Math is everywhere. For those of us who grew up a little wary of math, this may be a frightening idea, but it’s not, really. You see, learning math in the environment is different from learning math in school. It’s contextual, and for a preschooler, learning from context is natural. What does preschool math look like? You’re doing it already and you don’t even realize it.
Counting is something that we do every day. My daughter sets the table for dinner with a fork, knife, and a spoon for each person. This involves thinking about the number of people in the family and gathering three different objects for each person. We also count snacks. When you really want crackers and you can have three crackers, it’s useful to know what three looks like.
Your preschooler also likely creates things with blocks like Lego, and this involves both counting and pattern recognition. Lego is especially useful, since each little Duplo piece has four areas where the blocks can connect. Each block needs to touch at least two of the connections in order to attach securely, but four is better. Using Lego, children also learn how to fill in the gaps of a work in progress: how many pieces do you need to complete that bridge?
When we do music, that’s developing our understanding of rhythm. In my daughter’s dance class, the group would move their bodies and their hands to the rhythm of different beats: whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and even eighth notes. The idea of longer and shorter times is math.
Math is in nature. The seasons are a way of telling time and dividing up the year. There are so many shapes and patterns in the natural world. At the moment, leaves are falling, which means that oval shapes, pointy maple shapes, and heart shapes of cottonwood leaves litter the pavement. Each leaf is divided into sections by veins that cross it. The log in our yard is also full of math. Counting the rings tells you the number of years that tree lived.
Our lives are full of math, and to a preschooler, it’s a natural part of life. Do you work to notice the math in everyday life? Where do you find it?