Early Learning - Math Wise

One of the various sites I monitor online for news related to children and early learning is Psycport from the American Psychological Association. Psycport brings APA press releases to you on their site and through RSS feeds. A news report released on November 12th covered the topic of emotional, social and behavioral problems and their impact on later success in learning. To quote the press release:

"Children entering kindergarten with elementary math and reading skills are the most likely to do well in school later, even if they have various social and emotional problems, say researchers who examined data from six studies of close to 36,000 preschoolers. Children's attention-related skills also mattered, the researchers found."

The researchers (Greg J. Duncan, PhD and Amy Claessens, PhD, et al.) note that their findings of the lack of association between social skills and behavior problems with learning success comes as a surprise. But the report does add to the growing evidence supporting the importance of kindergarten-preparedness in basic early learning skills. (Click here for the press release and access to the full report.)

The Corvallis-Benton County Public Library collects materials that supports building basic math and reading skills in preschoolers. Earlier posts on this blog have highlighted picture books that build a variety of early literacy skills.

Below are several beginning counting and math concept books to share with your preschooler.
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
A counting book which shows what can be done with ten black dots--one can make a sun, two a fox's eyes, or eight the wheels of a train.







26 Letters and 99 Cents by Tana Hoban

Color photographs of letters, numbers, coins, and common objects introduce the alphabet, coinage, and the counting system.





Each Orange Had 8 Slices: a counting book by Paul Giganti, Jr.

An illustrated introduction to counting and simple addition. Pictures by Donald Crews.





Math on the Playground by William Amato

Shows fun ways to practice addition and subtraction on a visit to the playground. Part of the Math in My World series.






Toy Box Subtraction by Jill Fuller

This title is part of the Rookie Read-About Math series of early readers. Teaches basic subtraction concepts using toys.







Who's Counting? by Nancy Tafuri

Text and illustrations of a variety of animals introduce the numbers one through ten. Simple picture book for the very youngest children.





For more suggestions, see our Picture Books About Counting booklist.