Maths at home does not need worksheets or special equipment. Children aged 5 to 7 learn a great deal from counting stairs, sharing out grapes and spotting shapes on a walk. The aim is to make numbers a normal, friendly part of the day, and to talk about them together.
Little and often
A few minutes of maths talk, woven into things you already do, is often easier to keep up than one long sit-down session. Some habits that help:
- Use real things. Buttons, pasta shapes, toy cars and spoons are easier to think with than numbers on paper.
- Think out loud. Say what you are doing: “I have 4 plates and we need 6. How many more do I need?”
- Ask “How do you know?” Explaining shows you how your child worked it out.
- Keep slips friendly. “Let’s count again together” keeps things relaxed. A near miss often has good thinking behind it.
Counting
Counting is more than saying numbers in order. Your child also needs to point to one thing for each number, and to know that the last number they say tells them how many there are.
- Count anything. Stairs as you climb, apples into a bag, socks from the wash.
- Count on and back. Start from a number other than 1: “Let’s count on from 7.” Counting back from 10 is perfect for rocket launches.