Math Literacy Begins at Home

You can take the fear out of math by making sure it is just a part of everyday life at home. By engaging your child in everyday activities that are fun, you might be laying a foundation for a future in math or science. At the very least, you will be giving them a confidence that will make their way through school a little easier. Math does not need to be taught as a lesson. It can be discovered in storybooks or explored at the kitchen table. Preschoolers shouldn't be doing drills or being quizzed, they should just be experiencing an introduction to numbers and patterns found in familiar objects and activities.

Math-Multiplying Play
Source: Parent & Child at Scholastic.com
Six major math concepts that preschoolers can learn through play.
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=644

Helping Your Child Learn Mathematics by U.S. Dept. of Education
Fun activities for preschoolers and up. Weighing, counting, walking, building, playacting and more.
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/math/math.pdf

Early Math Matters: A Guide for Parents of Preschoolers
by the National Center for Learning Disabilities
Don't be put off by the fact that this is put out by the National Center for Learning Disabilities. This is an excellent article that lists early math activities for parents, teachers, homeschoolers. It does refer parents whose school-age children might be having difficulties to places they might receive educational screening.
http://tinyurl.com/mathmatters2

What to Expect at Preschool: Math
Source: Scholastic Parents at Scholastic.com
Math should be an everyday experience and this experience can start at home. Learn how children 2 & up learn numbers, geometry and spatial relations, measurement, patterns, and how to analyze data. (This sounds so scarey -- you are weighing pets, counting silverware, stringing beads and looking at polka dots!)
www.2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=1366