Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/math-talk-with-young-children-one-parents-experience/5015136/
As young children begin to explore their world, they are curious and ask questions about many things, including mathematics. Entering into a math conversation with young children can enrich learning and reveal some original ideas for adults and children alike. Young children have inquisitive minds and think about the world in interesting ways. They have unique ways of describing phenomena and using their imagination to explore their own ideas. All this experience adds up to a personal sense of mathematics. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, "Children enter Kindergarten with considerable mathematical experience, a partial understanding of many concepts, and some important skills, including counting" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989).However, many adults have their own perspectives and biases towards mathematics. For some, mathematics is arithmetic. Others believe math can only be learned in one particular way, and still others believe mathematics is the domain of only a few. To begin to overcome these deeply held ideas, one might start by examining a definition of mathematics. "Mathematics is the science that studies and explains numbers, quantities, measurements, shapes, patterns, and how all these things are related" (Facklam & Thomas, 1992). Arithmetic, on the other hand, is the ...