Math for the Very Young: A Handbook of Activities for Parents and Teachers

Pre-school to second grade is the ideal page span for introducing math concepts to young children. We all know how important it is in this technological age to grow up at ease in the world of mathematics. Math for the Very Young shows how to instill that comfort and confidence early-using activities, games, songs, crafts, and special projects that make math interesting, fun, and relevant to childrens daily lives.Here are exciting, novel ways for parents and children to explore together the myriad mathematical possibilities in the world around them. Familiar tasks like cooking, doing laundry, going to the store, planning a party, and reading introduce patterns, numbers, collecting and understanding data, geometry, and measurement. An art project with folded paper teaches symmetry. A car ride offers an opportunity to count the car colors or distinguish the shapes of road signs. A trip to the zoo encourages youngsters to make comparisons.All the activities use materials that are easy to find. The math concepts are clearly presented so that even the most math-wary parent will find them inviting and understandable. The approach to teaching mathematics is in the same spirit as the highly regarded University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, whose curriculum materials have made math more meaningful, more easily understood, and much more enjoyable for thousands of children.Lydia Polonsky is a staff developer and author for The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project. Dorothy Freedman, Susan Lesher, and Kate Morrison are teachers at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and authors for the Project. They have all seen how young children respond with wonder and pleasure to the mathematical adventures in their daily lives.Children from preschool age through second grade will respond with delight when they discover basic math concepts in this unique handbook. Children learn about numbers as they count the people in their families, candles on a birthday cake, and the cards dealt out in a game of Go Fish. They manipulate shapes as they play with marshmallows and toothpicks or a set of tangrams. They collect and organize information as they put together a personal record book. A trip to the grocery store, a visit to the zoo, a car ride, and a walk around the neighborhood all open up enjoyable mathematical experiences.In the same spirit as the highly regarded University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, Math for the Very Young describes novel ways that parents and others can use familiar activities like cooking, laundry, crafts, gardening, planning a party, or reading to introduce their children to such concepts as counting, measuring, sorting, telling time, making comparisons, and distinguishing shapes and patterns. As you follow the suggestions in Math for the Very Young, you will see your child grow into a flexible thinker and problem solver who is at home in the world of mathematical ideas.Lydia Polonsky is the author of 'Math for the Very Young: A Handbook of Activities for Parents and Teachers', published 1995 under ISBN 9780471016717 and ISBN 0471016713.