Math
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Children learn math the same way they learn everything else- by constructing their own knowledge. Another way of saying this is, even if you teach or ‘feed’ a child math facts, they will have to experiment with, explore and think about numbers before they really learn about and understand numbers and how they work. Research has proven that math facts can, in fact, be learned by young children using "two kinds of activities: situations in daily living … and group games." (Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic by Constance Kamii, 1985) By involving your child in the activities like the ones explained in this section, you will be giving him or her opportunities to build a foundation of mathematical knowledge. |
(It is an interesting sidelight that the logical thinking and perspective-taking processes needed by children to resolve conflicts with others are the same ones necessary for mathematical thinking. If you haven’t been to the Conflict Resolution link on this web page, it will be worth your time to make the trip. How skilled your child becomes at solving problems with family members and friends may indeed affect their mathematical thinking!)
Most of these activities and games are taken from Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic by Constance Kamii, Group Games by Constance Kamii and Rheta Devries and from activity sheets from the Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education, University of Northern Iowa.