This is something I hear often from parents, especially when their own school experience of maths was less than positive.
Jenny and her 3-year-old daughter, Susan have been part of my Key Group for almost a year, so I was pleased that she felt able to approach me with her concerns.
Susan is playing in the home-corner, Jenny and I stand nearby and talk.
Nicky: It’s great that you really want to support Susan’s maths, especially as it doesn’t come easily to you.
Jenny: Yes, I really struggled at school and I’m keen for Susan to have a better experience and understanding of maths. I just don’t know how to help her.
Nicky: Well, firstly, it’s important to say that maths can be taught in lots of different ways. We often think it’s about worksheets or formal lesson. It’s a lot more fun than that. Young children develop their mathematical understanding through everyday play and routines. You’re probably doing maths with her when you don’t realise!
I pointed out to Jenny that for Susan to recognise numerals it’s important for her to hear their names so that she will learn to match the numeral to its name. I modelled this to her during our conversation - she understood and found it interesting. Research highlights that children whose parents engage in more number talk develop a better understanding of number words and later mathematical knowledge (Levine et al, 2010).
Nicky: I have some simple games that you can use at home … this one uses a die with numerals on it, so it’s great for learning that each numeral has a name.
I demonstrated this by rolling the dice – I rolled a 5 and said the word ‘five’. Jenny then rolled a 3 and said ‘three’.
Nicky: When children hear adults using mathematical language in a natural way, it helps them connect the number name with the numeral. This helps them understand what numerals mean.
I went on to explain that children learn best when adults join in with their play, so in nursery we look for the maths in what Susan enjoys playing with and build on it.
Jenny: Obviously the home-corner is her favourite! She’s got a little kitchen area at home. Also, she likes to help me with the shopping and cooking. So, I could think about the maths that come up there.
Nicky: Exactly that - let’s go and have a look at what Susan’s doing now.
As we watched, Susan placed 3 bowls on the table. She had seated 3 teddies and a doll around the table.
Nicky: That looks like fun, Susan, is it breakfast time?
Susan: It’s 4 o’clock - I’m making a cake and we’re having a party.
Nicky: How exciting! Have you got enough bowls?
Susan: There’s 1, 2, 3 bowls and 3 teddies.
Nicky: Yes, I can see three teddies, and I can see one doll too, so you’ve got four toys at your party: 1,2,3,4.
Susan: I need one more bowl – one for the dolly. Mummy, do you want some cake as well?
Jenny: Yes, please Susan, can I have a big slice?
Susan: You can have a little slice because I can only find little bowls. There’s one bowl for dolly and another one for Mummy.
Nicky: So how many bowls have you got now, Susan?
Susan: 1,2,3,4,5.
Nicky: Great – you’ve got five bowls now - everyone’s got one each.
Jenny was smiling and nodding her head.
Jenny: It’s so easy to talk about numbers and counting like this - we can do it when we play or go shopping.
Nicky: Yes, that’s right. There are so many opportunities - you’ll notice them more now it’s on your mind. You can count the steps when you are walking out to the car or see how many flowers you can spot in the garden. You could look out for the numeral 3 when you’re out walking - on front doors or cars and so on.
Jenny: Ah, I feel a lot better now - thanks so much, Nicky. I’m looking forward to it - I didn’t think I’d ever say that about maths!
Parent takeaway
Jenny realised she didn't need to be ‘good at maths’ to help her daughter. She simply needed to notice the maths already happening and talk with Susan about it.
The EEF explains that meaningful opportunities to use mathematics arise throughout the day—in routines, play and everyday experiences—making every parent well placed to support their child's early mathematical learning (EEF, Integrating maths into everyday routines).
Questions for reflection
What mathematical opportunities are happening in your setting that parents might not recognise as maths?
How do you help parents recognise that maths can be drawn out or everyday play and routines?
Want to know more?
Education Endowment Foundation. (2026). Integrating maths into everyday routines.
Education Endowment Foundation (2026): Early Years Evidence Store: Early Mathematics.
Gifford, S. (2014): Developing Mathematics through Play in the Early Years.
Siraj-Blatchford, I., Sylva, K., Muttock, S., Gilden, R., & Bell, D. (2002): Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY).
Levine, S. C., Suriyakham, L. W., Rowe, M. L., Huttenlocher, J., & Gunderson, E.1 A. (2010). What counts in the development of young children's number knowledge?