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Building Young Children’s Foundational Skills in Mathematics: The Contributions that Older Adults Can Make

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Intergenerational Bonds

Part of the book series: Educating the Young Child ((EDYC,volume 18))

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Abstract

Math play is a critical aspect for young children to develop a strong mathematical foundation. Older adults often have some apprehension when it comes to helping young children with mathematics. It can be difficult to recognize important concepts that children must learn if you have not been engaged with primary level mathematics for many years. Older adults also feel, at times, that math is taught in ways they do not recognize from their own learning experiences. In this chapter, we first describe play as a process that promotes cognitive, social, and emotional development in children. We provide clear areas of focus, and aligned activities, that older adults can use to teach children to overcome learning obstacles and to build math language skills. We then describe six mathematical domains that are important to focus on when interacting with young children and that will additionally build foundational competence: spatial reasoning, measurement, context, relational thinking, sequencing, and facts. In these sections we will highlight each of the domains and provide aligned activities and language scaffolds. The chapter concludes with a comprehensive framework on how to promote math in everyday situations in order to help build a love for, and a strong foundation in mathematics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Developing Mathematical Thinking Institute (DMTI), Boise, ID, USA

    Jonathan Brendefur, Sam Strother & Jana Estes

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  1. Jonathan Brendefur
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  2. Sam Strother
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  3. Jana Estes
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Correspondence to Jonathan Brendefur .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emerita, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, USA

    Mary Renck Jalongo

  2. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Patricia A. Crawford

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Brendefur, J., Strother, S., Estes, J. (2021). Building Young Children’s Foundational Skills in Mathematics: The Contributions that Older Adults Can Make. In: Renck Jalongo, M., Crawford, P.A. (eds) Intergenerational Bonds. Educating the Young Child, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81965-1_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81965-1_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-81964-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-81965-1

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