Learning Specialists 

Numeracy and Literacy

Children’s literature is a perfect way to incorporate mathematics. Stories may include timelines, maps, problem-solving, geometry, chance and measurement:

• Highlight everyday words “under”, “over”, “between”, “around”, “behind”, “up”, “down”, “heavy”, “light”, “round”, “circle”, “yesterday”, “tomorrow” in books you read;
• Conduct a shape and number search when reading a book;
• Highlight numbers in the story – count objects, the number of pages and look at the page numbers; and
• Roll the dice to find out how many books (or chapters) you read with your child before bed

For suggestions for books that can be used to stimulate numeracy thinking and talk, see, for example, 16 picture books about math to inspire curious kids.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge website has a book list which provides a broad range of books which are organised in year levels. Although they do not include specific numeracy related suggestions, they provide a great resource for selecting appropriate reading material for your child’s age group.