Math for Preschoolers

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Math for Preschoolers
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Major Mathematical Concepts

• Understanding numbers, ways of representing
  numbers, relationship among numbers and number
  systems
• Begin to count and recognize how many objects
• Count objects at lunch time, in classroom at home
• (cups, plates, forks, papers, pencils, crayons,
  mats, dolls, toys, etc)
• -matching numbers with objects
• -number 0 may still be abstract and difficult
  to represent at this age

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Begin to estimate

• Guess how many materials are needed for each
  activity

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Understand shapes, patterns and functions

• Guess musical patterns and hand patterns
• Play with different shapes
• Recognize that objects in environment have shapes
• Things can change shape
• Recognize that there may be a lack of
  conservation skills

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Begin to understand size
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Classification

• Sort by group
• Children at this age maybe only to do this with
  on group at a time
• (size, color, shape, or other category)

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Seriation

• Ordering is its beginnings
• Easier to compare er than est

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Spatial Relationships

• Teach words (under, over, above, below, behind,
  next to, on, off, beside, in front of, outside
  inside and in the middle)

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Temporal Relationships

• Hours, minutes, days, weeks,months, years, today,
  yesterday, tomorrow, morning, noon and night.
• Children begin to refer to these concepts in
  relation to events (birthdays, school activities,
  holidays etc.)
• Remember when teaching these that some concepts
  are still abstract.

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More ideas

• Play Simon says with spatial relationships
• Matching game
• Play store, bank, shopping etc
• Classroom directory
• Graphing
• Board games such as Hi HO Cherry-o
• Finger plays and songs

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More ideas

• Outdoor adventure
• Cut numbers from magazines
• Measurement using objects
• Estimate using string
• Shapes recognition in the environment