"...I have found that teachers often wrestle with two historically competing philosophies of educating young children. One philosophy embraces the importance of creating play-based environments, where children learn by exploring and engaging in play. The other emphasizes the need to prepare students to meet state and national mathematics standards by focusing on specific academic skills. These two philosophies are not either-or. In fact, mathematical thinking and learning often happen during play."
--Kathy Liu Sun, "Ditch the Math Worksheets and Stop Killing Kids' Curiosity" (2019)
When one thinks of math, memories of worksheets and manipulatives traditionally pop up. But in the world of early childcare, math is more than just worksheets--math can be learned throug play! Children from a young age think mathematically--they categorize putting away toys, they count how many crackers they have in front of them, they compare lengths when building taller structures.
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, more commonly known by the acronym NAEYC (2010), a solid base for mathematics learning is rooted in "high-quality, challenging, and accessible mathematics education for 3- to 6-year old children." Teachers have the role to not only teach mathematical concepts to their children, but also to inspire mathmatical thinking.
In our completely online "Math in Early Childhood" course, teachers will learn how to teach math and introduce math in ways that children will enjoy learning. "Math in Early Childhood" is an independent self-study course designed to equip teachers with strategies in making math fun in the early childhood classroom.
You can register by clicking on the following link: Math in Early Childhood
Register and get your certificate today!