Mathematics is an important subject that helps every child to think logically, critically and creatively. These skills are the building blocks of success in life and work. The importance of numeracy in early childhood develops reasoning skills in our daily life activities. Numbers are very peculiar and they are categorised into different types like whole numbers and natural numbers. Under these two categories, it is further sub-categorised into different types like even numbers, odd numbers, prime numbers, composite numbers, rational numbers etc. Learning mathematics is very much essential.
Without mathematics, nothing would have been possible. In elementary mathematics, simple mathematical terminologies and concepts are introduced to make the elementary education a little easier. Once the concepts are understood by the students, the teachers should focus on the application of ideas. The basic mathematics skill in early education is the foundation of advanced mathematics in schools and college levels.
Numeracy / Number Sense
Number sense is a basic mathematical skill that every student should learn before they reach kindergarten. They should have knowledge and understanding about
- What are the numbers?
- Counting of numbers
- Pattern recognition
- Composing and decomposing of numbers
- Spatial relation
In schools, children are visualising the numbers and the relationship between numbers through the representation of pictures. It makes mathematics real to the children’s mind. Teaching mathematics through the pictorial representation allows children to make a connection between math and life. Early childhood education is the building block of the entire academic year.
Depending on the children age, the basic concepts in mathematics like addition and subtraction of numbers, recognition of numbers, understanding the difference between prime and co-prime numbers, even and odd numbers, rational and irrational numbers etc are taught. Children are so curious when they explore new concepts and interact with the environment. Learning early mathematics involves a progression in math vocabularies, recognisingmaths around them, expressing more complex problems involving measurements and reasoning abilities.
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