Parent info Session Numeracy What you can do at home to support your child in learning mathematics. What we do at school to support your child in learning mathematics.
Tom Gamble
Areas of Mathematics Taught in Prep During the First Semester
Number and Algebra 1.) Counting to and from 10 (1- 1
correspondence). 2.) Recognises and models digits to 10. 3.) Trusting the Count. 4.) Recognising groups of objects to 10 automatically (subitising). 5.) Deeper exploration of number (6 can be made up of 1 and 5 and 5 and 1, 2 and 4 and 4 and 2, 3 and 3, 0 and 6 and 6 and 0). 6.) Doubles to 10 (1 and 1 makes 2, 2 and 2 makes 4 etc).
Trusting the Count
!3
Subitising
!4
Friends of Ten
Doubles & Near Doubles
Helping At Home – Number
and Algebra Incidental: Numbers are everywhere (signs, number plates, letter boxes).
Shopping: Counting: eg how many of this and that do we need.
Cooking: Counting: eg how many beans in a jar, count the pasta and make a picture, count out the plates and cutlery when setting the table).
Play Games Together • Board games (snakes and ladders, Beetle, etc) • Card games (snap, snap with playing cards, collect cards of the same number, pull a card each and compare whose is bigger, Uno, etc) • Dice games (role two dice and count the dots, role dice and order from smallest to largest) • Computer games (mathletics, studyladder, etc) • Other games (What’s the Time Mr Wolf, hopscotch, sing times tables songs
Areas of Mathematics Taught in Prep During the First Semester
Measurement and Geometry: 1.) Comparing the length of two objects. 2.) Comparing the mass of two objects. 3.) Comparing the capacity of two objects. 4.) Naming the days of the week and months of the year. 5.) Looking at basic two dimensional shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle). 6.) Shapes: sides and corners.
Helping At Home – Measurement and Geometry Incidental:
Shopping:
Cooking:
Calendar:
Comparing the length of hands, feet, heights of family members and friends. Looking at shapes around the house (eg how many rectangular shapes can you find around the home?). Talk about which products are ‘longer’, ‘shorter’, ‘heavier’, ‘lighter’, ‘bigger’, ‘larger and ‘smaller’. Shape: look at shapes of all sort of different products. Look at the different types of basic two and three dimensional shapes. Heft and measure amounts and talk about ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘heavier’ and ‘lighter’. Compare the lengths of different foods (eg which type of pasta is the ‘longest’, ‘shortest’ etc) Shape: lots of examples in different types of food, setting the table, plate shapes etc. Talk about the days of the week and use the words ‘today’, ‘tomorrow’, ‘yesterday’. Encourage your child to get involved with marking off the days on the calendar.
!
Areas of Mathematics Taught in Prep During the First Semester
Statistics and Probability: Being able to answer yes and no questions about data that is sorted. Being able to sort into groups and sets. Being able to make simple ‘true’ and ‘false’ statements.
Helping At Home – Statistics and Probability Ask questions that require a ‘might’, ‘never’ or ‘always’ answer. What’s that chance that it might rain today? What’s the chance that an elephant will walk across our garden?
What can children sort into groups at home? Toys, shoes, shapes, people etc
Organising objects to record data: Make a graph with the fruit in the fruit bowl. Record the weather on a chart over the holidays.
Good Maths Websites www.mathle)cs.com.au. www.studyladder.com.au. www.abc.net.au/countusin. www.bbc.co.uk/schools/number)me/ index.shtml. • www.woodlands8junior.kent.sch.uk/ interac)ve/index.htm. • • • •
Maths is Everywhere!
Some final notes… Remember that children o0en base a2tudes on those of their parents, so avoid telling them if you hated maths! Ways of solving problems change. Ask them to show you if they’re doing something differently If they’re incorrect in an answer, don’t say ‘that’s wrong’ – ask them to show you what they did to get the answer to idenEfy mistakes, and then discuss. Children o0en give silence in hope that you’ll tell them the answer. Wait and listen. Associate books with maths! ‘ The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, ‘ The Waterhole’, ‘Mr Archimedes' Bath’
