“How many spots are on the ladybird?”
For me maths started and ended with counting. Handing the children a photocopy of a ladybird with 4 spots is, quite honestly, uninspiring.
When I started the Maths Champion programme it completely changed the way I see and teach early maths – and I do mean completely!
It has made maths meaningful … even exciting.
‘Maths’ before the programme … and after
Although an experienced Early Years Teacher, I relied on a basic toolkit of activities – all stored away and brought out for our ‘maths slot’.
My colleagues and I felt secure with counting skills, so we limited our teaching to this. Maths Champions has helped us to feel confident with a much broader approach to maths.
We have never looked back.
My lightbulb moment
It’s always important to me that I get the most out of the children. Being a Maths Champion has inspired and enabled me to do this.
A significant moment was when I realised that prior to the programme, I had been simply testing what the children already knew, not teaching. Much of this was down to my anxiety around maths. I realised that I needed to develop a deep confidence and instil this in the children.
I now teach maths and help the children move on.
How I understand maths now
Accessible training modules helped realise just how many mathematical concepts are in the world around us. It was such an eye opener.
Together with simple activities to try out I was soon flying … in a very different direction!
In practice: I gave each child 5 beanbags to throw into a bucket. They began to understand that if 3 hit the target this meant that 2 had not. I was blown away with how easily the children picked up this concept.
This fun and everyday activity enabled the children to explore and learn about the composition of 5 - what 5 is all about.
I learnt about ordinality, cardinality and subitising (before they were mentioned in the Early Years Foundation Stage!)
In practice: We labelled how many blocks or shells belong in the tray. This enabled the children to use numbers contextually as they tidied. One afternoon, Jack was clearing away the pencils, and announced, “3 are missing - it says 8 and there’s only 5!”. He knew how many more he needed to find and didn’t give up until he had all 8.
Maths Champions activities
We received 10 key maths activities to regularly revisit: all clearly set out and needing simple equipment. These were easy to introduce into daily routines - we now incorporate maths into almost everything!
In practice: Snack time is a social affair, as well as a time to learn maths. We check how many chairs we need, compare the shapes of different fruits we have, recognise which is longest/shortest. The children now initiate this. As well as grasping the numbers and shapes involved, their vocabulary has quickly increased.
Inspired by the activities we were given, I felt confident enough to do my own snack time activity - this one looks at pattern.
In practice:
I started putting out the cups in a repeating order - red cup, blue cup, red cup, blue cup. Sarah came over and said, ‘Red, blue, red, blue’. I responded, “Yes, the cups are in a pattern, aren’t they? Do you want to do the rest?” I handed her the cups and she continued the pattern, saying it as she did it. I said, ‘You’ve continued the pattern - red cup, blue cup.’ She replied, ‘My t-shirt is a pattern – ‘white, pink, white, pink’ pointing to the stripes on her t-shirt.’
Here Sarah clearly grasped the idea of a repeating pattern and was able to see it in another context – her t-shirt. This was a delight – I had instigated an activity that wasn’t about counting, and Sarah had understood.
My wow moment
We share what we have learnt from the Maths Champions programme with our primary school. It was a huge moment when I found that all the children who had transitioned from our pre-school were excelling at maths, working above their expected levels.
Amazing!
There’s a clear message …
Maths Champions is a programme that is easy to understand and use. It helps educators grasp mathematical concepts and think mathematically.
If you feel less confident about your maths knowledge and teaching, becoming a Maths Champion will transform your thinking, your teaching and your joy of maths. There’s a lot to gain.
I’m so proud to have been involved and now see how easily maths can be incorporated into everyday early years life. And it’s a far cry from counting the spots on a ladybird!
To find out more about Maths Champions and to sign up please click here.