Port Folio Objective 4.2

Objective 4.2

Describes how parents, peers & communities may see, feel & shape young children’s early literacy & numeracy experiences.

Experience

As we have learnt in lectures and workshops, numeracy and literacy is all around us and included in every aspect of daily life and routines. For this objective I have chosen to share experiences with you about children and their constantly changing ages. Ages always change and the number always grows making this is a perfect example of teaching children to count and compare numbers.

The family that I nanny for have three children aged 4/5/6 and are constantly commenting on their ages and counting the years as they grow older. When there is a birthday in the family the children are aware of it and use their mathematical skills to work out the time left till the siblings reach that age and how many years are left till the children reach the ages of major mile stones. Major mile stones include when children reach double digits and when they start school. The eldest of these children is well aware of what age she will be when she is allowed to drive a car and when she becomes an adult.

Parents and peers contribute to the experiences largely by communication and acknowledgement with birthdays and cards. They teach children about the connections between numeracy and literacy using age numbers and vocab containing comparative words. The method of problem solving is enhanced and can be tested using word problems. For example how old will you be in four years using your fingers to count on and how old will your sister be in four years knowing she is one year younger than you? So using worded problems, kids are able to understand and explore numeric comparisons. Using opposite words and different words that have the same meaning will expand general knowledge and vocabulary while encouraging methods of discussion and inquiry.

As the children join different out of school activities, ages come to play quite often, deciding which levels they participate in, what activities they should have mastered and what needs to be improved. Swimming lessons in the community are a good example of aged based levels where water babies are between the ages of 6 months to 2.5 years and move into the next level based on age rather than skill level. Teachers at schools also shape these skills by commonly having birth dates displayed in the classroom alongside the months of the year which is visually literacy but includes time duration and order of numeracy. The daily calendar helps use the days, dates, months and years repetitively allowing children to absorb and remember information without realizing it is learning.