How to Develop Math Literacy in Preschool Kids

To begin teaching math skills to preschoolers, count throughout the day with your child and choose items to demonstrate addition and subtraction.  Also, find examples of items that can be classified and sorted at home and work on puzzles that are age appropriate for your child to put together.

• Ask for your preschooler to count with you throughout the day within your normal routine.  Ask them to count things they see, like how many pieces of food are on a plate, or things that are being done, like how many times they are jumping.  This should be done often with a variety of activities to get kids to learn how to count and become familiar with numbers.


• Work on classification and sorting because these concepts are important for early math learning.  Ask kids to sort items by color, shape, size, and relationship using a variety of items from the home.  Also, look for games that you can purchase that incorporate classification and sorting that can be played with your child at home.


• Purchase a variety of puzzles and ask your preschooler to help put them together with you.  This is important because completing puzzles helps children look at shapes, and the way items fit and relate to one another.  Look for puzzles that are age appropriate and increase the difficulty of puzzles as soon as your child has mastered one.


• Work with preschool kids on early addition and subtraction.  This can be done by taking items away from a group or adding items and asking your child if there are more or less items then before.  Help your kids count before and after you add or subtract an item to help them understand how addition and subtraction works.