Are you a parent who is having difficulty communicating with their child when it comes to math? Do you believe your child is struggling with basic math skills? Well, you’ve come to the correct place. Parents, without a doubt, play an important role in their child’s education, and early math instruction is a component of that. Kindergarten math is the foundation of your child’s math skills, and you may actively work towards making the process a joyful learning experience for your child. Not only that, but as a parent, you can serve as an excellent role model for your child by trying to demonstrate the use of numeracy skills in everyday situations.
Kindergarten children will need the following basic math skills for their functional math. Furthermore, these skills are critical for children developing crucial math skills as well as understanding the foundations of math.
You can introduce your children to various opportunities where they can learn these basic mathematical skills.
While fostering these basic math skills, both parents and children can engage in fun, enjoyable math activities. Now that’s a winning proposal!
Table of Contents
Counting
Every kindergartener begins their math lessons with counting. In fact, children demonstrate simple counting skills before beginning kindergarten. Counting skills include counting till 20, identifying number cards, counting numbers backward, knowing the words for the numbers, and understanding the count of items in a set without counting them. Along with counting, parents should take care of cardinality. Children will learn how the last item counted in the set serves as the number of items in the set. Parents can introduce these math skills into the everyday lives of children by letting them count their favorite toys while cleaning their rooms. You can let your child count the number of steps on a flight of stairs, or vehicles on the road while you take them out. You can introduce your child to counting by twos or fives or tens⏤for example, counting a pile of coins. There are several board games to enhance your child’s mathematical skills, such as Hi Ho! Cherry-O® and Chutes and Ladders®, that are primarily based on counting and cardinality. Outdoor games such as hopscotch and jump rope also develop the habit of counting among children. With such activities, parents can engage their children while improving their fundamental math skills.
Addition and Subtraction
In the kindergarten stage, children are introduced to simple addition and subtraction, where they solve math problems using objects. You can make your children learn these operations in the simplest way; addition can be explained as “putting together” and subtraction as “taking apart.” Along with that, you can apply these math operations in everyday life situations for your children to participate and learn. Why not ask your child to set the correct number of utensils on the dining table while preparing to have dinner? Children tend to remember mathematical concepts when they use them in their daily activities. As parents, you should make sure that you consistently use the math language in everyday activities for your children to hear it regularly. You can try singing them number songs that will help your children learn more about the math operators easily. Help your little ones solve math problems by using math drawings, mental pictures, fingers, and objects. Remember, the key to improving basic math skills is to keep it simple!
Numbers and Math Operations in Base 10
Parents should keep an eye out for their children as they progress through the higher levels of math operations. Kindergarten children should slowly understand that the number “ten” comes with 10 “ones.” One of the simplest examples of doing that would be counting fingers to show the numbers from one to ten. Money (especially coins) is yet another example to highlight the base 10. As children begin to learn to add numbers resulting in 10, they will soon be ready to take their next step towards higher addition operations.
Measurement and Data
During their kindergarten days, children are taught to identify objects by their features, such as length, height, and weight. They learn the measurements in terms of “how long”, “how tall” and “how heavy”. Along with learning these features, children are expected to arrange objects as per the features that are measurable. Here, the parent’s role is to introduce their child to different regular activities through which they can teach them about measurement. You can use measuring cups in the kitchen to make them understand while letting them participate in cooking. Parents can describe the relative position of objects as well⏤for example, above, below, in front, and behind. This could be a fun exercise for both the children and the parents. While learning about measurement and data, children should be encouraged to learn about the comparisons of objects and be aware of terms such as “longer or shorter”, “heavier or lighter” and “more than or less than”. As a result, children will be able to differentiate between objects based on their shape, color, and size. Try engaging your child in conversations where you can emphasize comparisons. How about, “Can you please arrange your comic books according to their size?”
Shapes
Shapes (or geometry, if you’re old enough!) that include two-dimensional objects are extremely crucial for distinguishing wide range of shapes and figures, and are one of the most critical math skills that kindergarteners will need throughout their life.You can help your child in identifying common shapes such as circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares. In fact, a pizza slice is a good example of a yummy triangle, isn’t it? Along with learning about different shapes, children should become accustomed to the orientations and dimensions of objects as well. Kindergarteners should learn that a circle is like a sphere, and a box can be a three-dimensional object. Puzzles and Lego® toys are great ways to introduce your child to spatial concepts at a young age. Why not go cycling with your kid and discuss the wheels and their shape? That would be a fun learning experience, right?
Parents can play number games with their children, such as UNO®, to help them build numeracy skills while also reassuring them that “math” isn’t as scary as it appears. When children see their parents partaking in everyday math activities, they are encouraged to do so as well. It’s no surprise, then, that when children are encouraged to participate in math activities, they are able to establish early mathematical skills that serve as a foundation for learning math throughout their school lives.
Byju’s Future School offers some of the brilliant techniques for conquering the fear of math that your child might have. There is a collection of articles that will not only guide your child to math success, but will also introduce them to interesting math concepts that will help them strengthen their basic principles. Articles like this one can help children say goodbye to their fears and build skills that will help them reach new heights of confidence and math success, and to explore them, visit Byju’s FutureSchool Blog.
References:
- Math Skills for Kindergarten, What Your Child Will Learn, Komodo Math. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://komodomath.com/blog/kindergarten-math-skills
- Kindergarten math skills: Important math skills for kindergarten. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.today.com/parenting-guides/kindergarten-math-skills-t178377
- 5 math skills your child needs to get ready for kindergarten. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/5-math-skills-your-child-needs-to-get-ready-for-kindergarten-103194
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