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What maths is

A large part of maths is about numbers. But maths involves more than just numbers. It includes numbers, measuring, statistics, and shape and space. Your child will learn about all of these.

She will learn about using symbols and graphs and charts. She will learn the language of measuring length, weight, capacity and time. She will learn about measuring and counting using sand and water and other practical activities. She will learn about shapes using construction toys and flat shapes. She will do counting when she is playing in the home corner.

When children play and have fun at school, they are often doing maths as well.

Lessons in school

Maths lessons in school will include lots of different activities. Here are some examples: stories and rhymes playing with sand and water talking about numbers showing work to the class playing number games measuring in the playground making models and cutting and sticking finding the right clothes for the right-sized dolls in the home corner

The language of maths

Children learn everyday maths words by listening to adults using the words as they do things. Children begin to pick out the words and what they mean, then they try the words out.

At school teachers plan the new words they will use with children, and ask children questions using the new words. Teachers give children a chance to use new maths words by letting them talk about what they are doing.

Some everyday words have a special maths meaning. At school children will learn about these words. For example, often at home we use 'half' to mean not completely full.

We say, 'I'll have half a cup of tea, please', and we mean 'don't fill the cup up'. Children need to learn that in maths 'half' means exactly half.

Learning about numbers

Young children learn best when they are talking about numbers in games and rhymes and stories. They use their fingers, and count each other and objects. Later they learn to work out problems in their heads. They talk about numbers and how to solve problems. It is important that they are confident about using numbers in different situations. They need to be able to work things out in their heads. Later on, when they are older, they will write things down.

Writing numbers

Some young children have great difficulty in writing. They can still be good at maths. The first thing children need to do is to count and read numbers, and get to know what they look like.

Most schools will prefer children to write numbers in this simple way. It is not necessary for children to learn lots of different ways of writing numbers. It is helpful if they can recognise that the same numbers can look quite different. Sums Doing written sums too soon can confuse many children, and put them off maths. At first they are not likely to understand questions like:

'three take away one'

and may ask,

'Three what take away one what?'

They understand having three sweets, eating one and having two sweets left.

Later they can do this in their heads and tell you what three sweets take away one sweet leaves, without having any sweets there.

After this they should be able to add and subtract with smaller numbers in their heads and on their fingers. When they start school they should begin to learn what is 'four and one more' or 'two and two'.

People now think that children should write sums only after they can work with numbers in their heads, confidently. Children should not need to write things down for smaller numbers. They should only need to write them down for bigger numbers.

By seven years old many children can add and subtract two-figure numbers in their heads. Later they can learn to do sums on paper for three figure numbers. Young children tend to get confused if they are taught to do this too soon.

Schools are finding that using workbooks and filling in the answers is not the best way for young children to learn maths. It is better that children write or draw pictures in their own way to show the maths they are doing. For example, if a child is working out the different ways he can share four chocolate and four plain biscuits between two children he might draw the different combinations of the biscuits on two plates. He is drawing the maths he is doing in his head.