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(Unit 2) Topic 5: Math for Young Children

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Math Centers

Topic 5 Page 8

Children are born mathematicians.

As they play and explore, they can naturally begin to develop mathematical ideas which include sorting, comparing, classifying, measuring and recognizing. The wonderful thing about teaching math to young children is that the focus should really be on discovering math concepts as opposed to memorizing facts, working on math drills, and coming up with one correct answer that gets written on a worksheet.

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Playdough Math Mats

http://www.lessons4learners.com/playdough-math-mats.html

Early childhood math centers will give children experiences in math exploration as opposed to robotic math work to complete.

This supports a child’s ability to think outside of the box in a 21st century capacity. Children explore the concepts that are needed to understand how numbers, shapes, patterns, quantities and certain characteristics work together to support number sense. This is how children develop a foundation for learning more advanced concepts in the future.

In addition to establishing a strong basis for mathematical thinking, teaching math to young children helps to develop a positive outlook about math. Children, often as young as 4 or 5, begin to think of math as something that is too hard or complicated for them to understand. Having an inviting math center with engaging materials can help your students build confidence in their math abilities.