Math helps children develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Just like the brain is "pre-wired" to learn and use language, it is also a part of human nature to learn and use math concepts. The Centipedes were eager to learn about fractions this morning. We made some simple pie shapes using the cardboard inserts from some frozen pizzas to create a tangible symbol of fractions for the perschoolers to manipulate and understand. When we held up the largest piece of pizza and asked the kids how much of the pizza we took, some of the older preschoolers immediately shouted out "Half!" We talked about and pretended to share 1/3rd, 2/3rds, 1/4th, 2/4ths, and 1/2 of our pizzas with each other.
When children go to school, they get "formal" lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic. But the arithmetic; the adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing of numbers, is just one part of the many other greater uses of math. Fractions are the baseline to algebra so our kids are starting to learn pre-algebra skills at a really young age and that will influence the ease at which the comprehend algebra concepts later.
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