ABSTRACT
Life is full of calculations, even for young children and our special children, who can show anticipation of changes in small quantities. Practical skills and experiences of making comparisons, etc., play parts in developing mathematical thinking. There are other notions that evolve in children's minds about sequence, order, size, how things change, etc. Mathematicians often describe them as the 'big ideas of maths' because they provide the foundations for thinking in mathematical ways. The ideas are elements of number, but also elements of all the practical experiences that we incorporate in the activities and games that we use as contexts for teaching. Children's first understanding of addition and subtraction begins through the practical experiences. As children learn to appreciate and anticipate the effects of accumulations or reductions, aspects of the big ideas coalesce in their minds.
