Reflection of Chpt 1 and 2

A sentence from the textbook jumped out at me, “Children engaged in these actions (teachers using mathematical verbs) in mathematics classes will be actively thinking about the mathematical ideas that are involved”. And when teachers use enough of these verbs in the classroom, we hear children imitating us. And below are some scenarios.

Parents always asked me, “Do you teach Math?” 

When I replied with a convincing, “Yes”, they asked, “How?” and they asked, “When? We don’t see any numbers and equations.”

And to many more parents that might have the same set of questions in your mind, I hope this blog entry will answer those questions.

Math, to a pre-schooler and to their teachers, are not just numbers and equations.

It is not about 1 + 1 = 2…and it is definitely not about finding the value of x or y.

Math, to a pre-schooler and to their teachers, is more than just 1, 2, 3 and its greater than finding the value of x.

Math is everywhere. 

Math is when we count the number of boys and girls in the class and the total number of children in the class; that’s addition. 

Math is during lunch when the children say, “We only need 18 apples today, not 20 because XX and YY are absent.” That, mummies and daddies is what we called subtraction.

Math is when the children stand in line and goes, “I am first! You are second. And you are third, (and the list goes on)”. That is ordinal numbers.

Math is when our little friends drink water from their water bottle and gladly say, “I already drink half of my water.” That is definitely fraction.

Math is during Music and Movement when each of us gets two shakers each. And when you hear the children say, “Got 6 children. We need 12 shakers.” That is multiplication.

The list can go on and on and there will be insufficient space on this blog entry. 

But now, I think you got the idea.