Math: An Essential Skillset For Your Child

Math skills learned in early childhood education are designed to establish the foundation that children need for success in grade school and in their futures in general. Educators should focus their lessons around the basic skills that will build up to advanced mathematics in high school and college. As a result, early childhood education should introduce simple mathematical concepts and basic terminology by the time children are around three years old.

By setting the stage and laying the foundation for understanding mathematical concepts from an early age, children will be prepared to discuss this knowledge as well as its practical applications within the classroom setting. Although preschool children may not be ready to learn about and apply traditional math skills, they are still capable of developing a basic understanding of this discipline by practicing the proper language skills, terminology, and potential ways that math can be utilized in their daily lives.

At STEM Child Care, we prepare our scholars for elementary education and beyond by applying math concepts and technical skills to fun, normal childhood activities. By introducing concepts such as number sense, learning numbers through visual representations or pictures, and adding/subtracting, we can start to encourage mathematical thought and avoid children experiencing the stigma of “not being good at math.” The first essential skill that a child must develop before reaching kindergarten is number sense, or the basics of learning about numbers. In order to learn and understand the relationship between numbers as they grow older, children must first learn to count forwards and backwards. By focusing on establishing number sense in early childhood education, our teachers are providing math skills that are necessary for future concepts as well as advanced calculations. In addition, we believe that math in early childhood education settings should also focus on representing numbers with items, pictures, and visual representations. For example, we may use pictures of fruits, vegetables, animals, or even family members to help our scholars learn the basics of counting and recognize that the number represents how many items are depicted. Finally, our teachers focus on the basics of adding and subtracting to establish a stronger foundation and range of math skills in your young children; we provide examples and opportunities for the children to learn counting skills through creative and engaging activities that are not too advanced for childhood literacy and comprehension.

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