From 123 to Financial Competence

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From 123 to Financial Competence

Tag: Early Math Learning

Cultural and Linguistic Influences on Early Math Learning

The purpose of this writing is not about me taking a stand on which culture’s numbering system is better than whose. Reading the existing research on this topic fascinated me and I wanted to share. As a parent, it’s valuable being aware that there might be an interplay between culture, language and your child’s mathematical development.

Cultural and Linguistic Influences on Early Math Learning

Cultural and Linguistic Influences on Early Math Learning

During my quest to understand young children’s concept of numbers and counting, I came upon an article written by a group of researchers at MIT. Marmasse and colleagues discussed the following concepts and research implications in the article:

First, different cultures’ representations of numeric symbols and the number system can facilitate or impede the development of children’s mathematical understanding. This is true for both acquisition of math skills and computations.

Second, the linguistic aspects of the number system also influence a child’s understanding of base structure, place value* (unit, tens, etc.) and associated arithmetical computations.

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Young Children’s Understanding of the Meaning of the Number Zero

The Counting Exercise You Do with Your Child

As you teach your child to count, do you frequently start the exercise with the number zero? I started modeling the counting procedure (such as touching an object with each count) to my daughter when she was about 18-months old. Yet, it never occurred to me to include the number zero in the exercise. This number is not countable. In retrospect, I wish I had started the count with ‘0’, and slowly training her to see the number ‘0’ as part of the number continuum.

number zero

The Importance of the Number Zero

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How Young Children Become Proficient at Counting: Mastering Five Counting Principles

Learning to count involves a whole set of complex processes your child must master in order to become proficient at counting. It’s not as simple as learning a sequence of number words. When you give your child specific instructions to develop these early math skills and continue helping refine and consolidate such skills, your child will be more prepared for higher levels of math learning when he/she is in formal school.

five counting principles

When Teaching Your Child to Count

Do a Google search on ‘counting activities for young children’, and the browser returns over 1 million results. As parents, we are fortunate to have these resources so readily available at our disposal. At the same time, like many parents, you probably feel overwhelmed and have many questions.

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How Young Children Acquire and Make Sense of Numbers and Counting: The Process

In this article, we look at what the research says about the processes that young children typically go through as they begin to acquire and make sense of numbers and counting.

How Young Children Acquire and Make Sense of Numbers and Counting

Milestones and Developmental Progressions

As parents, from the time we brought our newborns home from the hospital we are obsessed making sure our children reach certain milestones. When I went in to see my OBGYN for my postpartum visit, she gave me a little card that listed some common milestones from 2 months to 2 years. Despite fully being aware that those benchmarks are averages and that each child is unique and develops at his/her own pace, every 2 to 4 months I found myself comparing my daughter’s skills and behaviors to those listed on the developmental guide (the one that was given to me).

When we look at those developmental guides closely, we’d notice that each domain (such as language, physical, and social and emotional development) follows a natural progression in learning and development. Our little ones need to develop and master certain basic concepts and skills before moving on to learn more complex things. We’ve observed that our children first learned to crawl and then walk. At 26-months old, my daughter is currently learning to jump (and doing this with grace!). She’s a fast runner (she runs on full speed up the hill when we’re heading to the playground).

Developmental Progressions in Early Math Concepts and Skills

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Teaching Toddlers Early Math Concepts and Meanings

A few days ago, I got frustrated with my daughter.

early math learning number concepts and meanings

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I held up two books and asked her in Mandarin, “Mama is holding how many books?”.

She placed her pointer finger on her lips. While tilting her head, she responded with a smile, “one”.

I took a deep breath. “Mama is holding two books”, I corrected her.

I asked her to count the books. “One, two”, Ruby counted aloud as her pointer finger touched each book. She counted two books. She must be aware that I am holding two books, I thought to myself.

Trying again, I placed one book on the floor while still holding the other one up in my hand. I asked Ruby to tell me how many books I was holding. This time, she responded, “one”.

“Really?” I asked for confirmation.

“Two?”, Ruby changed her response.

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