Children are born naturally mathematical, so why is it sometimes so difficult to observe children being mathematical? Why do so many of us think we are ‘bad’ at maths and how does this subconsciously affect the provision, experiences and opportunities we provide for young children who are starting their mathematical learning journey? This easily accessible book will help you to realise the wonderful mathematical learning happening in your setting all day and every day through the familiar resources and experiences routinely offered to young children. It will help you to think more reflectively about what you are providing for children and suggest ways of making provision richer and more exciting for you and the children in your care. With chapters linked to areas of continuous provision including sand, water, dough, role play, music, outdoors and ICT among many others, this book features: A wide range of activities including key questions, vocabulary and advice on observations Lists of key resources Ideas to support children’s mathematical mark making Useful links to stories and rhymes to engage children and promote mathematical learning Links to other areas of learning and development Suggestions for involving parents Providing a wealth of exciting, meaningful, play-based ways to promote mathematical learning and create a maths rich environment, this highly practical book will help you to develop young children’s confidence and enjoyment of maths through your everyday provision. It is a perfect resource for Early Years Practitioners working in all settings, as well as those studying on childcare, Early Childhood and Early Years Professional Status courses.

Children are born naturally mathematical, so why is it sometimes so difficult to observe children being mathematical? Why do so many of us think we are ‘bad’ at maths and how does this subconsciously affect the provision, experiences and opportunities we provide for young children who are starting their mathematical learning journey? This easily accessible book will help you to realise the wonderful mathematical learning happening in your setting all day and every day through the familiar resources and experiences routinely offered to young children. It will help you to think more reflectively about what you are providing for children and suggest ways of making provision richer and more exciting for you and the children in your care. With chapters linked to areas of continuous provision including sand, water, dough, role play, music, outdoors and ICT among many others, this book features: A wide range of activities including key questions, vocabulary and advice on observations Lists of key resources Ideas to support children’s mathematical mark making Useful links to stories and rhymes to engage children and promote mathematical learning Links to other areas of learning and development Suggestions for involving parents Providing a wealth of exciting, meaningful, play-based ways to promote mathematical learning and create a maths rich environment, this highly practical book will help you to develop young children’s confidence and enjoyment of maths through your everyday provision. It is a perfect resource for Early Years Practitioners working in all settings, as well as those studying on childcare, Early Childhood and Early Years Professional Status courses.

This Little Book offers easy-to-follow activities and opportunities for maths problem-solving, both indoors and out. The fun, multisensory ideas will trigger children's curiosity and enthusiasm as well as aiding their mathematical development.

Maths in general is an area many early years practitioners lack confidence in – many having struggled at school themselves. They need lots of 'bright ideas' for teaching maths, which are not intimidating and are very 'doable'. This hands-on Little Book provides a breadth and depth of content that will enthuse both adults and children to explore fun and exciting everyday situations and number problems together.

This Little Book builds on children's natural enthusiasm and curiosity about shape and space. The hands-on, easy-to-follow experiences cover both 2D and 3D shapes and will inspire children to explore the spaces all around them in both indoor and outdoor play, and as they become familiar with the shapes and patterns in their every day environment.

This brand new Little Book focuses on using everyday objects that appeal to young children in the EYFS, with a clear emphasis on the use of non-standard measures as well as standard measures in meaningful contents. Explore opportunities such as estimating how many 'giant's strides' it is from the door to the climbing frame, or how many handprints tall each child is, as well as using trundle wheels, metre rules, sand timers, stop watches, balances and scales. The activities use simple to obtain and inexpensive materials, so are suitable for practitioners working on a tight budget (which many of them are)!

This book emanated primarily from concerns that the mathematical capabilities of young children continue to receive inadequate attention in both the research and instructional arenas. Research over many years has revealed that young children have sophisticated mathematical minds and a natural eagerness to engage in a range of mathematical activities. As the chapters in this book attest, current research is showing that young children are developing complex mathematical knowledge and abstract reasoning a good deal earlier than previously thought. A range of studies in prior to school and early school settings indicate that young learners do possess cognitive capacities which, with appropriately designed and implemented learning experiences, can enable forms of reasoning not typically seen in the early years. Although there is a large and coherent body of research on individual content domains such as counting and arithmetic, there have been remarkably few studies that have attempted to describe characteristics of structural development in young students’ mathematics. Collectively, the chapters highlight the importance of providing more exciting, relevant, and challenging 21st century mathematics learning for our young students. The chapters provide a broad scope in their topics and approaches to advancing young children’s mathematical learning. They incorporate studies that highlight the importance of pattern and structure across the curriculum, studies that target particular content such as statistics, early algebra, and beginning number, and studies that consider how technology and other tools can facilitate early mathematical development. Reconceptualising the professional learning of teachers in promoting young children’s mathematics, including a consideration of the role of play, is also addressed.

Discussing learning technologies in relation to young children often provokes a wide range of passionate responses, from sceptics to enthusiasts. This text explores the issues in a holistic, pedagogical and research-informed way. It helps professionals unpick the complex issues involved, understand the scope of available technology, examine the interplay between learning and specific technologies, and more broadly create a vision for a technology-enabled learning environment that is child-centred, playful, creative and interactive. Recurring case studies are analysed from a number of theoretical perspectives, and the approach deliberately goes beyond the scope of ‘understanding of the world’ to consider the contribution of technology-enhanced learning to a range of different contexts and subject areas. Throughout there are clear links to professional standards, the Early Years Foundation Stage and the characteristics of effective learning.

A toolkit for all those working with children on how to develop and implement a child centred curriculum for delivery of the EYFS.

Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. Research demonstrates that virtually all young children have the capability to learn and become competent in mathematics. Furthermore, young children enjoy their early informal experiences with mathematics. Unfortunately, many children's potential in mathematics is not fully realized, especially those children who are economically disadvantaged. This is due, in part, to a lack of opportunities to learn mathematics in early childhood settings or through everyday experiences in the home and in their communities. Improvements in early childhood mathematics education can provide young children with the foundation for school success. Relying on a comprehensive review of the research, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood lays out the critical areas that should be the focus of young children's early mathematics education, explores the extent to which they are currently being incorporated in early childhood settings, and identifies the changes needed to improve the quality of mathematics experiences for young children. This book serves as a call to action to improve the state of early childhood mathematics. It will be especially useful for policy makers and practitioners-those who work directly with children and their families in shaping the policies that affect the education of young children.