Many of us have learned mathematics in a memorial way, without really internalizing the concepts or experientially understanding the principles of this science. And then the difficulties come. Let's see some basic concepts on how to introduce young children into maths.
Children are trained to, from a very young age, enter the fascinating world of numbers and mathematical relationships, but if they learn in a forced way and learn by heart the numbers and the simplest operations will have problems later to develop the concepts for very good They are able to perform the first problems.
Instead, if we lay the foundations of a natural learning, together with the vital experience, they may have the tools of thought that will then be essential to understand the most complex mathematical concepts. It is very important that babies and young children develop visual and auditory memory, but conceptual understanding is also essential.
The best way to help them achieve this is to present the maths as a progressive sequence of concepts that can be assimilated, especially through creative play. Numbers and relationships are everywhere and settle on ideas such as space, time, position or size.
Once the children have internalized a concept and are able to use it in an unguided way they will add steps in their understanding of the world around them. Our role will be that of facilitators of materials and spaces, not of teachers who determine the way in which they should relate to objects. We will not start by pointing out if something is right and wrong. No chips, no sad faces and of course, freedom of movement.
We would have to base the math learning game in five basic pillars. First, the learning will be sequential, that is, first the simple and then increase the complexity. Second, we will be active observers but not coaches, understanding that true learning will be experimental. Third, we will use objects that for children have meaning and use in their daily lives with enthusiasm before things that are alien to them. Fourth, the game will be fundamentally tactile and physical, letting ideas come from the real experience. And fifth, we must be consistent using expressions and words that provide a basis for what will later be learned.
When we talk about progressive sequence I mean that, for example, it makes no sense to start with numbers and quantities. First we will leave the child in free relationship with objects that have similarities and differences between them. The child will discover them by himself, without hurry or explanation. When we confirm that they appreciate these similarities and differences, we will introduce games that facilitate classification and they will look for ways to sort by qualities. Only then, when children group objects by qualities, can we introduce ideas such as the different quantity of objects in each group.
Having a game space adapted to your needs is important. It is possible to prepare it in the house itself and, although the example I show is an ideal place, we can organize your space with greater simplicity. It is important that it is safe, without dangerous or delicate objects at your fingertips and where you can move quietly.
In the next topic we will see how to prepare games with diverse materials to help them internalize the ideas and examples of different creative games that we can, easily and with everyday materials, propose. Once seen these basic concepts about the way in which experiential learning works we will move on to math games Very simple and fun for them. Surely you will enjoy them too.
Before moving on to the following topics I think it is important to influence the importance of the experiential in learning, which is perhaps the great pending subject of our teaching system.
I have a little friend, who has just turned six, who points out ways of critical thinker and free spirit, which is already giving her mother headaches at school. The example I think is very significant. They are starting to teach him to add. The teacher gives them a file. All quiet and sitting. Two children appear on the card and each of them has five candies. The teacher suggests that they write the number of candies that children have in total. Little Andrea tells her: I don't care how many candies they have if I'm not going to be able to eat any. The teacher gets angry. The girl has no interest and is undisciplined and answers. But Andrea is right, she does not care at all if the children have five or ten candies. That has no real value in your life.
Let's go back to Andrea. His parents that weekend go to the countryside, to plant a small tree in an area under reforestation. They have spent the whole week preparing the implements, they have accompanied them to the nursery, they have seen that they calculated how many people are going to attend, the length of the allocated space, who have instruments and the amount of each species they will carry. Andrea is given a small shovel with which she helps her mother dig and collaborates excitedly to place the small trees in each hole.
Upon returning home she is exhausted, smiling and satisfied. When he goes to sleep he hugs his mother and tells him if the trees will live. His mom promises that they will go water them and watch them grow. Andrea tells her that she has planted five trees with dad and five with mom, so there will be ten trees of which she will also be her mom. If he cares about this, he has lived it, touched it and loved it. And he added without anyone sending him to do it. This is not going to be forgotten.
The real example allows us to reflect on how important the creative, emotional and live learning. Being forced to be seated, quiet and writing on paper using the colors that indicate you and not others, repeating again and again, makes anyone get bored and lose the joy of discovering new things.
Although this is not always possible, it is undoubtedly the best way for children to teach themselves and ask us for help in learning. With the hands, with the eyes, with the senses, not only with the head. That's why our math for toddlers They are going to be based on these premises, game and experimentation.
