A 4-year-old lines up colorful blocks in a row: red-red-green-red-red-green. Her teacher encourages her to replicate the pattern using soft toys: bear-bear-monkey-bear-bear-monkey. Another child uses blocks to build a doorway, figuring out how to balance blocks on top of others. This isn鈥檛 just play.
Patterning and spatial activities like block play are simple yet powerful activities in which preschoolers develop early math skills, according to a growing body of research by 菠萝视频 scholars.
, professor of psychology and human development, and聽, postdoctoral scholar are the lead authors of an Institute of Education Sciences-funded聽. It was recently published by聽.
In the study they assessed 73 preschool children鈥檚 repeating patterning skills, spatial skills, general cognitive skills and math knowledge at the beginning of the prekindergarten year, and re-assessed math knowledge near the end of the school year. They found that patterning and spatial skills were related and were each unique predictors of children鈥檚 math knowledge at the same time point and seven months later.
鈥淏ecause math knowledge begins to develop at a young age to varying degrees, it is imperative that we identify foundational cognitive and academic skills that contribute to this development and explain its variation,鈥� Rittle-Johnson said. 鈥淭his study provides further evidence that activities at home and school curricula should reflect the potential role of patterning and spatial skills for math knowledge development, and be included in early math standards.鈥�
So why do patterning activities promote later math learning?
鈥淧atterning skills involve deducing underlying rules in the sequence of objects, and may also promote some counting skills,鈥� Zippert said. 鈥淏ecause repeating patterning tasks do not require prior number knowledge, even preschool children can deduce underlying rules in the patterns. Developing such skills with repeating patterns at a young age may support their noticing and use of patterns and rules in numbers as they acquire basic numeracy knowledge.鈥�
And spatial skills are important too. Solving math problems often involves thinking about moving through space, so spatial skills may support math problem solving.
鈥淏oth are important for preparing students for a workforce that demands more mathematical literacy than ever before,鈥� Zippert said. 鈥淧reschool is the ideal time to lay the foundation for math learning, and best of all, math learning can occur through playful activities.鈥�
Peabody鈥檚 Katherine L. Boice also collaborated on the study.聽The research was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant聽R305A160132.
A version of this article previously appeared on 菠萝视频 News @ 菠萝视频.
搁别蝉辞耻谤肠别蝉:听