What Mathematical Concepts Do Preschool Children Learn?
Based on their general developmental patterns, children in the preschool years construct a number of mathematical concepts that will become the basis for more complex mathematics in kindergarten and first grade. These concepts include:
Construction of numerical concepts such as
- Writing and saying numbers
- Use of rote and meaningful counting skills
- More complex patterning, matching, and classification than infants and toddlers
- Understanding mathematical functions
- Understanding of order and seriation
The contruction of shape, measurement, and geometric concepts such as
- Understanding comparing (bigger or smaller), positional (nearer or farther), and sequence words (first or second).
- Comprehension and use of shape words (circle, square) and matching attributes of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes through play or drawing
- Use of the language of time (tomorrow, tonight)
- Understanding of measurement concepts such as unit iteration and using nonstandard units to measure an object (Clements & Sarama, 2004)
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Children are Born Mathematicians: Supporting Mathematical Development, Birth to Age Eight , by E. Geist, 2009 edition, p. 191.
© 2009, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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