Helping your Kindergarten child at home with Mathematics

This guide can help parents support your Kindergarten children at home with the learning area of mathematics.

Number and algebra

Representing whole numbers

Representing whole numbers focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

helping them represent numbers from 0 to 10 with words, numerals and finger patterns. For example, the number 5 would be represented as ‘five’, 5 and
using household items to represent numbers 0 to 20. For example, counting out 15 pegs, 9 pencils, 11 marbles or 5 lollies
counting objects you see while you are out walking. For example, you might count how many dogs you see, fence palings or flowers on a plant
counting backwards by ones when your child is confident counting forwards. Practise the ‘Rocket ship countdown 10–1 Blast-off’
using dice in board games to identify the number pattern
playing a game of Bingo with the numbers 1 to 20
playing Snap with a deck of cards
identifying numbers on coins or letterboxes.

Combining and separating quantities

Combining and separating quantities focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

playing adding and subtracting board games such as Snakes and Ladders
using a deck of playing cards to add two number cards together from the same suit. For example, 4 hearts added to 3 hearts is 7 hearts. Count all the hearts by ones, from one, to begin. Alternatively, start the count from the largest number, as in 4 – 5, 6, 7
using Lego pieces to model addition and subtraction. For example, start with 5 blue Lego pieces connected. Now connect 4 more red Lego pieces. How many are there altogether? Now take 2 red Lego pieces away. How many are left?
playing Ten Pin Bowling with toilet rolls and a tennis ball for a subtraction game. Count how many pins have fallen down and how many are left standing
getting to know number bonds, or ‘friends of 10’, which are number pairs which add together to make 10. These number pairs are 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5.

Forming groups

Forming groups focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

teaching them to share cutlery for each place when setting the table
sharing a packet of lollies equally between siblings or family members by repeatedly giving each person one in the same order until the packet is empty. Discuss what it would be fair to do if there are leftover lollies
identifying and discussing patterns in and around your home such as lounge or curtain material colours or shapes. For example, blue square – yellow circle, blue square – yellow circle, blue square – yellow circle
singing songs, making dances and readings books with repeating, rhyming or rhythmic numbers
making patterns from objects in nature. Start with a repeating pattern of 2, then 3 and then 4. For example, leaf – rock – leaf – rock – leaf – rock (repeating pattern of 2). Also, flower – stick – rock – flower – stick – rock – flower – stick – rock (repeating pattern of 3).

Geometric measure

Geometric measure focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

reading Going on a bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Act out the positional language or sing the song using the actions
playing time-measured or distance-measured races using toy cars, marbles or paper aeroplanes. Use the language of 1st, 2nd and 3rd to describe their positions at the end of the race
singing, dancing and playing left and right games and songs. For example, singing and dancing The Hokey Pokey
comparing lengths of socks from toe to top while matching pairs from the washing pile.

Two-dimensional spatial structure

2D spatial structure focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

identifying shapes such as circles, triangles, rectangles and squares around your home
using digital technology and word-processing applications to make a variety of 2D shapes on the computer
using pop sticks to make a variety of 2D shapes on flat surfaces
using flattened playdough with cookie cutters in a variety of 2D shapes
designing 2D shape picture collages
collecting a variety of leaves and comparing their area by placing one on top of the other to see which takes up the more/less surface space
investigating a collection of different coins to see which uses the greatest/smallest area by stacking them.

Three-dimensional spatial structure

3D spatial structure focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

using and discussing different measuring containers when cooking, gardening or filling baths, buckets or cups. Refer to containers as being full, empty or half full.
comparing the capacity of 2 different containers by pouring their contents, such as sand, water or rice, into 2 containers that are identical
stacking blocks or other items into different spaces to compare capacity
comparing and discussing the capacity of tall/narrow with short/wide containers and how their appearance might be misleading when estimating how much they can hold.

Non-spatial measures focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

comparing masses of objects around the house by hefting one in each hand (hefting means to hold or lift something to estimate its weight)
naming the days of the week and months of the year. Contextualise times of the year using special celebrations such as birthdays or cultural events
looking at the phases of the moon and the position of the sun
involving them with weekly routines for school and home life. For example, Library day at school is Thursday, it’s PE uniform day on Monday and our family goes to Nanna’s house for lunch every Sunday
referring to an analog wall clock in your house for hour time events. For example: The long hand is on the 12 and the short hand is on the 5. It must be five o’clock: time to watch our favourite show on TV.

Data

Data focuses on:

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

collecting data together about something that you both find interesting. For example, what kinds of pets are most popular with your extended family or friends?
designing a simple data display from blocks, pegs or counters to represent the data gathered. For example, 5 blocks mean there are 5 dogs, 3 blocks for 3 cats, 1 block for a rabbit and 6 blocks for 6 birds
asking questions to understand and make meaning from your data display. For example, What pet was the most popular? and What pet was the least popular?