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.
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