Prepping Your Child for Preschool Math

Preschool math is much more than regurgitating multiplication tables and filling out worksheets. It allows students to use math to make connections with their everyday lives. By using what children already know and nurturing discoveries, mathematical concepts are more easily grasped and learned.

Patterns and Shapes

Colors, shapes, and patterns are things that children pick up on early on, especially on their clothing. They can also recognize and pair up different patterned and colored blocks.

 

Numbers

Preschoolers will learn about numbers through interactive activities. Such activities can include counting the number of objects, giving some of the objects to another classmate, and inquiring how many objects would be left over. Board games can be used to have your preschooler count the number of spaces they would need to move. Children can recite and participate in stories and nursery rhymes that include numbers, too.

 

Spatial Relationships

Children can put certain shapes together and discuss the differences. For example, the children could compare a square and triangle and identify the differences. Different sized squares can be compared to one another so that eventually, they realize they are all squares.

 

Measurement

Various comparisons with different sized and shaped objects can be made. A stool can be compared to a desk with questions relating to which is taller. Children can compare their height to one another. They can count the number of steps it takes to get from their desk to the sink or bathroom.

 

Data Analysis

Having students be able to collect and present even simple data in a graph form is a great method to combine many aspects of mathematics. Children can sort blocks by color and record the number of each color in a chart or graph. Other charts or graphs students could make could include the number of sunny days in December, how many birthdays in February, or how tall a class plant has grown.