Building numeracy skills is so important with young children, and so often forgotten, especially in the hustle-bustle of our busy parenting lives. We know that reading aloud is essential to the reading and vocabulary development of our kids. But new research is indicating that math language, and the building of numeracy skills, is just as important for young children.
Thankfully, there are some great children's books that can help get you started having light hearted and fun conversations about numbers. This is especially good for those of you who cringe when you think of your own experiences with math growing up. Times have changed! Math is much more interactive and problem solving focused than ever before.
Here is a great read:
Reading this can lead to kids writing out the number sentences for the pages, as pictured above. We do this when we play school. Sometimes its mermaid school, and sometimes its fairy school. But I can usually sneak in some solid math learning while reading one of these books, counting objects, or exploring patterns. You can model the writing of accompanying problems, or even ask your child to represent the problem in some way. Simply reading the book and talking about the numbers represented is a great start. Any way you slice it, you are developing early mathematical skills in an engaging, meaningful way.
