Sandfield Primary School Welcome Jonathan Kirkham – Headteacher Bonnie Littlefield –Early Years Lead and Reception Class Teacher

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Maths Number and Shape, Space and Measures

Development Matters Maths Number Children count reliably with numbers from one to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing. Shape, Space and Measures Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

Development Matters Supporting your child’s understanding of number Encourage the recording of mathematical thinking  Spotting numbers in the environment  Ordering numbers  Understanding ordinal numbers e.g. 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd etc.  Knowing that the last number counted represents the total number of the group  Matching counted items to the correct numeral  Counting items, pairs, claps, jumps, steps etc.

Development Matters Supporting your child’s understanding of number Encourage the recording of mathematical thinking  Young children need opportunities to develop their own understanding of the abstract written language of mathematics. The EYFS emphasises the importance of ‘building on what young children already know and understand’ and this is especially important for ‘written’ mathematics.  Through their own mathematical graphics, young children build on their understanding of how they can use their marks, symbols and drawings to represent their thinking. In a sense they are representing their mental mathematics on paper. Children’s explorations with their mathematical graphics in play also underpin and support their ‘written’ calculations. Calculation is a complex undertaking and counting lays the foundations of this process. Children’s understanding of written mathematics flourishes if they are encouraged to represent their own mathematical thinking when they are unable to work something out mentally. This also helps them work out their own strategies for solving problems.

Development Matters Examples of children’s early recording of mathematical reasoning and number  William has drawn a light sabre for each of his favourite characters from the Star Wars film. The colours are important; for example, red is for ‘Darth Maul’. William draws many pictures either of light sabres or bows and arrows from the Lord of the Rings – they seem to be linked to his fascination with counting or amounts and he will count all sorts of objects, again and again.

Development Matters  Chloe says she is ‘making register’. She has written the children’s names down (the squiggles on the left) then counted them to see if she’s made the right number of marks. She has counted to 4 and then counted random numbers to 20. She has used number strips to check and count how many children were in the class and decided to use tally-type marks to represent the number of children who were away.

Development Matters  Kamrin invented his own way of checking if his chosen number, 8, could be shared equally between two. In this example he wrote ‘8?’ and then added a cross to show that he thought it could not. On reflection he invented ‘tweedle birds’, giving each in turn a tweedle bird egg until he had shared the 8 eggs. Finally he scribbled over the cross he’d first written and added a tick to confirm that 8 could be shared equally.

Calculations 1. Playing games that encourage children how many more/ less steps they need. Who has the most/ least. 2. Combining two groups and associating this with addition, removing one or more items from a group and associating this with subtraction. Counting on and back on a number line when your child becomes more advanced. 3. Sharing equally, and practically – deciding if the amount can be shared fairly. Introduce concept of remainder – introducing the concept of early division. 4. Create opportunities to grow groups, 2 times as large – introducing concept of early multiplication. 5. Encourage children to compare the relative size of numbers and discuss number patterns e.g. odd and even numbers, 5 and 10 numbers on a hundred square.

Development Matters Shape, Space and Measures  Practical experiences such as cooking offer excellent opportunities to weigh and measure and also count in context.  Placing pebbles in a basket outside with different sized containers and calibrated balance scales support children’s expectations of quantity and size.

Development Matters Shape, Space and Measures  ‘Show Jumping’ practical activities – recording number, timing using digital stopwatches  The teaching of early number

Questions

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