Teaching math to preschoolers - article

Some of you might enjoy this article in New York Times:
Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them

It talks about a program called Building Blocks where preschoolers are taught simple math concepts, such as number symbols and counting. Kids that went through the program did much better in kindergarten math than those who did not.

I had not realized that preschoolers are normally not taught much anything about numbers or counting. This program clearly proves how beneficial it is to do so, and how the kids' brains are definitely ready to learn counting at age 4 (and it can happen earlier, as well).

Comments

Queen of Carrots said…
I have found with my preschoolers (5 and 4 now) that they are quite capable of handling not just counting, adding and subtracting, but basic concepts of multiplication, division, fractions, and place value when approached concretely and naturally through daily life. My worry with research like this is it always seems to be taken way out of context and we wind up with people pushing math workbooks on three year olds instead of having them help count the potatoes for supper.
11:47 PM, December 23, 2009
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