Even babies are sensitive to numbers and shapes, and math can be a valuable part of every curriculum. Your early literacy program should include both letters and numbers. There are many, very natural ways of introducing numbers: setting the table for snack, counting the crackers, finding just the right size block to span the bridge. Mathematics is everywhere in the early childhood classroom.

However, simply pointing out numbers and mathematical concepts throughout the day is not enough to enrich children’s math knowledge. New research demonstrates that a better approach to math literacy is focused, intentional teaching. Take the children’s natural interest to the next level –– help them stretch their mathematical learning.

Here is an example of teacher interaction that serves to strengthen children’s mathematical understanding: Children are building a tall structure (“a skyscraper!”) with blocks. The preschool teacher may respond with any of these questions:

“It looks the same on this side (gestures to one side) as it does on that side (gestures to the other side). It’s symmetrical! Are you going to keep building a symmetric building?”

“I wonder how tall your building is?”

“I see you put the long blocks on the bottom, and the smaller blocks on the top. Could you tell me how that helped your building?”

Simple block building doesn’t automatically result in math learning — it takes skillful teacher intervention to challenge the children’s mathematical thinking. When a skillful teacher introduces new ideas, it enhances the children’s learning at the time, and is also valuable later when the children incorporate these same ideas in their free play.

Here’s another example: Four children want to swing, but there are only two swings. The teacher suggests that they take turns, one children pushing another for 20 swings, then trading places. The children all learn to count to 20, very naturally and very accurately.

Imagine that you are reading a book with a group of 4-year-olds. All the children in the group have been learning their own names and how to write them. The book’s heroine has a long flower name. One child remarks that her name would be too long and hard to learn. You steer the conversation to what names in the class are also long and how many letters they have. The children compare the names in the class and determine which have the most letters, creating a simple graph to show what they have learned.

You may not have started out to teach mathematics at all, but it came up naturally in conversation, and your focus turned it into an exciting opportunity. That is focused, intentional teaching!

• Bredekamp, S. 2010. Effective Practices in Early Childhood Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
• Sarama, J. and D.H. Clements. The Mathematical Lives of Young Children. In V. Washington and JD Andrews, eds. 2010. Children of 2020: Creating a Better Tomorrow (pp. 81-84). Washington, DC: Council for Professional Recognition.
• Copley, J. V. 2010. The Young Child and Mathematics, 2nd Edition. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

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