Use some number names and number language spontaneously.
Show curiosity about numbers by offering comments or asking questions.
Use some number names accurately in play.
Sometimes match number and quantity correctly.
Recognise groups with one, two or three objects.
Children knowing that different numbers have different names.
Children using the names for numbers accurately.
The range of numbers that children refer to, and why they use certain numbers.
Children's guesses about numbers of things and their ability to check them.
Accuracy in the use of ordinals (first, second, third and so on).
The strategies that children use to match number and quantity, for example, using fingers or tallying by making marks.
Use number language, for example, 'one', 'two', 'three', 'lots', 'hundreds', 'how many?' and 'count', in a variety of situations.
Model and encourage use of mathematical language by, for example, asking questions such as, "How many saucepans will fit on the shelf?".
Allow children to understand that one thing can be shared, for example, a pizza.
Getting ready to go out - In a reception class, the practitioner encourages children to locate their wellingtons by number and location. [transcript]
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Give children a reason to count, for example, by asking them to select enough wrist bands for three friends to play with the puppets.
Enable children to note the 'missing set', for example, "There are none left" when sharing things out.
Provide number labels for children to use, for example, by putting a number label on each bike and a corresponding number on each parking space.
Include counting money and change in role-play games.
Calculating
Compare two groups of objects, saying when they have the same number.
Show an interest in number problems.
Separate a group of three or four objects in different ways, beginning to recognise that the total is still the same.
The strategies children use that show they are working out whether a group of objects is the same or different.
How children work out a solution to a simple problem by using fingers or counting aloud.
Demonstrate language such as 'same as', 'less' or 'fewer'.
As you read number stories or rhymes, ask, for example, "How many will there be in the pool when one more frog jumps in?".
Use pictures and objects to illustrate counting songs, rhymes and number stories. This will benefit all children and be particularly supportive to children learning English as an additional language.
Create opportunities for children to separate objects into unequal groups as well as equal groups.
Provide story props that children can use in their play, for example, varieties of fruit and several baskets like Handa's in the story Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne.
Shape, Space and Measures
Show an interest in shape and space by playing with shapes or making arrangements with objects.
Show awareness of similarities in shapes in the environment.
Observe and use positional language.
Are beginning to understand 'bigger than' and 'enough'.
Show interest in shape by sustained construction activity or by talking about shapes or arrangements.
Use shapes appropriately for tasks.
Begin to talk about the shapes of everyday objects.
Children's skills in matching shapes and in completing puzzles.
Children's recognition of shapes in the environment, for example, that a roof has a triangle at one end.
Children's ideas about why something is the correct size, for example, a piece of paper to wrap a gift.
How children apply their understanding of shape and space, for example, knowing they need one flat shape and one that is 'pointy'.
Children's use of mathematical names for shapes, such as 'circle' and 'triangle'.
Demonstrate the language for shape, position and measures in discussions, for example, 'ball shape', 'box shape', 'in', 'on', 'inside', 'under', 'longer', 'shorter', 'heavy', 'light', 'full' and 'empty'. Find out and use equivalent terms for these measures in home languages.
Encourage children to talk about the shapes they see and use and how they are arranged.
Value children's constructions by helping to display them or take photographs of them.
Organise the environment to foster shape matching, for example, pictures of different bricks on containers to show where they are kept.
Have large and small blocks and boxes available for construction both indoors and outdoors.
Play games involving children positioning themselves inside, behind, on top and so on.
Provide rich and varied opportunities for comparing length, weight and time.
Use stories such as Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins to talk about distance and stimulate discussion about non-standard units and the need for standard units.
Show pictures that have symmetry or pattern and talk to children about them.
A bed for a giant - In a reception class, the practitioner supports a child to solve problems by thinking about the size of a giant's bed, and helping him learn new skills about measuring. [transcript]
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Talking about a monster - In a reception class, the practitioner supports a child to talk about the features of his 'monster' using language such as long, tall, taller. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
00012-2007CDO-EN