Numbers in Pre-Primary

< 30.1 Criticality of Primary Math | Topic Index | 30.3 Numbers in Primary K-5 >

Let us see the range of numbers which need to be taught in Pre-Primary schools.

It has become a &ldquo;marketing point&rdquo; for schools to boast that by Upper KG, their students are taught (even to write) numbers up to 100 or 200. Most parents also get taken in by such claims. This in turn puts pressure on schools which would like to focus of understanding numbers rather than memorising them.

How do we decide the number curriculum at different stages of schooling?

We have seen that there is a vast difference between the spoken form of the numbers as against their written forms. In the table below, both forms have been given.

While writing numbers, there is a sudden change after 9. Fourteen is written with 1 and 4 which are already familiar to the children (1 as a person and 4 as legs of a dog) but now carry a totally different meaning. This also goes against an idea the teacher has taught them that 1 and 4 make 5.

This change in writing the numbers occurs because of the Place Value System.

Children in the Pre-Primary School are &ldquo;developmentally&rdquo; in a stage they can learn only by direct &amp; concrete experiences through their 5 senses. In fact there is a strong school of thought that no &ldquo;academic learning&rdquo; should happen in Pre-primary school. Place Value concept is too sophisticated for the pre-primary children to understand.

However, this difficulty does not arise when numbers are spoken. In its sound, &ldquo;fourteen&rdquo; seems distinctly different from wither &ldquo;one&rdquo; or &ldquo;four&rdquo; and hence could denote a different quantity.

Hence Pre-Primary school should have a different syllabus for spoken numbers vis-&agrave;-vis written numbers.

Children in pre-primary school should be taught numbers only up to 9 in numeral form. In spoken form, they can be taught up twenty or thirty as they can learn to recite and count collections of such quantities orally.

Some teachers and parents may feel that a written syllabus of just 9 numbers is too small. But they need to remember that understanding numbers up to 9 does not mean just being able to speak and write in numeral form. The Pre-Primary curriculum in numbers should also include the following.

A spoken syllabus up to Twenty or Thirty can be used for counting various collections of objects orally so that both the number names and the process of &ldquo;counting&rsquo; get internalised well.
 * 1) Ability of representing numbers up to 9 in all the representations (as covered in a previous chapter)
 * 2) Matching various representations with one another.
 * 3) Ability to understand the different properties of each number and their relations with other numbers (as covered in the chapters in Section 7).
 * 4) Understand the vocabulary used in pre-number activities

The most effective way to teach numbers in the Pre-Primary is through activities. We have dealt in detail with ABL &amp; its advantages in Chapters 15 &amp; 16.

< 30.1 Criticality of Primary Math | Topic Index | 30.3 Numbers in Primary K-5 >