could begin making the translation between the number on the card (4) and being fourth in line.  With practice, the children will become more familiar with this vocabulary.