‘Nutty for Numbers’ is suitable for 3 to 4-year old preschool students. It teaches the concepts needed for the successful development of math skills at school. Many people believe that there is no need to teach literacy and numeracy prior to the school setting. At Learn and Leap, we don’t agree. Our past students have excelled at school because of the ‘head start’ they had by participating in our programs.
As the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) strongly tells us, the foundations of literacy and numeracy are laid well before formal schooling starts: Positive attitudes and competencies in literacy and numeracy are essential for children’s successful learning. The foundations for these competencies are built in early childhood (DEEWR, 2009, p. 38).
While play-based, incidental learning is important, so too is direct and explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy concepts. Many concepts are complex and we can’t risk that they are not understood before your child goes to school. The concepts we teach are:
- Numbers to 20 – counting
- Numerals to 20 – count and match
- Quantity – same, more or less, many, few
- Attributes & Measurement – big and small, long and short, longer and shorter, tall and short, taller and shorter, tallest and shortest
- Attributes – shape and colour
- Classifying by type, taste, texture
- Number – more than, less than
- Number – making sets to 10
- Number – adding and subtracting sets
- Counting – adding 1 more, 2 more …….
- Attributes & Measurement – full and empty, heavy and light, heavier and lighter
- Position – in front of, behind, beside, under, over
- Time – Days of the week, the clock