Toddlers – Math
Math for Toddlers
Chapter 5.12
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Parag (20-month-old) was engrossed stacking his paraphernalia around in the following order:
On the base was his big fat story book,
Then a rectangle lunch box,
Then came a conical birthday hat
Upon which he tried to keep a cylindrical cardboard.
After multiple failed attempts to balance anything on the conical hat he looked up to his mother for help.
Mother showed her how there was less space at the tip of the cone to balance a large base cone. So she took it off and started stacking in the following order:
On the base was his big fat story book,
Then a rectangle lunch box,
Then mounted cylindrical cardboard
Upon which then went the hat
And lastly a small tiny pom-pom over the cone!
This ordinary interaction is packed with the usage of all areas of development for Parag. Besides, physical, social, cognitive and communication it also works on his understanding math: spatial concepts, counting, and problem-solving!
Let’s Reflect
Early math doesn’t mean taking out the calculator during playtime.
Even before they start school, most children develop an understanding of math skills through informal daily routines you share with your child.
For Eg: “I have got you two dolls. The brown haired one is big and the orange haired doll is small.”
Junior Toddlers (12–26 months) are at the ‘developing stage’
Two significant cognitive developments contribute to the understanding of attributes of 1- to 2-year-olds.
- One is the rapid development of oral language— toddlers begin to use newfound words to describe attributes of their experience, such as “milk hot,” or “hand wet.” Naming the experience increases the precision of the child’s understanding of the precursor concept of attribute.
- A second cognitive change during this stage is that the child begins to understand not only what the attributes of objects are but also the attributes of what objects can do, such as a round ball can roll and a toy car with wheels can roll. The knowledge of the function of the objects expands the toddler’s repertoire of the attributes.
Senior Toddlers (24–36 months) are in the ‘transforming stage’
Mathematical applications of attributes begin to set in within 2-3-year-olds.
- Understand Quantity: Daily experience, help them grasp the attributes associated with ‘more’ or ‘less’. When a child asks “more grapes” or “more nuggets,” this “more” is an attribute of either grapes or nuggets in the mathematical sense.
- Match, Recognize, and Group: This period sees a gradual development in the ability to match, recognize, and group objects by color, shape, and size (Clements & Sarama, 2009). By 36 months old, a child’s ability to rely on the knowledge of attributes for mathematical problem solving becomes apparent. For example, they can compare (e.g., big and small) and order (e.g., from the biggest to the smallest) objects based on the attributes of the objects. They can also notice altered attributes of the objects in a pattern (e.g., red, blue, yellow; Clements & Sarama, 2009; Taylor & Harris, 2014).
The CAIR approach— Closely Attending and Intentionally Responding—
Even after a young child begins to talk, we will still need not only to listen to his burgeoning words, but also continue to attend to nonverbal cues to try to understand the child’s feelings and needs
Develop language through joint attention—that is, alerting a child to an object by means of eye gazing, pointing, or other verbal or nonverbal indications.
Eg: I know how much you enjoy eating bananas!” is the intentional responding process.
The CAIR approach can be implemented with reference to the following three key ideas based on early math concepts:
- Attributes are perceived through the senses.
- Attributes can be used to group or classify.
- Attributes can be described with increasing precision.
Eg: Latika purposefully arranged the environment by placing two distinctive types of toys to elicit exploratory behavior and stimulate mathematical experience from her toddler. Two of them are furry stuffed animals in bright colours while the other two are hard wooden animals in pastel shades. She then invites her 21-month-old daughter, Reva to play.
Reva first toddles towards the fury toys and starts caressing them. She then tries to squeeze their ears and hands while exploring them.
Next, she moves on to the wooden animals. She accidently drops one of the wooden animals, thereby making a bang sound. Latika closely attended to Reva’s exploration and gently bangs the two wooden animals thereby making sounds. Reva reaches out for the toys in her mother’s hand and attempts to make sound. Look at you making a sound just by shake-a-shake-shaking that block! intentionally responds to her mother. Reva smiles and squeals trying to bang them over and over again.
Reva then purposely dropped the furry animal but hears no sound. She tries again, but again no sound! She looks up to her mother and utters “no sound?” in a puzzled expression (social referencing)!
Latika responded by using gestures and soothing remarks to establish joint attention and then extended Reva’s learning by talking about grouping the blocks based on whether they make sound or not. Her use of language to describe the attributes of the block became more specific or precise as she and Reva separated the toys’ basis of sound. Similar exercise was done to classify objects based on remaining four senses of touch, sight, smell, taste
Concepts are not taught separately; but rather they permeate the daily life of young children.
Routines, such as greetings and departures, feeding, napping, bathing, toileting, provide opportunities for experiencing and learning about attribute, comparison, pattern, and change. Besides being the foundation for mathematical learning, these attributes also help children in problem solving and making sense of the world around them.
Eg: Understanding of the attribute of ‘hot and cold’ is not only a type of mathematical thinking; it also matters to children’s safety.
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