Maths If you are a parent of a pre-school child you might be considering how you can help your child to develop some of the basic understanding that he will need in order to progress with early maths at school. Some parents are under the impression that they need to do formal pencil and paper type tasks, concentrating on forming numerals and 'doing sums'. In fact many research projects have shown that young children learn best in the informal, practical situations that occur everyday in family life. There are many stages of learning that a child needs to experience before he is able to attempt formal pencil and paper tasks and you can foster most of these simply by asking appropriate questions during your daily routine. The right type of question will focus your child's thinking mathematically, so that they become aware of the numbers in the world around them and are familiar with mathematical language. Above all else however, educators are agreed that learning for young children should be fun and without pressure to perform.
Language Many of the skills required by young children in preparation for reading and writing can be encouraged and fostered in the informal, familiar surroundings of home life by the most important educators in any child's life - his parents. As with the maths suggestions, the suggestions in this section are for discussions or practical activities, initiated by a suitable question from adult to child. For simplicity of presentation I have structured them according to the area of language that is being developed, each suggestion can be adapted many ways to suit your own child's needs - and your circumstances. |
