Hello again,
Childminders, like pre-schools, nurseries and Reception class in primary schools follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This is a curriculum devised by the Department for Education and covers development and learning for children age 0 to 5. I thought it would be interesting if I explained how I deliver parts of this curriculum. This post will focus on Maths because I love maths and have a strong mathematical background, although it is far more simplistic nowadays!
Maths is a huge part of everyday life, we use maths without thinking about it. Whether it is looking at a clock to find out the time, cutting a sandwich into quarters or counting the number of children you have with you on the school run! It's all maths as far as the EYFS is concerned and it's easy to incorporate into the daily routine and encourage the children to learn mathematical skills.
Maths for very young children is simple; recognising changes in the number of items in a group up to 3, awareness of number names, an understanding that things exist when hidden - where's teddy gone? (I'm sure every parent/carer has played a similar game!), random counting - number names, organising items into groups e.g. size, colour, shape. Sensory play is really important for babies and young children as this is the start of mathematical skills in the form of shape, space and measure. Some activities such as counting games, shape sorting and matching are clearly related to the EYFS mathematics specific area, others such as daily routines aren't so recognisable.
Communication is key to children's development. I find it very natural to talk about numbers, shape, size, colour, amounts etc. and I'm sure most people do too, without realising! It's simple. Just describe everything you do!
Here's an example:
It's snack time. Tell the children the time - "It's 10 o'clock" Ask them what happens at 10 o'clock - "It's time for snack". More questions - "How many plates do we need?" "What colour plate you got?", "Is it a big plate or a small plate", "How many pieces of melon do you have?" "What colour...", "What are we going to do next?"
To begin with you might end up asking and answering questions yourself but as the children get older and develop their communication & language (C&L) skills (a prime area within the EYFS), they will answer for themselves.
Maths in the environment is another good way of teaching children. There are lots of ways you can do this: posters & pictures in your playroom or garden is an obvious one but, and this hinges on C&L again, asking questions whilst out and about.
Example:
On a walk you may count the number of cars parked in a line, you can also ask the children the colour of the cars you see. Ask the children what numbers on houses are, whether they can see certain numbers, what colour things are such as cars or front doors, count the number of steps, lampposts, dogs...you get the idea. From experience it won't be long before they start telling you these things when you're out and about. I won't forget how two children I used to care for would also describe the houses we were coming up to on our walk or call out the number of the local bus as it passed us. It is truly amazing how much children take in as you chat away to yourself. It's also rather rewarding!
I'm going to share a few of the mathematical resources I have in my setting.
Wooden numbers - small enough for little hands to explore in a Discovery Tray and good for practising number recognition skills.
Dice - regular six-sided cube and multi-faceted ones.
Pom poms / glass nuggets - these are great for counting and grouping
A big calculator - nothing fancy, something from Poundland is OK. It's not news that children like buttons to press.
Stories & books about numbers - one of my favourite, which I've used for about 8 years is called The Yummy, Yummy Cake Trick by Colin Fletcher. I bought it for about 20p from the local library when they were selling off old stock. There's counting, time telling, sharing, adding and of course lots of different baked goods!
Grimm's wooden toys - if you follow me on Instagram or have read one of my recent blog posts you'll know I love these toys. They are a good way to teach colour, shape and size. The children count the different layers of the rainbow, match the colours of the mushrooms and talk about big & small.
In the garden I use laminated numbers, air-flow balls (set up in an abacus style), plastic tubs and bath toys - especially ducks in the water table.
I'll do a follow on post to this later in the year when I'll write about some specific activities that I do with the children.
Thank you for reading, I hope you've found it useful.
@dottyduckschildcare
This post was first published by Dotty Ducks Childcare in April 2018.
For more information about my childminding service please click here.
Communication is key to children's development. I find it very natural to talk about numbers, shape, size, colour, amounts etc. and I'm sure most people do too, without realising! It's simple. Just describe everything you do!
Here's an example:
It's snack time. Tell the children the time - "It's 10 o'clock" Ask them what happens at 10 o'clock - "It's time for snack". More questions - "How many plates do we need?" "What colour plate you got?", "Is it a big plate or a small plate", "How many pieces of melon do you have?" "What colour...", "What are we going to do next?"
To begin with you might end up asking and answering questions yourself but as the children get older and develop their communication & language (C&L) skills (a prime area within the EYFS), they will answer for themselves.
Maths in the environment is another good way of teaching children. There are lots of ways you can do this: posters & pictures in your playroom or garden is an obvious one but, and this hinges on C&L again, asking questions whilst out and about.
Example:
On a walk you may count the number of cars parked in a line, you can also ask the children the colour of the cars you see. Ask the children what numbers on houses are, whether they can see certain numbers, what colour things are such as cars or front doors, count the number of steps, lampposts, dogs...you get the idea. From experience it won't be long before they start telling you these things when you're out and about. I won't forget how two children I used to care for would also describe the houses we were coming up to on our walk or call out the number of the local bus as it passed us. It is truly amazing how much children take in as you chat away to yourself. It's also rather rewarding!
I'm going to share a few of the mathematical resources I have in my setting.
Wooden numbers - small enough for little hands to explore in a Discovery Tray and good for practising number recognition skills.
Dice - regular six-sided cube and multi-faceted ones.
Pom poms / glass nuggets - these are great for counting and grouping
A big calculator - nothing fancy, something from Poundland is OK. It's not news that children like buttons to press.
Stories & books about numbers - one of my favourite, which I've used for about 8 years is called The Yummy, Yummy Cake Trick by Colin Fletcher. I bought it for about 20p from the local library when they were selling off old stock. There's counting, time telling, sharing, adding and of course lots of different baked goods!
Grimm's wooden toys - if you follow me on Instagram or have read one of my recent blog posts you'll know I love these toys. They are a good way to teach colour, shape and size. The children count the different layers of the rainbow, match the colours of the mushrooms and talk about big & small.
In the garden I use laminated numbers, air-flow balls (set up in an abacus style), plastic tubs and bath toys - especially ducks in the water table.
I'll do a follow on post to this later in the year when I'll write about some specific activities that I do with the children.
Thank you for reading, I hope you've found it useful.
@dottyduckschildcare
This post was first published by Dotty Ducks Childcare in April 2018.
For more information about my childminding service please click here.
