celebrating mathematic week at the centre

During the mathematic week ,our centre placed some importance for all children to engage in maths activities. Teachers were to set up activities in differnt learnng spaces that would encourage children's learning  and exploring mathes concepts.This event relates to learning with technology and other devices

At my centre we had a week for the event marking the importance of Maths in early childhood learning, play and experience. The purpose of this event was to allow children the opportunity to construct knowledge about the physical world  and explore ways to represent information.

During the week children were exposed to all different maths activities that they could participate and experience.  The teachers had planned some learning experiences for them to participate and enjoy the learning. Some of there experience were,children were allowed to use computers to do maths,like colours ,shapes , numbers and simple maths operations like addition and subtraction. They were also exposed to calculators where they were able to play with the numbers and see the display. Other  activities that children were involved in and relating to Maths were, water play with measuring cups and cylinders, cooking for all measurements, using tape measures for heights ,and lengths, they used scales fro weights, mass and balancing. Children also leaned through solving puzzles where they were able to sort and choose shapes. Children begin to understand relations by exploring  and manipulating objects. According to Jean Piagets constructivist approach, children do not passively receive knowledge ,they construct it. ( Gonzalez- Mena,2004).Children at early age gain knowledge through physical, social and logico Maths. They learn how the smaller objects can be stalked on the bigger ones and not reverse.

 Children also engaged in lots of numerical and number learning, by writing, coloring counting and arranging. They learned through number toys, equipments, which allowed them to explore  According to Te Whariki ,Exploration  goal 4  children experience and environment where they develop  working theories for making sense of the natural, social ,physical and material worlds. Goal 3 children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning ,experiment and solve problems. ( Ministry of Education, 1996).

Playing, exploring and experimenting with water widens perceptions and develops social contacts skills and co-ordination and experiment science and maths concepts.

To extend their learning and to develop conversation I asked them about the colours, the patterns and the number of marbles they were using. “Questioning makes different demands on children’s cognitive skills and language skills” (MacNaughton & Williams, 2004, p.145).Young children creativity involves “ possibility thinking” and this can be genetaed in all areas of learning imaginative play,musical exploration,cooking,physical plays, writing, mathematics and science.(Craft,2004).(Craft,2004).