The Seattle Times – John Higgins
“Preschools typically leave math for grade school, in the belief that 4- and 5-year-olds aren’t old enough to understand what 7 stands for. Decades of brain science now show that waiting is a mistake. Even in the crib, research shows, infants can tell the difference between eight dots and 16 using an innate “number sense” we share with other species that helps us make some size comparisons without counting. By the time they are preschool age, students like the ones in Alfonzo’s class can grasp simple addition — three beads plus four beads makes seven beads — even if they can’t yet write the equations. They’re getting a strong start in math with games and playful activities that show all the ways they can use numbers and shapes to describe and measure differences and relationships between things.”(more)