Let me start this post by telling you that preschoolers honestly do not need dedicated maths lessons or activities at all. Genuinely! Social media these days is pressuring mothers from all sides and part of the reason I started this blog is to remind mothers that our children were created by Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ to learn in a natural manner إن شاء الله
Having said that, I wanted to dedicate a post to very young children just to show you what learning naturally looks like in day to day modern life. I want Muslim mamas to see the opportunities to teach their children skills without spending any money or having to dedicate huge amounts of time to preparing “activities” instead of spending that time on beneficial work إن شاء الله
The first thing that many mothers think of when they think of teaching their children maths is usually counting! While there is nothing wrong with teaching your children maths to count, it’s important to know the difference between them memorising a sequence of words and them actually understand that a number represents a quantity in real life. The best way to achieve this is to focus on counting real objects. Count the socks to you are putting away in they drawer together, count the number of eggs you are cracking into a bowl for a cake you’re baking together, count the leaves you collect on an autumn walk together… count real things in real life and make it a natural part of your day!
A special mention should be made about the number zero. It’s important to teach the child that zero means nothing! Once all the quantities from zero to ten have been practised many times over and you feel your child fully understands the concept, you can move on to showing them the numbers and teaching them how to trace them in sand or on a chalkboard. Avoid the urge to go straight for pencils with young children because they will inevitably make mistakes and having something that can easily be erased will be more pleasing to them إن شاء الله
Another useful concept to develop is the concept of patterns. This can be done by arranging sticks in order from shortest to longest when sitting outside. It can be done by arranging rocks from biggest to smallest, sorting leaves by colour, fruits by weight, paint swatches from darkest to lightest… patterns are all around us in daily life.
Finally, try to always keep whatever you are doing with your child lighthearted and fun. When they make mistakes, don’t make them feel like they have. Simply tell them the right answer. Don’t say ‘No this is not 6 apples’ but instead say ‘Can I have a turn? [count slowly while pointing at each apple] Oh this is 5 apples!’. Make learning a natural and fun part of daily life with your young children إن شاء الله ♥️
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