Thomas Jolyffe Primary School
Thomas Jolyffe Primary School
Maths in the Early Years
Educational Programme. EYFS Maths.
Autumn Term. White Rose - small steps.
The first few years of a child’s life are especially important for mathematics development. Research shows that early mathematical knowledge predicts later reading ability and general education and social progress. Conversely, children who start behind in mathematics tend to stay behind throughout their whole educational journey.
The objective for those working in Early Years, then, is to ensure that all children develop firm mathematical foundations in a way that is engaging, and appropriate for their age.
There are six key areas of early mathematics learning, which collectively provide a platform for everything children will encounter as they progress through their maths learning at primary school, and beyond.
Understanding that the cardinal value of a number refers to the quantity, or ‘howmanyness’ of things it represents (‘threeness’ of three)
When children understand the cardinality of numbers, they know what the numbers mean in terms of knowing how many things they refer to. Counting is one way of establishing how many things are in a group, because the last number you say tells you how many there are. Children enjoy learning the sequence of counting numbers long before they understand the cardinal values of the numbers. Subitising is another way of recognising how many there are, without counting.
Understanding that comparing numbers involves knowing which numbers are worth more or less than each other.
This depends both on understanding cardinal values of numbers and also knowing that the later counting numbers are worth more (because the next number is always one more).
This understanding underpins the mental number line which children will develop later, which represents the relative value of numbers, i.e. how much bigger or smaller they are than each other.
Composition
Understanding that one number can be made up from (composed from) two or more smaller numbers
Knowing numbers are made up of two or more other smaller numbers involves ‘part–whole’ understanding. Learning to ‘see’ a whole number and its parts at the same time is a key development in children’s number understanding. Partitioning numbers into other numbers and putting them back together again underpins understanding of addition and subtraction as inverse operations.
Looking for and finding patterns helps children notice and understand mathematical relationships.
Seeking and exploring patterns is at the heart of mathematics (Schoenfeld, 1992). Developing an awareness of pattern helps young children to notice and understand mathematical relationships. Clements and Sarama (2007) identify that patterns may provide the foundations of algebraic thinking, since they provide the opportunity for young children to observe and verbalise generalisations.
The focus is on repeating patterns, progressing from children copying simple alternating AB patterns to identifying different structures in the ‘unit of repeat’, such as ABB or ABBC.
Patterns can be made with objects like coloured cubes, small toys, buttons and keys, and with outdoor materials like pine cones, leaves or large blocks, as well as with movements and sounds, linking with music, dance, phonics and rhymes. Children can also spot and create patterns in a range of other contexts, such as printed patterns, timetables, numbers and stories.
Understanding what happens when shapes move, or combine with other shapes, helps develop wider mathematical thinking.
Mathematically, the areas of shape and space are about developing visualising skills and understanding relationships, such as the effects of movement and combining shapes together, rather than just knowing vocabulary.
Spatial skills are important for understanding other areas of maths and children need structured experiences to ensure they develop these. Here, the focus is on actively exploring spatial relations and the properties of shapes, in order to develop mathematical thinking (rather than on shape classification, which requires prior knowledge of properties).
Comparing different aspects such as length, weight and volume, as a preliminary to using units to compare later.
Mathematically, measuring is based on the idea of using numbers of units in order to compare attributes, such as length or capacity. Although young children engage with using rulers and experience being measured in centimetres, kilos – and years! – the measuring units themselves are hard to understand.
Children need to realise which attribute is being measured, e.g. weight as opposed to size, and the idea of conservation: that the amount stays the same, even if the appearance alters, e.g. if dough is stretched out or in bits. In order to understand units, they need to realise that two items can be compared using a third item, or ‘go between’, such as a stick.