Early numeracy

Overview

Numeracy is the capacity, confidence and disposition to use mathematics in daily life. Mathematics involves understanding about numbers and quantity, operations, patterns, space, measurement and shapes. Numeracy is the application of these mathematical concepts, with skills developing along trajectories from birth.

Early Years Learning Framework

This topic relates to all outcomes in the Early Years Learning Framework – a guide to supporting and nurturing young children's learning from birth to 5 years of age, and their transition to school.

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Research

The research supports a number of evidence-based practices for promoting early numeracy in early childhood education and care settings.

Two A4 paper sheets with the AERO early numeracy practice guide

Tried and Tested practice guide

This guide outlines key practices that support early numeracy development in early childhood education and care.

Annotated reference list

An overview of the research evidence cited throughout our early numeracy resources.

Using the practice

Evidence-based practices play an important part in extending children’s learning and development in early numeracy. See below some strategies to embed early numeracy in your early childhood and care setting.

Using the practice: early numeracy

This resource looks at strategies for engaging in sustained shared conversations with children aged 3-5 years, and outlines examples of how educators and teachers can use moments in the day to build on children’s developing early numeracy skills.

Snapshots of practice

Early numeracy practices may look different in different contexts. See below examples of early numeracy with a focus primarily on children 3-5 years.

Illustrations of practice

The following illustrations of practice focus primarily on children 3-5 years.

Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) – Curriculum and pedagogy in the early years

This resource provides an example of a teacher using ‘concrete manipulatives’ to help students develop their numeracy skills.

This video shows a teacher in Western Australia delivering a numeracy lesson to her pre-primary and Year 1 students. The video shows students working at mixed-ability learning stations to achieve individual student goals in early numeracy. The learning station activity was designed to help students with counting, trading and place value. Blocks, playdough and measuring tools were all used to make the numeracy concepts tangible for the students.

Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) – Problem solving in the block corner

This resource provides an example of a teacher developing students’ numeracy skills and engaging in formative assessment.

This video shows a teacher in Victoria working with 3 and 4-year-old children. The video shows how the teacher understands how to monitor children’s learning to tailor the learning program to meet the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of each learner. She focuses on students developing their early numeracy skills, providing them with language such as 'in front of', 'behind' and 'next to'. Block building is used to increase students understanding of mathematical concepts by planning and building structures. During class activities, the teacher also supports the development of self-regulation through modelling and discussing negotiation and collaboration strategies, so that the children can work together to build their structures. The teacher’s formative assessment strategies are also highlighted, which involve ongoing communication with families, taking running records, collecting work in portfolios and developing learning stories.

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