Maths in Early Years can seem simple to parents and adults who already understand the basics! However, children are building up the vital foundations for the years ahead. Buttons, blocks, beads and all manner of objects to hand can help children to practice, rehearse and understand the 'language' of numbers.

Asking questions can help, whilst you are shopping or working out how to divide food at home. How many do I have? How many will each person have if I share them out evenly? How much does one cost? What if I buy two, how much would that be? Would it be more or less? All of these questions help children to keep maths in mind and to understand that there is maths in everything we do!

Counting red cars, yellow cars or blue. Calculating how many steps to get in the house from where they are now. Adding their pocket money up and looking at what things cost! We are immersed in maths and we do that maths in our heads all the time without generally sharing it. How long will it take me to get here or there, how much time have I got, how much will it cost to fill up, do I have enough to get this now? Do I need more food for the BBQ. How much hotter is it today if it was twenty one degrees yesterday? Maths-play can be fun and lots of games involve scoring, counting, adding and using numbers. The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics!

"Aim high, achieve together!"