Pre-K math and reading predict later success
American Psychological Association January 2008, Vol 39, No. 1
Children who enter kindergarten with reading and math skills are the most likely to do well later in school, report Northwestern University's Greg J. Duncan, and Amy Claessens, in the Developmental Psychology (November,Vol. 43, No. 6).
"We talk a lot about early reading skills and reading to your child, but we don't talk about math," says Claessens. "Doing numbers and basic math skills are also really important."
The researchers were surprised to find that behavioral problems, such as fighting with classmates or being sad or withdrawn, were generally insignificant predictors of later academic performance. They did, however, find that later academic achievement is yoked to attention skills such controlling hyperactive behavior and staying on task.
In the study, the researchers sought to examine whether the recent push by politicians and researchers to improve children's early cognitive skills through programs such as Head Start came at the expense of social and behavioral skills. They analyzed data on 15,000 children from six longitudinal studies conducted in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Each study measured academic achievement and behavior from around the time of school entry up to age 14. The researchers then performed a meta-analysis of the studies' results and found that math skills had the greatest predictive power of later ability, followed by reading and attention.
Children are using early math skills throughout their daily routines and activities. This is good news as these skills are important for being ready for school. But early math doesnt mean taking out the calculator during playtime. Even before they start school, most children develop an understanding of addition and subtraction through everyday interactions. For example, Thomas has two cars; Joseph wants one. After Thomas shares one, he sees that he has one car left (Bowman B. T. et al., 2001, p. 201). Other math skills are introduced through daily routines you share with your childcounting steps as you go up or down, for example. Informal activities like this one give children a jumpstart on the formal math instruction that starts in school. What math knowledge will your child need later on in elementary school?
Early mathematical concepts and skills that first-grade mathematics curriculum builds on include:
Understanding size, shape, and patterns
Ability to count verbally (first forward, then backward)
Recognizing numerals
Identifying more and less of a quantity
Understanding one-to-one correspondence (i.e., matching sets, or knowing which group has four and which has five)More advanced mathematical skills are based on an early math foundationjust like a house is built on a strong foundation. In the toddler years, you can help your child begin to develop early math skills by introducing ideas like: (From Diezmann & Yelland, 2000, and Fromboluti & Rinck, 1999.)
Number Sense: This is the ability to count accuratelyfirst forward. Then, later in school, children will learn to count backwards. A more complex skill related to number sense is the ability to see relationships between numberslike adding and subtracting. Ben (age 2) saw the cupcakes on the plate. He counted with his dad: One, two, three, four, five, six
Representation: Making mathematical ideas real by using words, pictures, symbols and objects (like blocks). Casey (aged 3) was setting out a pretend picnic. He carefully laid out four plastic plates and four plastic cups: So our whole family can come to the picnic! There were four members in his family; he was able to apply this information to the number of plates and cups he chose.
Spatial sense: Later in school, children will call this geometry. But for toddlers it is introducing the ideas of shape, size, space, position, direction and movement. Aziz (28 months) was giggling at the bottom of the slide. Whats so funny? his Auntie wondered. I comed up, said Aziz, Then I comed down!
Measurement: Technically, this is finding the length, height, and weight of an object using units like inches, feet or pounds. Measurement of time (in minutes, for example) also falls under this skill area.
Gabriella (36 months) asked her Abuela again and again: Make cookies? Me do it! Her Abuela showed her how to fill the measuring cup with sugar. We need two cups, Gabi. Fill it up once and put it in the bowl, then fill it up again.
Estimation: This is the ability to make a good guess about the amount of size of something. This is very difficult for young children to do. You can help them by showing them the meaning of words like more, less, bigger, smaller, more than, less than.
Nolan (30 months) looked at the two bagels: one was a regular bagel, one was a mini-bagel. His dad asked: Which one would you like? Nolan pointed to the regular bagel. His dad said, You must be hungry! That bagel is bigger. That bagel is smaller. Okay, Ill give you the bigger one. Breakfast is coming up!
Patterns: Patterns are thingsnumbers, shapes, imagesthat repeat in a logical way. Patterns help children learn to make predictions, to understand what comes next, to make logical connections, and to use reasoning skills. Ava (27 months) pointed to the moon: Moon. Sun go night-night. Her grandfather picked her up, Yes, little Ava. In the morning, the sun comes out and the moon goes away. At night, the sun goes to sleep and the moon comes out to play. But its time for Ava to go to sleep now, just like the sun.
Problem-solving: The ability to think through a problem, to recognize there is more than one path to the answer. It means using past knowledge and logical thinking skills to find an answer.
Carl (aged 15 months) looked at the shape-sortera plastic drum with 3 holes in the top. The holes were in the shape of a triangle, a circle and a square. Carl looked at the chunky shapes on the floor. He picked up a triangle. He put it in his month, then banged it on the floor. He touched the edges with his fingers. Then he tried to stuff it in each of the holes of the new toy. Surprise! It fell inside the triangle hole! Carl reached for another block, a circular one this time
Math: One Part of the Whole
Math skills are just one part of a larger web of skills that children are developing in the early yearsincluding language skills, physical skills, and social skills. Each of these skill areas is dependent on and influences the others. Trina (aged 18 months) was stacking blocks. She had put two square blocks on top of one another, then a triangle block on top of that. She discovered that no more blocks would balance on top of the triangle-shaped block. She looked up at her dad and showed him the block she couldnt get to stay on top, essentially telling him with her gesture, Dad, I need help figuring this out. Her father showed her that if she took the triangle block off and used a square one instead, she could stack more on top. She then added two more blocks to her tower before proudly showing her creation to her dad: Dada, Ook! Ook!
You can see in this ordinary interaction how all areas of Trinas development are working together. Her physical ability allows her to manipulate the blocks and use her thinking skills to execute her plan to make a tower. She uses her language and social skills as she asks her father for help. Her effective communication allows Dad to respond and provide the helps she needs (further enhancing her social skills as she sees herself as important and a good communicator). This then further builds her thinking skills as she learns how to solve the problem of making the tower taller.
What You Can Do?
The tips below highlight ways that you can help your child learn early math skills by building on their natural curiosity and having fun together. (Note: Most of these tips are designed for older childrenages 2-3. Younger children can be exposed to stories and songs using repetition, rhymes and numbers.)
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Shape up. Play with shape-sorters. Talk with your child about each shapecount the sides, describe the colors. Make your own shapes by cutting large shapes out of colored construction paper. Ask your child to hop on the circle or jump on the red shape.
Count and sort. Gather together a basket of small toys, shells, pebbles or buttons. Count them with your child. Sort them based on size, color, or what they do (i.e., all the cars in one pile, all the animals in another).
Place the call. With your three year old, begin teaching her the address and phone number of your home. Talk with your child about how each house has a number, and how their house or apartment is one of a series, each with its own number.
What size is it? Notice the sizes of objects in the world around you: That pink pocketbook is the biggest. The blue pocketbook is the smallest. Ask your child to think about his own size relative to other objects (Do you fit under the table? Under the chair?).
- Youre cooking now! Even young children can help fill, stir, and pour. Through these activities, children learn, quite naturally, to count, measure, add, and estimate. Walk it off. Taking a walk gives children many opportunities to compare (which stone is bigger?), assess (how many acorns did we find?), note similarities and differences (does the duck have fur like the bunny does?) and categorize (see if you can find some red leaves). You can also talk about size (by taking big and little steps), estimate distance (is the park close to our house or far away?), and practice counting (let's count how many steps until we get to the corner).
- Picture time. Use an hourglass, stopwatch, or timer to time short (1-3 minute) activities. This helps children develop a sense of time and to understand that some things take longer than others.
- Shape up. Point out the different shapes and colors you see during the day. On a walk, you may see a triangle-shaped sign thats yellow. Inside a store you may see a rectangle-shaped sign thats red.
- Read and sing your numbers. Sing songs that rhyme, repeat, or have numbers in them. Songs reinforce patterns (which is a math skill as well). They also are fun ways to practice language and foster social skills like cooperation. Start today. Use a calendar to talk about the date, the day of the week, and the weather. Calendars reinforce counting, sequences, and patterns. Build logical thinking skills by talking about cold weather and asking your child: What do we wear when its cold? This encourages your child to make the link between cold weather and warm clothing. Pass it around. Ask for your childs help in distributing items like snacks or in laying napkins out on the dinner table. Help him give one cracker to each child. This helps children understand one-to-one correspondence. When you are distributing items, emphasize the number concept: One for you, one for me, one for Daddy. Or, We are putting on our shoes: One, two. Big on blocks. Give your child the chance to play with wooden blocks, plastic interlocking blocks, empty boxes, milk cartons, etc. Stacking and manipulating these toys help children learn about shapes and the relationships between shapes (e.g., two triangles make a square). Nesting boxes and cups for younger children help them understand the relationship between different sized objects.
- Tunnel time. Open a large cardboard box at each end to turn it into a tunnel. This helps children understand where their body is in space and in relation to other objects. The long and the short of it. Cut a few (3-5) pieces of ribbon, yarn or paper in different lengths. Talk about ideas like long and short. With your child, put in order of longest to shortest.
- Laundry learning. Make household jobs fun. As you sort the laundry, ask your child to make a pile of shirts and a pile of socks. Ask him which pile is the bigger (estimation). Together, count how many shirts. See if he can make pairs of socks: Can you take two socks out and put them in their own pile? (Dont worry if they dont match! This activity is more about counting than matching.)
Playground math. As your child plays, make comparisons based on height (high/low), position (over/under), or size (big/little).
Dress for math success. Ask your child to pick out a shirt for the day. Ask: What color is your shirt? Yes, yellow. Can you find something in your room that is also yellow? As your child nears three and beyond, notice patterns in his clothinglike stripes, colors, shapes, or pictures: I see a pattern on your shirt. There are stripes that go red, blue, red, blue. Or, your shirt is covered with poniesa big pony next to a little pony, all over your shirt!
Graphing games. As your child nears three and beyond, make a chart where your child can put a sticker each time it rains or each time it is sunny. At the end of a week, you can estimate together which column has more or less stickers, and count how many to be sure.
Learn through touch. Cut shapescircle, square, triangleout of sturdy cardboard. Let your child touch the shape with her eyes open and then closed. Pattern play. Have fun with patterns by letting children arrange dry macaroni, chunky beads, different types of dry cereal, or pieces of paper in different patterns or designs. Supervise your child carefully during this activity to prevent choking, and put away all items when you are done.
References:
Bowman, B. T., Donovan, M. S., & Burns, M. S., (Eds.). (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
Diezmann, C., & Yelland, N. J. (2000). Developing mathematical literacy in the early childhood years. In Yelland, N. J. (Ed.), Promoting meaningful learning: Innovations in educating early childhood professionals. (pp.47-58). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Fromboluti, C. S., & Rinck, N. (1999 June). Early childhood: Where learning begins.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement,
National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education.
Retrieved on September 22, 2008 from http://www.kidsource.com/education/math/whatis.html
