My radio is never on in the car. I was a stay at home mom when my children were first born and then went back to work. It seems like either way, there is never enough time in the day. I use the time in the car to talk. Your focus should remain on driving, but rather than talking on the cell phone or turning the radio up, talk to your children.
We'll often talk about different things we see, what the color of the lights mean, and we count. One of my children's favorite things to count is school buses. There may be time between seeing them, but that is okay. Also, I have noticed, my children may say they see one and I did not see it. Just because I did not see it, does not mean they did not see it.
We also look for shapes. I call it the I spy game (it has a twist from the game where you I spy something green). The way I play the game is I start by saying, "I spy a tall tree". Then I may do another if my children do not catch on. I'll say, "I spy a square sign". Eventually my older son will respond and say, "I spy a house". This game is great with shapes, colors, and even just naming objects that your children see. Be mindful of you child's line of sight in the car as you play. As the adult, it helps if you model what you want your child to say and if you can use more than one word, as I did in my examples, it just expands the vocabulary.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The vocabulary we use is mimicked!
Have you ever heard your child say words that are exact copies of something you say?? Toddlers are pros when it comes to mimicking. So as we speak, using some vocabulary that is mathematical in nature can help build mathematical minds.
For instance, many times in conversation I can bring in words like big, little, most, least, more, and less, just to name a few. These types of words help our children understand relative size. Again, in books, many of these words are used. Helping our children understand the vocabulary is the first building block to understand big ideas like comparing numbers and comparing shapes.
Some more words I use are hot, cold, warm, and cool. As the temperature and seasons change, I can easily use this vocabulary to help my children understand the difference. Further, I can ask a simple question as we get ready to go outside...What do you think we need to wear? Rather than just setting out the clothes and putting it on them (oftentimes with my youngest toddler leading to a battle), they can answer the clothes they need to wear and they take ownership of their wardrobe. It is also instilling the idea of what the various temperatures feel like which will be helpful as they put numbers to the temperatures.
Math words are everywhere. Again, the more we talk to our children, and use the vocabulary appropriately, the more we give our children mathematical minds.
For instance, many times in conversation I can bring in words like big, little, most, least, more, and less, just to name a few. These types of words help our children understand relative size. Again, in books, many of these words are used. Helping our children understand the vocabulary is the first building block to understand big ideas like comparing numbers and comparing shapes.
Some more words I use are hot, cold, warm, and cool. As the temperature and seasons change, I can easily use this vocabulary to help my children understand the difference. Further, I can ask a simple question as we get ready to go outside...What do you think we need to wear? Rather than just setting out the clothes and putting it on them (oftentimes with my youngest toddler leading to a battle), they can answer the clothes they need to wear and they take ownership of their wardrobe. It is also instilling the idea of what the various temperatures feel like which will be helpful as they put numbers to the temperatures.
Math words are everywhere. Again, the more we talk to our children, and use the vocabulary appropriately, the more we give our children mathematical minds.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Types of questions for young children
We, as parents, think of 3 years olds as the group of children who naturally ask "Why?" about everything. Questioning does not start with 3 year olds though.
With my two year old, I can easily ask him "How many?" Last night I asked him how many pierogies he wanted for dinner and he very deliberately answered, "Two big ones mommy." Why could he answer that question? I started as early as I could counting out loud. Around age one, I would start to ask him, "How many?" The question would come naturally, especially when dealing with foods. If he ate something like 2 bread rolls, I would make a big deal about it and say, "Wow, you ate 2 bread rolls!!!" By telling him what he ate, he knows what to ask for when I say "How many?" Sometimes, when I ask "how many do you want?" my children say an outrageous answer. For example, I may say, "how many bread rolls do you want?" The child may say, "10." I know the child will not eat 10. So I would say back in a nice way, "Wow that's a lot!! Maybe I can give you 2 and if you eat that I'll give you more." That way the child knows he asked for 10, did not get 10, but will get 10 if he eats it all.
So then, as I already stated, around age 3 our children begin asking us "Why?" about everything. Anyone who has had a 3 year old know what I am talking about. It is a natural age of curiosity. A twist I like to do is every now and then, I try throwing the questions back, especially when I may not know the answer, "Well why do you think that happens?" This can sometimes lead to a discussion and both you and the child can grow and learn from the discussion.
Another big question that helps in mathematical thinking is in relation to time. I will be posting in the future a post about time. For now, if something like bedtime is familar to children, we can ask, "When will you go to bed?" We can also ask, "When should we eat?" By telling children information like their bed time, children become familar with the idea of telling time. My four year old has figured out at 8:00pm he can ask, "Can I go to bed at 9:00?" because on the weekends we allow him to go to bed at 9:00. But that question only has come from familarizing him with the idea of the o'clocks and usual times he goes to bed.
With my two year old, I can easily ask him "How many?" Last night I asked him how many pierogies he wanted for dinner and he very deliberately answered, "Two big ones mommy." Why could he answer that question? I started as early as I could counting out loud. Around age one, I would start to ask him, "How many?" The question would come naturally, especially when dealing with foods. If he ate something like 2 bread rolls, I would make a big deal about it and say, "Wow, you ate 2 bread rolls!!!" By telling him what he ate, he knows what to ask for when I say "How many?" Sometimes, when I ask "how many do you want?" my children say an outrageous answer. For example, I may say, "how many bread rolls do you want?" The child may say, "10." I know the child will not eat 10. So I would say back in a nice way, "Wow that's a lot!! Maybe I can give you 2 and if you eat that I'll give you more." That way the child knows he asked for 10, did not get 10, but will get 10 if he eats it all.
So then, as I already stated, around age 3 our children begin asking us "Why?" about everything. Anyone who has had a 3 year old know what I am talking about. It is a natural age of curiosity. A twist I like to do is every now and then, I try throwing the questions back, especially when I may not know the answer, "Well why do you think that happens?" This can sometimes lead to a discussion and both you and the child can grow and learn from the discussion.
Another big question that helps in mathematical thinking is in relation to time. I will be posting in the future a post about time. For now, if something like bedtime is familar to children, we can ask, "When will you go to bed?" We can also ask, "When should we eat?" By telling children information like their bed time, children become familar with the idea of telling time. My four year old has figured out at 8:00pm he can ask, "Can I go to bed at 9:00?" because on the weekends we allow him to go to bed at 9:00. But that question only has come from familarizing him with the idea of the o'clocks and usual times he goes to bed.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Read Everyday
What does reading have to do with math? A child has to be able to read the problem and understand what is the problem to solve. This does not mean we have to read word problems to our two year olds. But reading does help children develop skills of analyzing, inferring, and making conclusions. All of these higher level thinking skills will be needed in the future to help our children solve problems that they are faced with in math and in the world.
Even more, at the young age, there are many books that have math ideas in them. For instance, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of my children's favorites) has days of the weeks, numbers, and the idea of growing and changing. Any of Marilyn Burns' books that are written on the pre-kindergarten and elementary level have a lot of math ideas in them. Many of the nursery rhymes also have number ideas, like "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe." Of course at the young age, read stories to your children daily and more than once a day if you can spare the time. The more we communicate, the more our children will learn to communicate their ideas, no matter the subject.
Even more, at the young age, there are many books that have math ideas in them. For instance, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of my children's favorites) has days of the weeks, numbers, and the idea of growing and changing. Any of Marilyn Burns' books that are written on the pre-kindergarten and elementary level have a lot of math ideas in them. Many of the nursery rhymes also have number ideas, like "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe." Of course at the young age, read stories to your children daily and more than once a day if you can spare the time. The more we communicate, the more our children will learn to communicate their ideas, no matter the subject.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Count out loud
As adults, sometimes we don't even think about counting things, but counting out loud over and over in different scenarios and different ways, gives our children exposure to numbers. For instance with my own children we would count how many chicken nuggets were on the plate. We would count cars in an aisle as we walked into the store. We would count seconds (if we said "wait a minute" we would then count to 60 and be true to get back at the end of that minute). Count steps (but make sure to use your child's steps, not your own). We counted the trees or school buses we passed as we drove. There are so many times in the day we can count. Just start noticing those opportunities and count them out loud.
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