Early Math Talk in Early Childhood Classrooms

Penn Foster Webinar SeriesFun and Easy Ways

to Incorporate "Math Talk" Into Your Classroom (or Home)

Teresa GonczyWednesday, Oct 5th

© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA

Early Math Talk - Overview- Introduction

- Research Background- Types of Early Math Talk

- Math Talk in Classroom Areas & Activities- Math Talk in Your Classroom (or Home)

- More Early Math Resources


Early Math Talk - IntroWho am I?

Teresa E. Gonczy* Researching early math at Harvard

* Previously owned early learning center* Run the @earlymath Twitter community


Early Math Talk - IntroWho are you?

* Teacher, Administrator, Student, Parent

What ages do you work with?* Infant/Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten


Early Math Talk - IntroWhere does math happen

in your classroom or home?




Block areaDuring math curriculum time

Water playKitchen area




Everywhere all the time!Dramatic play, snack time, story time,arrival & departure, outside play, etc.


Early Math Talk - ResearchWhy is early math important?



Research shows that early math skills are just as predictive, and possibly more predictive, of later

academic success than early literacy skills.

Duncan, G.J., Dowsett, C.J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A.C., Klebanov, P., Pagani, L.S., Feinstein, L., Engel, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Sexton, H., Duckworth, K., and Japel, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43(6).© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA


Research shows that early math skills are just as predictive, and possibly more predictive, of later

academic success than early literacy skills.And yet many early childhood classrooms devote much

more time to literacy than to math.


Early Math Talk - ResearchSo if early math is so important, how do we

incorporate it into our classrooms?

Not through worksheets and flashcards!


Early Math Talk - ResearchSo if early math is so important, how do we

incorporate it into our classrooms?

Through math games, high quality curriculum, and throughout the day with

Early Math Talk


Early Math Talk - ResearchWhat is early math talk?

Early math talk is language used by teachers and parents that includes numeracy, spatial concepts, patterns,

measurement, ordering, and so much more!

Klibanoff, R.S., Levine, S.C., Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., & Hedges, L.V. (2006). Preschool Children's Mathematical Knowledge: The Effect of Teacher "Math Talk". Developmental Psychology 42-1, 59-69.© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA

Early Math Talk - ResearchWhat is early math talk?

Early math talk is language used by teachers and parents that includes numeracy, spatial concepts, patterns,

measurement, ordering, and so much more!

You don't need to know algebra or calculus to talk mathematically with young children! :-)


Early Math Talk - ResearchWhy is early math talk important?

Children who had more early math talk in their preschool classrooms showed larger gains in an early

math knowledge assessment over the school year.


Early Math Talk - ResearchWhy is early math talk important?

In the home too!Children who heard more early math talk from a parent showed greater gains in early math ability a year later.

Susperreguy, M. I., & Davis-Kean, P. E. (2016). Maternal math talk in the home and math skills in preschool children. Early Education and Development, 1-17.© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA

Early Math Talk - ResearchSo we know early math talk is important..

How do we incorporate more math talk into our children's worlds?


Early Math Talk - TypesWhat kinds of early math talk are there?

Early math talk includes learning to count.“How many cookies do you have? Let's count –

1 cookie, 2 cookies, 3 cookies, 4 cookies –

you have four cookies altogether”

University of California, San Diego. (2013, October 28). One, two, buckle my shoe: Importance of language to learning math. ScienceDaily.© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA


Early math talk includes learning to count.But also so much more than counting!

.© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA


One-to-One Correspondence / Equivalence“Do you have the same number of dollies and dresses? Will all of your dollies be able to wear dresses? Will

you have any extra dresses?”



Number Operations – Basic Addition and Subtraction“You have two paper plates for snack time and Sally has

two. Can you figure out how many paper plates you have all together?”



Ordering & Seriation“Whitney is first in line, then Peter is second, and

Quincy is third.”



Geometry – Shapes“The crackers we're eating today are circles. Do you remember the crackers we had yesterday? They were

rectangles with four sides and four corners.”



Spatial Relationships“Your bear is on top of the house. Oh and now, you put

him inside the house.”

Pruden SM, Levine SC and Huttenlocher J. 2011. Children's spatial thinking: Does talk about the spatial world matter? Developmental Science (14): 1417-1430© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA


Patterns and Change“Tommy's shirt has a pattern – do you see the stripes? The pattern goes white, blue, white, blue, white, blue”



Measurement“The box is heavy to move with all those books in it. If

we take some books out, the box will be lighter and easier to move.”



Classifying and Sorting“Thanks for cleaning up the block area. I see how you put all the straight blocks together and all the curved

blocks together.”



Counting & Number Sense1-to-1 Correspondence - Number OperationsOrdering & Seriation - Geometry & ShapesSpatial Relationships - Patterns & Change

Measurement - Classifying & Sorting


Early Math Talk - AreasWhere can we talk about math?

Everywhere!



At the Block Center“You're building with the rectangle blocks – see they have four sides and four corners. Oh now you put a triangle on top – that's a triangle because it was three

sides and three angles.”



At the Water Table“Wow you're pouring water from the big container to

the smaller container. Do you think all of the water will fit? Oh look, the water spilled out.”



Snack Time“Can you set the table for yourself and your friends?

How many cups will you need? How many napkins will you need?”



Circle Time“We have eighteen children in our class, but Robbie is

out sick today and Rita is visiting her grandparents. So how many children are sitting on the carpet?”



Story Time“Do you remember what happened in the book? What

was the first part? And then what came next?”



At the Dramatic Play Center“Are you doing a pattern with your cooking? I saw you

stir and pour and then again stir and pour. Are you going to continue your pattern or do you think you'll

change and make a new pattern?”



Outside on the Playground“I see you climbing so high. Now you are on top of the

slide. Are you going to come down to the bottom of the slide?”



Arrival and Departure Time“Sally and Peter – you two go get your coats. Melissa,

Sam, and Willy – you three can go next.”



Everywhere and all the time!We build literacy-rich environments for our kids.

How can we create math-rich environments as well?



Everywhere and all the time!And for all children – both boys and girls!

Talk with girls in block and other STEM areas.Talk with boys in dramatic play and reading areas.

Simpson, A., & Linder, S. M. (2016). The indirect effect of children's gender on early childhood educators' mathematical talk. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 44-53.© Teresa E. Gonczy 2016 – Penn Foster Early Childhood Webinar Series, San Francisco, CA

Early Math Talk – For YouNow let's try it out...

Pick a number from 1-9and pick a letter from A-H

Type it into the chat...



(1) Counting & Number Sense(2) 1-to-1 Correspondence - (3) Number Operations(4) Ordering & Seriation - (5) Geometry & Shapes(6) Spatial Relationships - (7) Patterns & Change

(8) Measurement - (9) Classifying & Sorting


Early Math Talk - AreasWhere and when can we talk math?

(A) Block Center - (B) Water Table(C) Snack Time - (D) Circle Time(E) Story Time - (F) Dramatic Play

(G) Outside Play - (H) Arrival & Departure


Early Math Talk – For YouNow let's try it out...

Using your number and letter, come up with an example of early math talk of that type and for that area/routine

that you could use in your classroom.Type your example into chat so we can all share ideas.

(No right or wrong answers!)


Early Math Talk – Other IdeasMore Resources

-Check out the @earlymath Twitter feed for more articles and pictures from classrooms.

-Path to Math Tip Sheetshttp://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/math-word.htm

-Talk Read Sing about STEM

http://toosmall.org/community/resources


http://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/math-word.htm

http://toosmall.org/community/resources

Early Math Talk – Other IdeasMore Resources

-NAEYC Math Talk Tipshttps://families.naeyc.org/learning-and-development/music-math-more/support-math-readiness-through-

math-talk-How to Count for Grown-Ups

https://kidsquadrant.com/2014/07/11/how-to-count-a-guide-for-grownups/


Early Math Talk - ReviewConclusion

* I used to think... Now I think...

* Where & when will you use math talkin your classroom this week?

Write out some examples beforehand.


Early Math Talk - ReviewFeel free to contact me...

Teresa E. Gonczy - [email protected] @earlymath

Slides will be availableon my blog at www.teresaeg.com/blog
