Are you a teaching assistant or early years educator working in a Reception class who would like to learn more about teaching maths? Perhaps you feel nervous about it or feel you lack confidence.
You’re not alone. Many educators experience one, or both, of these feelings.
Now a different question: do you feel this way about reading picture books with young children?
Probably not.
Maths Through Picture Books is a programme that trains teaching assistants in Reception to approach maths differently. Participants learn to use carefully chosen picture books, key practices from the ShREC Approach and small-group interactions to develop children’s early mathematical thinking. It’s a programme that’s targeted for children who are experiencing difficulties in learning about numbers through the usual classroom sessions, giving them a chance to catch up with their peers.
Using picture books to explore early maths creates a relaxed and familiar context for both educators and children.
Having piloted the programme, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is now recruiting for large scale trial to evaluate its impact.
Maths is integral to many picture books
Mathematical thinking does not begin with abstract ideas and symbols. Rather, it begins with learning about pattern, number, comparison, prediction and estimation.
In Maths Through Picture Books this includes:
- Counting the animals on a page
- Quickly recognising that there are 3 trees without counting
- Predicting which number will come next when we turn the page
- Fathoming out who is next in the queue
- Comparing the total quantity of objects on the page
Such activities help children to learn to think mathematically. Early mathematical thinking grows out of concrete, familiar experiences, not intangible ideas. This is central to the Maths Through Picture Books programme.
The educator’s confidence is critical
Confidence is important when teaching. A lack of confidence or anxiety can be contagious. When educators feel relaxed and curious, the children are more likely to feel that way too.
In Maths through Picture Books, the TA encourages conversation and curiosity about maths. Sharing a high-quality picture book in a small group provides an ideal context for this.
One of the greatest strengths of teaching maths through picture books is that it helps both educators and children see maths as part of everyday life. It is not intimidating or about having a brain that’s ‘wired-up for maths’ (or not).
Please register your interest here.
Want to know more?
- Maths Through Picture Books: Find out about the efficacy trial
- EEF: Maths through picture books pilot
- Oxford MeasurEd: Pilot evaluation of Maths through picture books