Maths
Number & Measurement
1
Lay the groundwork
Practices to whakaritea te pārekereke prepare the seedbed for all children.
Start by working with all the children in your setting. Create an environment that can support children to build skills related to Number & Measurement.
- Consider your current environment and how you could make it better.
- Talk to others about what you are already doing.
- Select practices that will be meaningful in your setting.
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Why is this practice important?
Experiencing number as a concept supports children to use numbers to express and compare quantity, and enjoy using number patterns, e.g. counting. As children explore and recognise structure and regularity of the number system, they become confident to use numbers and counting to participate in number and quantity experiences in the wider world. Interest in the variation of number, supports children to understand number is expressed and used differently across countries, cultures and generations.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Take time to engage with whānau and learn about children’s experiences of number and measurement at home or in the community. Reflect these experiences in your setting where possible.
Be attuned and responsive to the ways children express their interest in number or counting, e.g. with gesture, language, imitation of movements, or rhythm. Share what you notice with whānau and your team.
Identify and build on number-related experiences in the setting, such as: action songs, books, sand, and water play; counting as part of everyday tasks like preparing paints (how many jars?), and cooking and measuring ingredients.
Plan ways to incorporate number and number patterns within waiata, chants, sāsā, haka, dance, and movement, e.g. counting the beat, clapping rhythms or counting-in ‘tahi, rua, toru, whā’ to start waiata.
As a team, discuss ways to intentionally communicate about number and quantity with children, e.g. think aloud – “One for everyone”, “Walking in twos”, “Bigger”, “Smaller”, “Heavier”, “First”, “Second”.
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are curious and creative with number and measurement through their interests, they are more likely to find using number exciting and fun. Mokopuna bring knowledge about number from their whānau and community, which supports their participation in social and cultural number-related experiences connected with their daily life. By participating in a range of number activities for a purpose, mokopuna learn social and cultural practices, e.g. counting, grouping or measuring.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Connect with whānau and others in your team to understand children’s interests that have potential to involve number and quantity. Brainstorm as a team how you can use this understanding to support children to expand their exploration and knowledge through these interests.
Provide number-related materials to help children expand their exploration and knowledge of number and quantifying, such as: shells and nested containers for grouping, counting, or measuring; blocks for combining and dividing; and informal measures such as string and formal measures such as rulers for measuring.
Pose questions and wonderings to help children use number or measurement when developing working theories, e.g. “I wonder which plant had the bigger seed?”
Identify purposeful activities that have the potential to involve number and quantifying. Invite children to participate in or lead these activities, e.g. counting the number of people on an excursion, checking the level in an outdoor water tank, measuring ingredients for paints, setting places at the kai table.
When appropriate, model how numbers can be organised (structured) in different ways using materials related to children’s play interests, e.g. group objects in pairs or place them in matching lines. Draw attention to these ‘structures’, e.g. “Oh, the buckets and spades are in pairs.”
Use number-related language in relation to children’s interests or purpose, e.g. “If we quarter the orange, then the four of you can have a piece each”. “Do you think we need fewer steps in this dance to make it easier to remember?”
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna work together to use number and measurement to explore their interests and solve problems they are also working together to make sense of the wider world. Collaborating also engages mokopuna in thinking critically as they predict, test ideas and develop working theories. Posing questions related to number, e.g: How many – e hia? (quantifying); Which has more? (comparing); Which is bigger – he aha te mea nui? (measuring), encourages mokopuna to use number in purposeful ways.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Provide a wide range of materials and sufficient space and time to support collaboration when exploring number, counting and measuring, e.g. collections of the same resources, a variety of materials for measuring (such as string, rulers), and enough space for sustained exploration.
Suggest and model ways for children to invite others to join them in exploring and solving number-related problems, e.g. “You could ask Hana to hold the end of a tape measure”.
Encourage mokopuna to describe or explain their thinking about the number related aspects of their play using a variety of modes, e.g. speaking, sign language, alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), gesture and movement, artwork.
Highlight number patterns within shared experiences, e.g. help mokopuna organise themselves into pairs for excursions, giving two poi to each person, or clapping to identity beats in a dance.