Play is the child

What is Math-readiness?

Home A Virtual Tour of Cathy's Kids -Read an article "The Power of Play" Math readiness page Kindergarten readiness page a homemade tug-o-war game	Math Readiness, Defined by Cathy Today I did my math. I toasted bread, I halved and quartered, I counted the blocks in my stack, I measured the milk as I poured. I counted and added as I set the table. I subtracted when I gave half the blocks to my friend.
	A homemade path game.
	My philosophy of early childhood math is based on research by constructivists such as Piaget and Vygotsky. I believe that children learn through hands-on exploration of math materials. It is important for children to have these concrete math explorations to start the foundation for abstract math operations during the school years. For example, when children count, sort, or pattern or seriate sets of objects, they are beginning to add, subtract, and collect and interpret data. You will find math materials in every center of my facility. (Go to Virtual Tour to see more examples of everyday math at Cathy's Kids)

	Here a child is reading a math book to a baby in the dramatic play area.
	I have an extensive collection of homemade math games. It is a hobby of mine. I like to use cookie sheets and magnets, so the children's markers stay put. I get a lot of my ideas for games from two great books - More Than Counting: Whole-Math Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten Sally Moomaw & Brenda Hieronymus http://www.redleafpress.org/bookstore/product.asp?ItemNumber=301901 Much More Than Counting: More Whole Math Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten Sally Moomaw & Brenda Hieronymus http://www.redleafpress.org/bookstore/product.asp?ItemNumber=406501
	Math Internet Links:
	http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/mattiesprep2.html Mattie's Preschool Math Games - Download this free game onto your home computer so your 2-5 year old can practice math. After the game is downloaded, you do not need to be online to play!
	http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EarlyMath/ Early Childhood: Where Learning Begins Mathematics, Mathematical activities for parents and their 2- to 5-year-old children. This booklet can be read online or printed on a printer. It contains great activity suggestions for parents to do at home with their children.
	http://www.funschool.com/php/games/games.php?section=g1 Funschool contains math games which can be played on line with your preschooler!
	http://www.juliasrainbowcorner.com/html/numbers.html Several counting games to play online with preschool children! (Flash must be installed first on your computer. Follow the links to set up Flash if your computer needs it.)
free exploration with Tangrams	http://www.learningplanet.com/sAM/CYC/INDEX.ASP Game to play online called "Count Your Chickens". Cute counting game - you need to install shockwave on your computer if it's not there already - but it will let you know if you need it - just follow the prompts!
	http://www.learningplanet.com/act/numbertrain/index.asp "Number train" is also played online with Shockwave, and has children make trains with the correct number of box cars.
	http://www.jayzeebear.com/math/counting/index.html An online game where children count animals. (Java Applet)
	http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ecmalumphy/countinggame.html The Counting game is an online Java Applet game which allows children to count groups of objects (up to 9) and then choose the correct numerical to represent the set of objects.
	http://www.magickeys.com/books/count/index.html This is an interactive online counting story to enjoy with your child! Children count bunnies!
	http://www.primarygames.com/storybooks/counting/start.htm "One Little Ball" online interactive counting story.
	http://www.riverdeep.net/products/downloads/play_online.jhtmlonline math and reading games for all ages!

	Lady Bug "All Gone" Game "Chick and Feed" beginning addition game uses popcorn.
A child's graph Kite Positions Game - teaches position words - above, below, beside, etc.	In high-quality mathematics education for 3- to 6-year-old children, teachers and other key professionals should enhance children's natural interest in mathematics and their disposition to use it to make sense of their physical and social worlds build on children's experience and knowledge, including their family, linguistic, cultural, and community backgrounds; their individual approaches to learning; and their informal knowledge base mathematics curriculum and teaching practices on knowledge of young children's cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social-emotional development use curriculum and teaching practices that strengthen children's problem-solving and reasoning processes as well as representing, communicating, and connecting mathematical ideas ensure that the curriculum is coherent and compatible with known relationships and sequences of important mathematical ideas provide for children's deep and sustained interaction with key mathematical ideas integrate mathematics with other activities and other activities with mathematics provide ample time, materials, and teacher support for children to engage in play, a context in which they explore and manipulate mathematical ideas with keen interest actively introduce mathematical concepts, methods, and language through a range of appropriate experiences and teaching strategies support children's learning by thoughtfully and continually assessing all children's mathematical knowledge, skills, and strategies. http://www.naeyc.org/resources/position_statements/psmath.htm Children engaged in a sorting and graphing activity.