Every parent wants to provide their child with the best opportunity to be successful academically. This can start even before your child enters pre-kindergarten. Learning math at an early age can help with memory, improve attention, and increase other basic cognitive skills. Rather than using flash cards or worksheets, there are a number of ways that you can get your child off to the right start. Here are some fun ways to begin teaching your child math before they enter pre-k.

Before they even know numbers, the youngest learners are learning pre math skills through concepts such as over/under, up/down, big/little, in/out, between/next to and more.

COUNTING

One of the most basic and important aspects of early education is counting. Teaching children to count at an early age will get them off on the right foot. There are various ways that you can teach your kids to count. Whether you’re at home, at the store, or traveling, there are objects that can be counted. While at home, you can simply place items, such as blocks, in a row and ask your child to count them. At the store, you can ask your child how many of a particular item is on the shelf. While traveling, you can ask them how many cars you pass or that pass you. Consistently having them count items will make it much easier when they enter preschool.

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION

You may think that it’s too early to teach your child addition and subtraction until after they’ve started school. However, once your child is able to count, you can begin teaching them addition and subtraction by using the same types of objects they counted. Place multiple objects on two different sides and ask them how many there are. For example, place two blocks on one side of them and two blocks on the other side of them. Ask them to count each block on each side and then ask them how many there are total. After they get the hang of that concept, start taking them away and ask how many there are. While it may be difficult to understand at first, they will soon be able to add and subtract numbers.

SHAPES AND SIZES

Part of learning early math is recognizing different shapes. Once your child is able to count, you can start teaching them the number of sides of each shape. When they understand how many sides these shapes contain, you can make this recognition a little more difficult. Showing them shapes in different forms, such as an upside triangle, will teach them to recognize these shapes when they are displayed in different ways. This will also allow them to immediately recognize different shapes when asked in preschool. Size recognition is another important aspect of early learning. Show your child a pair of objects and ask them which one is larger. Shape and size recognition is something that they will need to learn as they move forward.

Teaching your child math skills before they enter pre-k will get them off to a strong start. There are a number of early math concepts that can be taught even before they enter pre-k. This will make their experience in pre-k and kindergarten easier as they’ll understand concepts that other children are learning for the first time. Contact THE Children’s Academy if you’re looking for a pre-kindergarten program in Spring Hill, TN.