The simple act of sorting
Marie Skelton, Head of Early Years, explores maths in early childhood.
Counting and recognising numbers are often seen as the foundation of pre-school maths and although they are very important, young children must first develop their mathematical thinking. This begins in very early childhood with sorting and classifying. The act of sorting is about observing, comparing and contrasting objects. Children notice that some things are similar and some are different, and this creates an awareness that is needed for learning and understanding maths. As children learn visual discrimination, they then see the differences between similar objects, a useful skill for when they begin to differentiate between similarly shaped numbers and letters.
Simpleactivities at home and at nursery can encourage children to explore the notionof sorting. As we go about our daily routine, we can draw attention to howthings look alike and different, and even simple tasks such as tidying toys canbecome a valuable lesson in sorting for a pre-schooler. This is a particularlygood activity if you are looking for a little help at home!
When Iwas a small child, my mum had a large button box that appeared regularly. Iwould spend hours sorting buttons, making groups by size, colour and shape. Iam sure that my mum was simply using what was available to her at the time, butintentional or not, this simple activity nurtured the concept of early maths.Although I did not collect buttons in the same way for my own children, sortingsocks was one of my personal favourites when my children were young. Together,we would compare the sizes of the socks, look at them and talk about theirpatterns, sort them into piles for each member of the family, and talk aboutthe different types of socks (football socks, school socks, party socks andfavourite socks).
At 1st place, we believe that children learn through first-hand experiences. For us, parents are a child’s first teacher, the most important educators. Having and sharing these early learning experiences at home as well as at nursery is incredibly important. Children (and parents) can gain a real sense of achievement through the learning process. From watching your child’s eyes light up as they find their first pair of matching items to listening to their increasing vocabulary as they explore mathematical language such as ‘big’ or ‘different’, there is much to be gained from the simple act of sorting.
Read more about other early maths activities that you can do with your child at home in our Kids’ Corner.