51吃瓜网

Will feeds Maya, his 8-month-old daughter. He pauses for a moment and Maya signs 鈥�more.鈥� Will laughs. 鈥淵ou want听more? Okay, here it comes!鈥� When the bowl is empty, Will says and signs, 鈥淎ll听gone. Maya ate her food. All听gone.鈥� Maya looks at him and smiles.

Children develop math concepts and skills very early in life. From the moment they are born, babies begin to form ideas about math through everyday experiences and, most important, through interactions with trusted adults. Language鈥攈ow we talk with infants and toddlers about math ideas like听more, empty,听and听full鈥攎补迟迟别谤蝉.

Math is everywhere!

We use basic math language all the time, without realizing it. For example, when we separate clothes by color, we鈥檙e using the math concepts of sorting and classifying. When we keep score during a game and determine how much our team is ahead or behind (number and operations), or give someone directions to get from one place to another (spatial relationships)鈥攖hat鈥檚 math. We constantly use comparison words (measurement) such as听big听and听little听and use patterns to explain the order of daily routines and activities (鈥淲e brush our teeth听after听breakfast鈥�). With our children, we play games and sing songs that use numbers and counting (such as 鈥漁ne, Two, Buckle My Shoe鈥�).

Even without our support, infants and toddlers use math concepts to make sense of their world. For example, infants like Maya signal when they want more food.听More听is one of the first math concepts understood by children. Babies tell us鈥攐ften dramatically鈥攖hat they know the difference between familiar and unfamiliar adults (sorting and classifying). Toddlers try to climb into boxes of various sizes (spatial relationships) and say words and phrases from familiar stories or songs that use repetition (patterns).

We can make the math that occurs in daily life visible to children through math talk. Each day offers us countless opportunities to help children deepen their understanding of math concepts. The more we talk math, the better chance infants and toddlers have to build a positive attitude toward math learning and learning in general.

Basic math concepts 鈥�

When we are aware of early math concepts, we can be more thoughtful in our everyday interactions with infants and toddlers. Here are five basic math concepts that can be woven into our everyday conversations with infants and toddlers.

1. Number and operations鈥攗nderstanding the concept of number, quantity, order, ways of representing numbers, one-to-one correspondence (that one object corresponds to one number), and counting.

• 鈥淵ou have听two听eyes, and so does your bear. Let鈥檚 count:--1, 2.鈥�
• 鈥淚 have听more听crackers than you do. See, I have 1, 2, 3, 听and you have 1, 2. I鈥檓 going to eat one of mine. Now I have the听same听as you!鈥�
• 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the听third听time I鈥檝e heard you say mama. You鈥檝e said mama three times!鈥�

2. Shapes and spatial relationships (geometry)鈥攔ecognizing and naming shapes, understanding the physical relationship between yourself and other objects and the relationships between objects.

• 鈥淟ook, Jason went听under听the climber and Aliyah is on听top!鈥�
• 鈥淵ou鈥檙e sitting听next to听your brother.鈥�
• 鈥淪ome of the crackers we have today are听square, and some are听round.鈥�

3. Measurement鈥攕ize, weight, quantity, volume, and time.

• 鈥淢oving that chair is hard. It鈥檚听heavy.鈥�
• 鈥淵our nap lasted a听long听time today!鈥�
• 鈥呪�淟et鈥檚 count how听many听steps it takes to reach the mailbox.鈥�

4. Patterns, relationships, and change鈥攔ecognizing (seeing the relationships that make up a pattern) and/or creating repetitions of objects, events, colors, lines, textures, and sounds; understanding that things change over time and that change can be described with math words. These are the basic building blocks of algebra!

• 鈥淒addy has stripes on his shirt鈥�white, blue, white, blue, white, blue.鈥�
• 鈥滾et鈥檚 clap to the听beat听of this song.鈥�
• 鈥淚 put the blocks听in听the bucket; you dump them听out. I put the blocks back听in听the bucket; you dump them听out!鈥�
• 鈥淥ur plant looks听taller听today. I think it grew overnight.鈥�

5. Collecting and organizing information鈥攇athering, sorting, classifying, and analyzing information (data) to help make sense of what is happening in the environment.

• 鈥淟et鈥檚 put the听big听lid on the听big听bowl and the听small听lid on the听small听bowl.鈥�
• 鈥淵ou听always听smile when Mommy sings to you!鈥�
• 鈥淟et鈥檚 put the听dolls in the basket听and the听balls in the box.鈥�

Try it

• Talk math with your child as a matter of routine. For example, diapering, meal and bath times, neighborhood walks, and shopping trips are ideal times to count, point out shapes and sizes, talk about patterns, and describe how things are the听same听and different.听
• Make a list of math talk words and phrases. Post it on the refrigerator or somewhere else handy to remind you to take advantage of math talk opportunities.

Math talk enriches everyday learning experiences for infants and toddlers. You鈥檒l be surprised at how much they know and can learn. Your math talk today can help your children be successful in math as they get older.

Source: Adapted from a Rocking and Rolling column written by Jan Greenberg and published in the May 2012 issue of听Young Children. The full article is available at听www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/RockingAndRolling_YC0512.pdf.

For more information on early math learning, see the joint position statement of 51吃瓜网 and NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics): 鈥淓arly Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings鈥� (2002, updated 2010) at听www.naeyc.org/positionstatements/mathematics.