Preschool Math 101

Math is so fun to teach to preschoolers! It’s also an easy subject to teach because there are a lot of daily activities to incorporate math. Preschoolers don’t need worksheets for math. Instead, they should learn through play and hands-on activities. Today I’m going to share about the basics of teaching preschool math.

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Here are the math concepts and skills that should be covered in preschool:

Sorts by color, shape, and size
Orders several objects based on one attribute
Recognizes simple patterns and can duplicate them

Sorting & patterns are fun activities to work on with preschoolers! Here some ideas for these activities:

Sort using objects from around the house, like sorting apples by color.

You can use pom poms, colored bears, or even laminated leaves to make patterns!

Counts to 20
Counts objects with meaning to 10 (one-to-one correspondence)
Matches numerals
Identifies by naming numerals 0-10

Some kids learn to count as early as toddlers and some need more help in the preschool years. I think the biggest concept to work on in preschool math is learning one-to-one correspondence. One-to-one correspondence is a foundational math skill for preschoolers to learn. It can take months or even an entire year for preschoolers to master this skill, which is why it’s important to keep practicing it! One-to-one correspondence means counting objects with meaning, or the ability to match one object to one other object.

I love using this counting caterpillar to teach number concepts. You can make learning number concepts fun with games, like this math game with race cars.

Identifies 4 shapes: circle, square, triangle, and rectangle
Demonstrates concepts of directional concepts (up/down, right/left, high/low, over/under, in/out, behind/in, beside/between, front of, above/below, inside/outside, far/near)

Shapes are a lot of fun to teach to preschoolers! They don’t need to know a lot about shapes, just be able to identify them. I love using my shape rhymes for this. To teach directional concepts, you can try this fun activity using a newspaper!