In Messy Maths: A Playful, Outdoor Approach for Early Years, Juliet Robertson offers a rich resource of ideas that will inspire you to tap into the endless supply of patterns, textures, colours + quantities of the outdoors + deepen children's understanding of maths through hands-on experience.
Juliet believes being outside makes maths real. In the classroom environment, maths can seem disconnected from everyday reality but real maths is really messy. Lots of outdoor play + engaging activity along the way is a must, as being outside enables connections to be made between the hands, heart + head, + lays the foundations for more complex work as children grow, develop + learn.
Following on from the success of Dirty Teaching, Messy Maths reimagines the outdoor space through a mathematical lens providing a treasure trove of suggestions that will empower you to blend outdoor learning into your teaching practice. It is not a 'how to' guide, but rather an easy-to-use reference book replete with ready-to-use games + open-ended ideas designed to help children become confident + skilled in thinking about, using + exploring abstract mathematical concepts as they play outside.
Many of these ideas + activities are also beautifully displayed in full-colour photographs throughout the book, making it even easier to jump straight into outstanding outdoor learning opportunities.
Topics covered include: general advice; exploring numbers; number functions + fractions; money; measurement; time; pattern; shape + symmetry; position, direction + movement; data handling; routines; + the mathematical garden.
Each chapter features a section on topic-specific vocabulary + expressions to help you integrate terminology into each area of study, while suggestions for embedding maths into routines are also provided to assist in the development of creative, progressive + flexible approaches to everyday situations.
Messy Maths is suitable for early years educators (of ages 3 to 6) who want to shake up their usual classroom practice and make the most of any outdoor space whether this be a nursery, playgroup, child-minder's back garden or a nature kindergarten as a context for maths.
Paperback | 252p