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 Fear of numbers is a common complaint often gleaned from the attitudes of others. Many parents do not realise that they are really mathematicians in their own rights. The mother who says she was never good at maths is usually very capable of balancing the weekly budget and timing the various components of the Sunday dinner. We are constantly using mathematical processes in our daily life and once we realise this we can relax and be confident in our dealings with numbers.
 This may seem to have little or no relevance to helping our children with their numeracy, but our attitudes to maths will colour our children's view of the subject. A positive approach will encourage children to try. There are many ways to foster mathematical thinking in children and most of it is easy to achieve.
Shopping is an ideal way to start. Prior to going to the shops children can be encouraged to take an active part in writing the shopping list. Seeing the symbol that represent the numbers of items required and, in the shop, putting the physical objects in the trolley enforces the link between symbols and value. Children can be encouraged to compare the sizes of packages in supermarkets, using language such as bigger, smaller, same. Items can be counted into the trolley " We need three tins of beans. One, two, three." If buying apples you could say we have three red apples and two green ones, how many altogether?
 Shopping when you look at it in a different light provides a multitude of different possibilities. Also this sort of stimulation can make shopping a more interesting experience for the children and hence less stressful one for the shopper. Things don't get less mathematical when you get home. The children can sort the shopping into different groups. Tins, frozen foods, fruit, vegetables, packets, bread, cakes, the list is endless. The children could be encouraged to sort the shopping by their own criteria and then you have to guess what it is. Things we like to eat and things we don't, could be one idea. Putting things away is also mathematical, will this fit in this space, and can all these tins stack in this height of cupboard.
During these processes it is worth demonstrating that three tins of beans has the same number representation as three loaves of bread. To an adult mind this seems quite obvious but to a child who is not aware of this concept it is important to realise that a number has the same value no matter what it is referring to. As things are placed in the cupboard they can be counted in or if there are a group of things for instance ten tins of assorted items you could count backwards from ten to zero.
 Indicating that things of the same size can have different weights is another concept that shopping can illustrate. Some cans of the same dimensions are lighter than others. With older children they can be asked to compare weights, prices of products and possibly the more able child could be asked to work out which products are the best value. You could also discuss the shapes of the faces of boxes and packaging and then move on to discuss the properties such as the angles and sides. As the child's knowledge and confidence grows three-dimensional shapes could be handled.
Published on
5th August 2002
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