Foundation Class 

MATHS IS EVERYWHERE

During the past few weeks, the Preps have been understanding that Maths is everywhere and playing with it can be fun. Making math fun is essential to engage students in learning the basics, allowing them to develop strong thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.

We had a discussion about what maths is, and pointing out all the ways we use maths in everyday life. The Preps are beginning to understand that we use maths all the time, sometimes without even realising it. We spoke about when our parents measure ingredients when baking, counting money for groceries, shapes and patterns everywhere, telling the time and cutting pieces of cake evenly are all examples of maths and it is EVERYWHERE!

We made ‘Mathemagician’ wands in our classroom topped off with some glitter and then took our wands on a nature walk within the school grounds.  We stopped at specific areas to have a conversation about maths. The students were lead on an exploration to identify common mathematical shapes, the number of objects, and the repetition of coloured objects just to name a few. They used their wands to help them count objects, to point out a pattern or some other maths area.

Below are some of the comments from the Prep students about where they could see maths in our nature walk.

1. ‘A circle’ (pointing to the centre of the Aboriginal flag).
2. There is number 1 (classroom door).
3. A window shape. That’s a square.
4. That looks like my lunchbox shape.
5. That’ pattern looks like a chess board.
6. I see 2 sticks, 1 bird, I can see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 10 trees.
7. The number 5. I am 5.

Helping the Prep students gain an understanding of early maths concepts in a fun way allows them to make sense of the world around them, interpret situations, and solve problems in everyday life, whether that's understanding time, sharing amounts with their peers, or counting in play.