EDC101 Numeracy in the Preschool Setting

"For the average child who went to a particularly effective or high quality preschool their maths scores would be boosted by around 27 per cent," says Prof Melhuish. However, the project revealed that the education of the parents - particularly the mother- still has the greatest influence, having twice the effect and thus boosting maths scores even more.

Updated March 18, 2015 09:48:06 A national numeracy program for three and five-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds has dramatically improved their maths skills before they start school. The Smith Family's Let's Count program, funded by the Origin Foundation, has reached 8,500 children in 17 disadvantaged communities across the country since 2011.

Rebecca O'Neil with son Connor , 5, counting dominos and learning to solve problems with building blocks. Photo: Edwina Pickles Like many people, Rebecca O'Neill wasn't a fan of maths at school.

S tudies show that children start absorbing mathematical concepts far earlier than commonly recognized. Even as young as 10 months, babies can distinguish between a set of two items and a set of three. They expand on this awareness as they get older - for example, by noticing when another child has more or fewer toys than they do.

Twenty years ago few preschools (or parents, for that matter), paid much attention to teaching mathematics to four-year-olds. In 1998, for example, only four percent of a nationally representative sample of American children entering kindergarten could add or subtract. Today, math is firmly entrenched in the pre-K curriculum.

As adults, we can tend to over-think how to go about teaching math to young children but promoting mathematical thinking and basic math concepts can come through all kinds of simple hands-on activities. Here are some of the most common kinds of math activities I integrate into my classroom...

Early Math Matters: A Guide for Parents of Preschoolers By Kristin Stanberry As the parent of a preschooler, you probably enjoy experiencing the world through your child's eyes (and hands and feet!) as he or she explores and learns with great enthusiasm.

As a preschool educator, you surely delight in your young students' zest for learning. From the outside, it might seem like your job is all about fun and games, but parents of young children know (and appreciate) how you influence and model positive behaviors, shape instruction, cultivate optimism and positive attitudes about school and learning, boost self-esteem, and provide the foundation for their future in school and in the community.

Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect -- and excel at -- paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. In his talk, Dan Meyer shows classroom-tested math exercises that prompt students to stop and think. (Filmed at TEDxNYED .)

Galina Daraganova, Australian Institute of Family Studies, and John Ainley, Australian Council of Educational Research Download printable version: Children's numeracy skills (PDF 720 KB) Numeracy, and the capacity to be numerate, is the ability to reason with numbers and to effectively apply mathematical concepts in everyday life (Ministerial Council for Education Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs [MCEECDYA], 2008).

Smith Family?s Numeracy program a great success - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Smith Family?s Numeracy program a great success - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Smith Family?s Numeracy program a great success - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Video 4:36 Smith Family?s Numeracy program a great success Video 4:36 Smith Family?s Numeracy program a great success Video 4:36 Smith Family?s Numeracy program a great success

http://abc.net.au/rn/breakfast Australia, ranked twelfth out of 22 nations in an OECD survey of adult maths skills, is facing a numeracy skills crisis - with one in five of us are on the lowest skills level. It's a sobering statistic in the context of the need for Australia to boost its STEM - science, technology, engineering and maths - capacity.

NIEER is hosting a blog forum on play-based learning in early childhood education, including posts from national experts in the field. Learn more about the forum here. Some worry that the push for quality education even partially driven by a desire to improve achievement may deprive children of important childhood experiences.

Commentary Everyone knows that children who are not reading at grade level by 3rd grade are fated to struggle academically throughout school. Concerns about early literacy skills are justified because reading skills at kindergarten entry predict later academic achievement. But guess what predicts later academic success better than early reading?