Everyday Mathematic Activities and Student Comprehension

Abstract

Young children learn math concepts from examining the world around them. In fact for the first five years of life, children construct math knowledge and concepts through everyday activities with parents and caregivers. Daily activities like lunch time can be a great opportunity for children to practice and get hands-on experience with math concepts such as number sense, shape identification, classification, and pattern recognition. (Geist 2008) One research approach to increase students comprehension in math is the Everyday Mathematics approach. According to this approach “If children are introduced to abstract concepts before they have a solid basis for understanding those concepts, they tend to resort to memorization and rote learning, which is not a solid foundation for further learning. Everyday Mathematics focuses on first developing student’s understanding of concepts through: Real world examples and concrete objects (manipulatives), Pictorial representations, and Discussion of ideas and method” (uchicago.edu).