Early Math

"To many adults number may seem like a simple idea. But number is actually a complex and multifaceted concept. A complete and rich understanding of number involves many different ideas, relationships, and skills. Although children may come to school with many ideas about number, it takes time and lots of experiences for them develop a full understanding that will enhance all of the number-related concepts they will encounter in future years."

Source: Van de Walle, Lovin, Karp, & Bay-Williams, 2014

Making Sense Series

Early Number & Counting

This short video, by Graham Fletcher, sheds light on the guiding principles of early number and counting.

Four Big Ideas for Early Number & Counting

There is more to counting than we might think! These are 4 elements of early number and counting that are important for our youngest mathematicians to master.

1. Verbal Counting/Number Sequence: Can students count forwards and backwards? Can they do this starting at any number?

2. Object Counting: Does your child match 1 number word to each item?

3. Cardinality: When counting, can your child answer the question, "How many?"

4. Subitizing: When shown a set that has a quantity less than 4 or 5, can your child tell how many without counting one by one?

Next Steps: Number Relationships

The study of mathematics is supported by connections and relationships. Studying how the numbers, 0-10, relate to one another is an important first step in each mathematician's journey. These principles will build a bridge to addition and subtraction and, later, multiplication and division.

1. One or Two More or Less: For any number, can your child tell you the number that is one more or one less? Can they tell you what number is two more or two less?

2. Benchmark Values (5 & 10): Can your child tell you how a number relates to 5 or 10?

3. Part-Part-Whole: Every number can be decomposed into smaller parts. Can your child break a number into different parts? For example, six and three are nine. Five and four are also nine.

Games to Build Early Number Sense

At GCDS, we lean on game-play to build fluency. Playing games is fun. When kids are having fun, they are more likely to engage and retain the content. Click on the images below to print out game boards for use at home.