Although there’s a lot of emphasis placed on emergent reading, experts show that pre-k math skills are just as important for your child’s learning development.
Understanding what skills your child will be exposed to as a math beginner will give you an idea of what concepts you can emphasize in fun, easy ways at home!
Fortunately, kids are exposed to many math concepts from a very young age — putting puzzles together, sorting objects, and even playing with building blocks. These activities, and the best summer math camps as they grow older, all help build a good foundation for math.
What Are The Components Of Pre-K Math?
There are five basic components of pre-k math. They act like umbrella terms, each with many different elements hidden inside their broad concepts.
Your child will become acquainted with all of these essential concepts when they begin learning pre-k math.
1) Numbers And Counting
Children typically start with the bedrock of math — numbers! They’ll learn number names and how to write numbers, typically beginning with 1-10.
Counting is not easy business! While your child learns how to count — first with physical objects, then conceptually — they are bound to make mistakes here and there. This is perfectly all right. Counting will take time to master.
2) Addition And Subtraction
Once your child has a firm grasp on counting and is developing number sense, they’ll explore the relationships between numbers more often. Describing how numbers are the same or different will lead into learning how to combine two numbers to make a new number!
Similar to the last concept, children will typically learn how to add and subtract by relying on counting activities with tangible objects. For example, you could set up two separate groups of apples and ask how many you will have if you join them together.
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3) Geometry And Spatial Reasoning
Shapes are everywhere in our world, which will be one of your greatest assets when it comes to teaching your child about shapes and spatial reasoning.
They’ll start out by learning about the basic 2-D shapes that are used in math: squares, triangles, circles, rectangles, rhombuses, and ovals. Learning how to draw these basic shape illustrations can be helpful for their learning process.
4) Sorting And Patterns
We categorize things in our daily lives without even realizing it. Your child probably already does this, too — they may arrange their stuffed animals or toys in a certain way. For example, they may keep farm animals separated from dinosaurs.
Sorting and patterns are related to categorical reasoning. In the same way grocery stores sort out items by their parallel uses, your child will learn how to sort things based on their characteristics and how they are the same or different from other objects.
They’ll sort objects by weight, shape, quantity, texture, color, and other traits, often without even realizing it!
5) The Language Of Math
Part of learning how to do math means learning how to “speak” math. We don’t mean your child will turn into C-3PO — just that they will learn how to use mathematically correct language, or how to tell a story with math terms.
This can happen in daily life. While picking at an afternoon snack, your younger child may say, “Hey! My brother has more crackers than me!” Then you might agree to “add” to the cookies on the younger child’s plate so that both plates are “equal.”
