Early Childhood - Connecticut State Department of Education

Mathematics Chapter 6
Teacher Strategies:
Number Sense
Create an environment where questions about
quantity and comparison are frequent.
Create numerous opportunities for 1:1 matching and
counting.
Model approaches for representing number or
quantity: tally marks, use of fingers, dots, pictures and
graphs.
Integrate literacy with mathematics curriculum.
(Kamii, 2000; NCTM, 2000; National Research Council, 2001; Forman and Kuschner, 1983; Singer and Revenson,
1978; Ginsburg, 1977.)
Geometry And Spatial Relationships
Performance Standard
• Show spatial awareness by demonstrating an
understanding of position and order.
Children learn geometry when they explore:
• shapes;
• patterns; and
• spatial sense.
Children love to explore materials and objects in
their environments. As a result they develop informal
knowledge of shape, symmetry and objects in space,
including their own bodies. Early childhood teachers
must build on these experiences by engaging children
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Suggested Experiences
Instead of asking children to count items, suggest
that they consider whether there are enough for
everyone. Ask them to estimate. Ask, “How do you
know? Why do you think that?”
(Reasoning)
Count often. Count anything. Ask, “If I have three
and add one more how many will I have?”
(Problem solving, communicating)
Ask questions when children are sorting objects.
“Do you have the same number of red blocks as green?”
(Communicating, connecting)
Using various materials, suggest that children show
different ways to make 10, 8, etc.
(Connecting, representing)
Include items that represent mathematical concepts
such as: telephones, menus, calculators and clocks in
the dramatic play center.
(Connecting, representing)
in exploring two- and three-dimensional objects, and by
providing children with language and vocabulary about
shapes (Copley, 2000). For example: “That is called a
circle. It is round and has no corners. There are many things
in our classroom that look like circles.”
Experiences where children move objects as well
as their own bodies help to develop the understanding of
concepts such as boundaries, position and arrangement
(Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1995). Music and movement
activities, and following and giving directions, provide
children with experience of position and direction. “I am
in front of you. You are in back of her. The blocks are in the
corner of the shelf. I will put the legos on the side of the block
building.”
Take advantage of the environment. Focus
children’s thinking on shapes and their features. The
ideas children form during these early years will help
them throughout their elementary schooling (Clements
and Sarama, 2000).