Reception maths

[starmummy77]

Hi everyone!

Advice regarding how to help my 4 year old with maths/numeracy in Reception please! I am looking for a resource such as an app or videos to help with concept development. Trying maths games e.g. on Mathletics, has been limited by understanding, and so I was hoping to support this a couple times a week using an app or any videos.

I'm happy to consider activity workbooks or other books if recommended, but am less keen on these.

Would appreciate any pearls of wisdom! Thank you!

Children often learn concepts practically. Rather than learning online where for example the number 3 may not mean anything to them, get 3 sweets/pieces of pasta/numicon and show them 3. This then allows counting, placing numbers in order and numbers within 3.

Play with some numicon. Watch Numberjacks.

Number blocks is fun. My little one had some magnetic cubes that looked like number blocks and he could make the shapes like them.

Making a number-line or number chart and counting forwards and backwards?

Have a look at white rose maths online, they have really good ideas to support a deeper understanding of maths concepts.

Apps: Doodle Maths. Hit the button.

Count everything you are doing. No tv unless maths concept (as above).

Maths books and vocabulary. Counting books and rhyming. Do this for 10 mins every single day. Use marbles - as above - half grapes/sweets.

Keep it light but keep it going talk it up and get others involved to do the same.

Good luck and well done for catching up so early.

Maths seeds is far more appropriate for that age - they do an assessment so it pitches it at their level. Lots of fun videos and it’s all short games. As a primary teacher I’d highly recommend for eyfs/ yr1

My DS liked Numberblocks and Alphablocks and was obsessed with Numberjacks

Why does your 4 year old need to get better at maths? As others have said though, just use practical examples

If you’re looking for conceptual development, try these number blocks. They sell them on Amazon.

mathsmaterials.com/base-ten-blocks/

This is a Montessori approach to learning maths. They are perfect for a 4 year old.

As maths is abstract, it’s sometimes hard to grasp. By having a physical block of ones, tens, etc. he will be better at ‘seeing’ maths.

Also, any games with dice are great. Or simply do maths with pencils/marbles etc. at his age, introduce maths into everything- cooking, slicing up pizza/cake. Just talk about it.

We have a saying in our house that ‘maths is in everything’. It invites questions about mathematical concepts beyond counting. I show them maths in the distance we drive to school, in cooking, in sharing, telling time etc.

In terms of apps, monster math is good, but might be better when he is a little older.

Dragonbox Numbers is a more fun way to help with number sense, otherwise if you have an iPad maths 3-5 and then it's follow on maths 4-6 are good. We have DoodleMaths through school and it's good for my DC in year 2 but I don't find it pitched quite right for my DC in reception, it got hard on one aspect quickly and keeps focusing on it in quite a boring way which has put her off for the moment - maths 4-6 is better.

You really don't need apps or videos for reception level Maths. Playing board games and card games are fun and really helps with Maths and building logical thinking. There are a lot of Maths related board games - Orchard toys has couple like bustop game. But you don't need maths focused games since everything will mostly require counting, adding and subtracting. Learning Resources has a game called Sum Swamp which is great. There is a Facebook group called Little Board Gamers which is excellent for games recommendations. However, you can even make simple games with dice.

Thank you so very much for all your suggestions and helping me to diversify with advice about apps/videos but also about different types of games etc. I will certainly look at these suggestions - I am very grateful - thank you everyone!

I found counting board games helpful. Lido or snakes and ladders where they understand 5 dots on a dice is equal to 5 movements on a board.

Great - thank you for that!

My DC couldn’t do Mathletics in reception because they couldn’t read the questions.

We did CGP daily maths work sheets instead, they do a book for each term, and each excercise takes us about 5 minutes.

This year in Y1 they can manage fine, as their reading skills have caught up.