Mathematics skills are vital to help children make sense of the world.

So how do you ensure they learn and enjoy them?

Here we look at how schools set strong numeracy foundations from Kindergarten, and the activities you can do at home to help your child’s skill, confidence, and appreciation for Maths grow.

Strong foundations

At Sydney Catholic Schools, students in Kindergarten to Year 2 are explicitly taught Mathematics through active learning experiences that link to real-world scenarios.

Numeracy and Mathematics Specialist at Sydney Catholic Schools, Greg Georgiou, said this allows students to practise and apply their knowledge to different situations.

“The role and intent of a Kindergarten Mathematics lesson is for students to develop essential numeracy skills and fluency, while nurturing the ability to think logically, critically and creatively,” he said.

Education Officer: Curriculum (K-6 Mathematics) Maree Cooper agrees. She said Kindergarten children require a lot of practice and active exploration with everyday objects to confidently develop numeracy and Mathematics skills.

“Teachers provide ample time, materials, and high-quality targeted support for children to enhance core skills like matching, sorting, comparing and ordering,” Mrs Cooper said.

“A Kindergarten Mathematics lesson [develops] essential numeracy skills and fluency, while nurturing the ability to think logically, critically and creatively.” – Greg Georgiou, numeracy and Mathematics specialist

The language of Mathematics

Developing a vocabulary specific to Maths at home also helps students thrive in the subject.

Words like high, low, short, long, light, heavy, near, far, first, and last make the list to describe distance, order, and other key concepts.

Your child might also compare quantities using phrases like ‘more than’, ‘less than’ or ‘the same as’. 

“It might take time for your child to use …