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Session Four- Supporting Early Numeracy: Resources for Child Care Practitioners Answer the following questions. (to be emailed to the online facilitator on or before March 3, 2012 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) Children’s books can be a great math teaching tool. Connecting math to literature can be terrific way for early child care practitioners to introduce math concepts and math language to young children. Many children’s books were or are written expressly to promote math development. However, there are others which were not written specifically as a math story book, but still contain mathematical vocabulary. Fun books such as Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss,The Foot Book and Green Eggs and Ham and many others are filled with mathematical language describing location and size-on, in, up, on top, inside, left, right, tall, short, big, small, tiny and so on. The Ontario Mathematics Curriculum identifies 5 major areas or strands of mathematics. They are: 2. Measurement 3. Geometry & Spatial Sense 4. Patterning & Algebra 5. Data Management & Probability 1.Can you identify two or more children’s books that reinforce mathematical concepts for each of the above strands? (If you have no objections I will add your titles to a Math book bibliography and share it with all Online Numeracy participants) ________________________________________________________________ Top math authorities agree that young children learn to understand math concepts best with the use of manipulatives. There is an underlying assumption that children should be actively involved in doing mathematics. Educational research indicates that the most valuable learning occurs when children actively construct their own mathematical understanding using concrete materials. Children can use manipulatives to sort, categorize, count, measure, match, and make patterns. Early childhood practitioners can also use every day low-cost or free items, like keys, buttons, and coffee stirrers as math manipulatives. 2.Your Supervisor or School Principal has just informed you that there are additional $$’s available in the centre/school budget for math materials. You have been given $300. to spend. What would you purchase to augment the math materials in your program? ________________________________________________________________ Children must have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and attitudes needed to become lifelong learners of mathematics. To achieve this goal, educators are concerned that more time be spent on understanding math concepts and less on how to do paper-and-pencil computations. 3.You are a kindergarten teacher and there are a number of parents whose children are enrolled in your classroom who have been very vocal and concerned about why children are not engaged in more seat work. They would like to see math taught the way ‘it used to be’ with drills and repetition of basic math facts. How would you respond to their concerns? ________________________________________________________________ Answer the following question. (to be emailed to the online facilitator on or before March 17, 2012 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) Review the attached list of Recommended Online Resources, Recommended Online Activities and Recommended Print Resources provided by the Foundations for Numeracy: An Evidence –based Toolkit for Early Learning Practitioners. 4.Select one from each category and visit the site or resource. Write a brief description of the value or benefits of each. Is this a resource you would use or recommend to colleagues?
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