ABSTRACT
In Chapters 1 and 2, the rationale for approaching children’s mathematical development in innovative ways has been explored. In this chapter the focus is on making maths ‘real’ for children. An important part of making things real for children of course depends on helping them to make connections between maths in the real world, their everyday experiences and maths that happens in the school or early years setting. However, part of what is real for children is their play, so this too will be examined and some opportunities for promoting mathematical development explored. Above all, what is real for young children are the things that they are fascinated by, that they are interested in or even passionate about. It is these things that make the best starting points for mathematical (and
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Opportunities drawn from everyday life to develop mathematical thinking and understanding are immense. Since, as we have seen, maths is part of everything we do, that is inevitable. Indeed, around the world, most curricula for young children do not have a strand or component that is called mathematics or numeracy, but that is not to say that children do not develop these understandings. In Scotland, in the foundation stage, mathematics has been subsumed under Knowledge and Understanding of the World, since maths is regarded as just another way of understanding the world around us.
