Early Number Sense

Posted by: adyfendy on: August 24, 2010

• In: Topic 2 - Numbers
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Numbers and operations

Numbers and operations concepts involve nine different ideas.

1.  Counting

2.  Quantity (sense of number)

3.  Comparisons (more/fewer/less)

4.  Order

5.  Numerals

6.  Combining operations(adding)

7.  Separating operations(substracting)

8.  Sharing operations(dividing)

9.  Set-making operations(multiplying)

According to Copley et al(2007, p7), to count well children need to master three basic things:

1.  The number sequence

2.  One-to-one correspondence

3.  The last number named when counting a set of objects

Number sense

“Refers to a person’s understanding of number concepts, operations, and applications of numbers and operations. It includes the ability and inclination to use this understanding in flexible ways to make mathematical judgements and to develop useful strategies for handling numbers and operations. Hence, mental computation is closely linked to the development of number sense. Emphasising mental computation supports effective numeracy since mental computation is commonly used for calculations by adults and is the simplest way of doing many calculations“

(NSW Department of Education and Training, 2010)

Reference

Copley, J, V.  Jones, C, & Dighe, J (2007). Mathematics-the creative curriculum approach.Teaching strategies inc. Washington DC.

NSW Department of Education and Training, (2010 ). Retrieved on 20 August 2010 from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/primary/mathematics/numeracy/mental/index.htm