"Number concepts are a part of every day life even before a child enters pre-school. Helping to set the table, watching the groceries get purchased, dividing snack with a sibling, and making a decision to listen to a parent before the count of three, all involve mathematical thinking. Mathematical literacy refers to the knowledge and skills that are necessary to perform mathematical tasks relevant to everyday life."

At the Children's School, we consider mathematical literacy as part of our goal to promote Discovery and Exploration, which encompasses skills for general scientific thinking, as well as the more traditional mathematical concepts of number, space, and measurement. As with traditional literacy, mathematical literacy involves both oral and written comprehension and expression, so opportunities to strengthen listening, speaking, reading, and writing with respect to mathematics are provided. In this article, I share some of the ways that mathematical thinking is embedded into our school day with children. I encourage you to consider how you can naturally incorporate mathematical concepts into your everyday interactions as well. Other sections of this newsletter report a current study on numerical estimation and the results of our recent school-wide estimation experience with the Pennies Project.

Circle Time Taking attendance and reviewing the calendar are an important part of the class routines at the Children's School. We count friends, claps and taps in our rhythms, and days of school (we just passed 100 for both the 4's and the Kindergarten). We notice page numbers in books and dates on the class calendar. Songs about counting and books with mathematical content are another important part of circle time. The 3's love "Caps for Sale" and spent most of the Stories unit on "The Three Little Pigs", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", and "The Three Billy Goats Gruff".

Schedules and Time Learning the daily schedule and various routines promote sequential ordering, which is an important mathematical skill. We also incorporate counts into some of our routines, such as one squirt of soap and three pumps on the paper towel machine while hand washing. We begin to help children understand large units of time by practicing the sequence of days, months, and seasons. We also promote familiarity with small units of time by giving the children a five-minute warning until clean-up time or offering fifteen minutes to work on journal drawing and writing.

Classroom Arrangement Our classrooms are number rich environments. Learning Centers in the green room post dots and written numerals to identify how many spaces are available in the center for the children to use. The kindergarten has necklaces at each center. There is a one to one correspondence between the necklaces and the number of spaces available. The kindergarten also numbers their lunch tables. In all the classrooms, children see time schedules and birthday charts posted, and many groups do their own charting to record specific observations (bus vs. car friends, glove vs. mitten wearers, etc.). Children learn numeral recognition partially because so many numbers are present in their environment for them to explore.

Sample Learning Centers Blocks provide children with an opportunity to develop a concrete understanding of concepts such as high, low, big, small, more, many and few. Children also begin to create patterns with the blocks. Children may use blocks to make shapes or to organize blocks in lines. Teachers encourage discussions about structures children build, highlighting mathematical concepts in their conversations. Sometimes children create block ramps and roads. Teachers can encourage the children to speak about concepts such as fast and slow, forward, around and beside with truck and train play.Our block area is also full of multiples. These include blocks of different types, colors, shapes, and sizes, together with supplementary materials such as toy people, animals, and vehicles.

The sensory table provides children with the opportunity to sort smaller objects in greater quantities. Children may also experiment with arranging multiple objects into patterns. Examples include buckeyes, large buttons, cotton balls, pom-poms and feathers. When the sensory table is filled with sand or water, children explore the concepts of heavy and light by pouring in and out of containers and funnels.

Puzzles and shape games offer children an opportunity to explore spatial relationships. In addition, most games require rote counting with a die, spinner or cards. Children also learn about numbers and measurement when they use adult tools, particularly when following a recipe in the kitchen or building something in the woodworking area.

As you can see, children can learn many important aspects of mathematical literacy through their play and others are purposefully emphasized throughout the school day so that their mathematical foundations will be strong. We invite you to watch for these natural math moments the next time you observe at the Children's School and to consider taking fuller advantage of them in your own interactions with your children.