Math is so fun to teach to preschoolers! It’s also an easy subject to teach because there are a lot of daily activities to incorporate math. Preschoolers don’t need worksheets for math. Instead, they should learn through play and hands-on activities. Today I’m going to share about the basics of teaching preschool math.
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Here are the math concepts and skills that should be covered in preschool:
- Sorts by color, shape, and size
- Orders several objects based on one attribute
- Recognizes simple patterns and can duplicate them
Sorting & patterns are fun activities to work on with preschoolers! Here some ideas for these activities:
Sort using objects from around the house, like sorting apples by color.
- Counts to 20
- Counts objects with meaning to 10 (one-to-one correspondence)
- Matches numerals
- Identifies by naming numerals 0-10
Some kids learn to count as early as toddlers and some need more help in the preschool years. I think the biggest concept to work on in preschool math is learning one-to-one correspondence. One-to-one correspondence is a foundational math skill for preschoolers to learn. It can take months or even an entire year for preschoolers to master this skill, which is why it’s important to keep practicing it! One-to-one correspondence means counting objects with meaning, or the ability to match one object to one other object.
- Identifies 4 shapes: circle, square, triangle, and rectangle
- Demonstrates concepts of directional concepts (up/down, right/left, high/low, over/under, in/out, behind/in, beside/between, front of, above/below, inside/outside, far/near)
Shapes are a lot of fun to teach to preschoolers! They don’t need to know a lot about shapes, just be able to identify them. I love using my shape rhymes for this. To teach directional concepts, you can try this fun activity using a newspaper!
- Shows understanding of and uses comparative words (big/little, large/small, short/long, tall/short, slow/fast, few/many, empty/full, less/more)
Measurement is very simple for preschoolers. I like to use these water activities for this.
Hope this post gives you direction as you teach preschool this year!