Numeracy is Just as Important for our Children to Grasp as Literacy.

Basically, what that means is children need to be able to use math concepts in ways that benefit what children do in everyday activities.

Mathematics may have changed somewhat since you went to school. I remember doing my maths and when asking the teacher -"Why do we do it this way?", I was told "because that's how it is done". We followed set rules without really knowing exactly why we applied those rules.

However in going back to university to study teaching, I actually learned many of the reasons behind why we do things in mathematics. Maths today for our children has more authentic or real learning.

With early years numeracy it is important for young children to learn the basic mathematical concepts - basic number, patterns and algebra, measurement, chance and data and space.

Apart from timetables, which still are often memorised through rote learning, many other math concepts and numeracy skills are taught within a framework of activities, games or tasks that have a real meaning for your child, allowing them to see links between a concept and something they know.

Therefore in many instances, teachers try to teach maths in a way that is fun (makes it enjoyable and easier to be absorbed by the children) and based around real situations so children can understand.

Numeracy like literacy, is a skill you need to encourage in your children. Many maths concepts occur in the everyday things you and your family do.

• Encourage your child to count items - could be items in a shopping trolley to see if you can go through the express lanes; counting potatoes you are peeling; counting people in front of you in a queue - the list is endless

• Talk about time - looking at and talking about the clock (I often say to my children when they want to know how long - when the big hand gets around to the 4 and the long hand is on the 6); also time in respect to how long things take - hours, minutes or what time things happen - morning, lunchtime, afternoon etc

• Cooking - includes many maths concepts - measuring - using cups, jugs; estimating - how much do we need or how many carrots do you think; counting the cups of flour in a cake; guessing the number of biscuits a bowl of dough might make.

• Estimating - you can estimate many things with your child - how many pegs will we need for these towels; how many pieces of bread will we need for our lunch - then after it is done, ask "how close were you?" and work it out

• Shopping - when grocery shopping there are so many ways maths can be involved - counting items, looking at the shapes of items, talking about money and what we need to pay for it, looking at prices and reading numbers. The list is endless - try and see for yourself where else maths comes in.

  There are many other ways and I will continue to update this list.

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