It is never too early to incorporate math activities. Preschoolers can pick up early math skills quickly which will only help them learn math concepts.
So Why Math?
To some math is a horrible, awful thought, while others thrive on math. Basic math is necessary tool in become a self-sufficient adult. You need math to pay bills and balance a checkbook, follow a recipe, check the time, buy a toy at the store. Math is all around us. Yes, we have calculators and clocks, but if you must learn how to understand and work these items (all part of math skills).
Here's a little trick...if your preschooler doesn't hear you say "math is hard", they won't know math is hard. Your preschooler is a sponge and learning is learning whether you are teaching math, vocabulary or manners.
At this age, what you will be teaching your little one is basic awareness of math such as:
1. Number Recognition
4. Basic Shapes
6. Basic Measurement
7. Similarities and Differences
8. Passage of Time
9. Learning Money Concepts
10. Simple Directions
Fortunately at this level, you don't need much, some imagination, fun items from around the house to sort and count such as buttons, small toys, crayons, cereal, or socks, to name a few. You'll need a basic knowledge of preschool math vocabulary such as more, less, same, different, add, and take away.
Children need multiple types of teaching methods when learning new concepts. Visual, Auditory (Hearing), Tactile (Touch) are all important methods for teaching. Your child will learn visually by seeing the manipulative or objects you counting. Auditory learning will be accomplished by your conversational interactions and Tactile learning by letting them touch and play with the counting and sorting objects.
Introducing fun math poems is a great non threatening way to incorporate math vocabulary and at the same time poems introduce rhythm and rhyming which are important skills for reading.
Start simple and build on what your child knows without rushing
them to learn a new concept before they are ready. For example, if your
child can count to two, start counting to three working your way up to
ten. If your child knows circle add square then triangle, etc.
Starting your preschooler on the road to learning basic math skills now will help them learn math concepts in school. It does not take a lot of materials to begin teaching preschool math concepts. Preschool math does not involve complex skills. It is easy to instill a love of math in your child, especially when learning is fun and on their level. Weaving math skills into everyday activities will put you and your preschooler on the road to math success.
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