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Many of you are the parents of children who are almost ready to start school. And because you read MommyMaestra, I know that you care about your child's education and are ready to help him or her succeed academically. We've talked a lot about the importance of developing pre-literacy skills with your preschoolers, and supporting their reading and writing skills once they start kindergarten.
But we haven't talked too much about the importance of math skills in early education.
PBS KIDS recently released the data of a survey they conducted which showed that parents tend to place less emphasis on their child's math skills because many see literacy as being the most important skill their child needs to succeed in school. The survey also indicated that parents are less comfortable supporting their child's math skills at home, and may even feel some anxiety about it.
But helping your preschooler develop basic math skills at home doesn't need to cause you any stress. It doesn't require you to sit your child down with worksheets, or to teach them algebra.
Perhaps you'd feel better if you knew that your preschooler needs to learn:
- How to count from 1 to 10 (or even 1 to 20!)
- To recognize basic shapes (squares, circles, rectangles, and triangles)
- How to group items by size, shape, color...or some other common characteristic
- How to recognize simple patterns
Easy, no? Yes! It is! All of these are easy to teach in your daily routines. And it doesn't matter which language you use to teach them.
Over the next year, I'll be sharing simple ways to teach these concepts to your child using everyday situations and items you find at home.
But I want to start off with a valuable resource about which you should know.
A few weeks ago, PBS KIDS announced its newest initiative dedicated to supporting the development of early math and literacy skills in children ages 2-8 from low-income families. "It All Adds Up" focuses on providing parents with the tools they need to develop their child's math skills.
They've started off by launching a BILINGUAL app for PARENTS. It is free. And it is a must-have app for parents of children up to age 5. You can read my condensed review of the PBS Parents Play & Learn App here on LatinaMom.me, but I'll be sharing a more thorough review here on MommyMaestra in the weeks to come.
In addition, PBS KIDS has put together a team of early childhood educators and educational bloggers who will provide tips and ideas for parents to help their children learn early math concepts and to integrate math activities into their daily lives. I'm super thrilled to be one of them. We'll be sharing our tips and ideas over at the PBS KIDS Lab. In fact, Maria Lando (TheMathMom.com) has already started off the conversation by sharing how we all use math in our daily lives in ways you never would have thought about.
And if you've never visited PBS KIDS Lab before - you'll love it! Not only does it contain dozens of educational online games geared to develop your child's math and literacy skills, but it also offers activities you can do at home, in the classroom, during the summer, or after school. And did I mention it is available in Spanish, too?
Looking forward to sharing more resources with you soon!
Con mucho cariño...
