Preschool Math: Where to Start?

Wondering how best to prepare your child before they start school?

You're right, good preparation can help by letting them grasp essential concepts early, giving them a definite advantage over other students.

While they aren't at risk of falling behind at this stage, such preparation can help them find certain subjects easier.

This way, the child develops ease which then turns into self-confidence and a love for school and learning in general that will follow them for many years, fueling a virtuous cycle.

The Many Dimensions of Mathematics

Even for young children, mathematics isn't limited to numbers. Math has many dimensions, including:

• Number sense (for example, the digit "4" represents four objects, which is greater than 3 and less than 5)
• Geometry (patterns and shapes, each with unique characteristics)
• Measurement (size, distance, amount)
• Mathematical language ("more than," "less than," "equal to")
• Spatial relationships (in front of, behind, left, right; near or far)

Observe your child at home or in a preschool classroom and during a single day, you will likely be surprised at how many ways math is expressed, in words and actions.

Preschool Children Learn Math Through Exploring Their World

Over the last few decades, early reading has received a lot of attention and research, and scholars are now catching up to learn more about early childhood math learning and teaching.

What they've learned so far is intriguing. For example, researchers have discovered that young children are naturally curious about mathematics. They have good reason to think that math becomes real for young children when they use it in talking, reasoning, and playing.

And they better understand how preschoolers' early exploration of math helps them make sense of their world and what kinds of teaching are needed to help them gain new skills and deepen their knowledge.

A somewhat surprising research result is that preschoolers seem to learn math concepts and operations in a much less predictable order than when learning to read.

Most young children acquire reading awareness and skills in a fairly linear way.

Early math learning is like putting together a puzzle, with children mastering math concepts in no particular order, while still managing to assemble the complete picture over time.

While there is no agreed continuum for early math learning, researchers have identified areas of math learning with specific "growth points" that young children reach as they become more skilled math learners.

Assessing Young Children's Math Knowledge

Preschoolers can learn math in different ways, but by age 3 or 4, a child should have a good grasp of certain math concepts and be able to perform basic math operations.

Remember, a child may be strong in some aspects of math but struggle in others. Some math skills and operations rely on "non-math" skills, such as reading text, fine motor skills, and memory.

Be sure to take into account all of your child's academic strengths and weaknesses when searching for the root cause of math difficulties. Preschool teachers should use basic math assessment techniques to determine a student's math literacy level; this will allow for informed decisions about what to teach and how to track progress. (Parents should be invited (and encouraged) to share with the teacher what they know about their child's basic math abilities and attitudes.

The Power of a Good Preschool Math Program

As schools review preschool math curriculum requirements and seek to strengthen math instruction for students at all levels, parents and educators can play an important role by ensuring that practices proven effective in promoting math learning are in place:

Know the concepts and skills a child has already acquired so that an effective teaching and support program can be designed and implemented from the start of the preschool year.

Tailor instruction to the knowledge and abilities of each individual child.

Make math real. Be sure to reinforce and practice math learning throughout the day, at school and at home.

Learn math by living math. Focus less on passive learning (like listening to someone explain and demonstrate), and offer plenty of hands-on activities. Young children learn by doing.

Communicate with the teacher: Many parents don't know how to teach math to their young children at home. Sometimes, just discussing it with the teacher can provide effective guidance.

And Then?

Mathematics is often treated as a one-dimensional subject, separate from other subjects taught in school. Unfortunately, this is a common (sometimes unconscious) perspective among adults, including preschool teachers and parents. As a result, many young children come to see math as something unrelated to other school activities or their daily lives. Adults can correct this kind of "disconnect" by further educating their children on how math is part of their personal lives.

• By combining math instruction with other subjects (for example, reading a story that involves counting in some way);
• By expanding math teaching to include activities at home

Another barrier to teaching math to preschoolers is that many parents and teachers lack confidence, and some suffer from math anxiety themselves. Children often have a strange ability to sense an adult's comfort—or aversion—to certain things, and math is no exception. Parents don't need to be math experts to help their children, and teachers, especially in the early years, can develop a curriculum that meets both their comfort level and their children's needs.

Preschool Math Planning

Parents and teachers must work together to ensure that each child learns the many aspects of mathematics, in class AND at home.

It's essential to build on the child's natural interest in math, track their progress, and adapt instruction to solve difficulties in understanding and mastery of mathematical concepts. Encourage them to see math in a broader, more practical context!

Preschool Math Workshop

Introducing the abacus can be an excellent exercise for a child to learn numbers.

Indeed, this allows the child to visualize what numbers and digits are. These abstract concepts are the ones that pose the most difficulty for children.

Furthermore, it allows children to understand the concepts of addition and subtraction very easily, and in advance.

We explore the advantages of starting abacus learning early in a previous article.

What is the right age to start learning the abacus?

Our collection of kids' wooden abacuses.

Your Turn

You now know how to best prepare your child before they start school.

Why not start by downloading a few practice worksheets for your child and ordering an abacus?

To get results and help your child, you must take action.