Hello again. I write my latest blog from Newark airport, where I am waiting to board a flight to join this year’s NAEYC conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I am excited to report that CAMathories have had a paper accepted at the conference, entitled Developing Early Mathematical Skills: Fusing Language, Literacy and Math in the Preschool Setting. This is a huge opportunity to talk about our research-based pedagogical approach to the teaching of math through story.
I have been in Newark since Sunday evening working with Dr Kit and the team. We have some exciting plans in the making after we realized we have sufficient materials (books and teaching plans) to support preschool summer programs next year. There will be a six-week pilot in January to test the waters for demand, and to see how our materials adapt for lively, fun teaching sessions in this kind of context. We know that young children’s brains need to be fuelled constantly in the early years for optimum learning to take place, particularly between the ages of 0-3 years old. Our materials could therefore be used to help prompt and reinforce early mathematical concepts and language over the long summer break. Watch this space.
Apart from this, Dr Helen led a story time session at Chatham library, where her book, The Enchanted Apple Tree, a folktale from France, was very well received. As she read aloud, one three-year-old child immediately began to join in with the repetitive text, 'not one, not two, not three, not four, but five...' that runs throughout the story. We know how important it is to write books that use repetition to capture the rhythm of language with young children - but also repeating patterns of mathematical language. In this case, counting up to to five. Check out the book for yourself on Amazon
Expect another update soon. I will let you know how the conference presentation goes in a couple of days…
Best wishes for now,
Dr Helen