Nurturing the Mathematical Mind

Montessori education is grounded in the belief that every human being is born with a mathematical mind—an innate drive to seek patterns, notice differences, and understand relationships. While mathematical knowledge must be learned, the impulse to make sense of the world mathematically is inborn. Nurturing this natural tendency lays the foundation for deep, lasting understanding of mathematics.

You can nurture your young child’s mathematical mind at home. Not only will this be satisfying and fulfilling for your child now, but it will prepare them to learn and understand math in the future. Some fun ideas to do with your child:

Allow your child to pour. Give your child the opportunity to pour drinks, cereal, Goldfish crackers, dogfood, etc. This gives them real experience with volume and requires them to make estimations.

Bake with your child. What great hands-on experience—following the sequence of the recipe, measuring ingredients, pouring different amounts, and observing the changes that take place to throughout the process—all very exciting!

Roll a ball. Roll a ball back and forth with your child. Increase and decrease the distance between you; allow your child to judge and estimate how much power to exert on the ball as the distance changes.

String beads in patterns. Start a pattern and have your child continue it or invite your child to create their own pattern.

Do puzzles together. Puzzles require making careful observations and judgements.

Prepare a sorting activity. The mathematical mind loves to classify. Offer your child a collection of buttons to sort. They can sort by size, color, or number of holes. Have your child sort Legos, nuts and bolts, pastas, beads, etc.

Look for larger and smaller. Collect a group of objects of varying sizes (blocks, stuffed animals, leaves). Choose one object and ask your child to find one that is larger, then one that is smaller. Repeat. Making comparisons in size is crucial preparation for mathematical understanding.

Look for longer and shorter. Outside, find a stick and then find sticks that are longer and shorter. Inside, take a ruler around the house and note if objects are longer or shorter than the ruler. Children need a solid understanding of longer and shorter before they can understand numbers.

Sing counting songs. Children love counting songs! They absorb the pattern of counting. (Ex: “This Old Man,” “Five Little Monkeys,” “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”)

Count with one-to-one correspondence. When your child is about four, and after they have had a lot of experience comparing volumes and dimensions, they may be ready to count. Have your child count objects by touching each one as they say the numeral name out loud. Count all kinds of different objects!

Count, hold, and compare sets. Provide a small pile of objects (buttons, pennies, pasta pieces, etc.) Have your child count out a set: “Count three buttons.” Then have them count out another set: “Count out eight buttons.” Have them physically hold each set and compare which one feels bigger.

Use mathematical language. Using math specific language helps to set the stage for future math work at school. For example: “Let’s add these five potatoes to these 3 potatoes.” or “ Let’s divide these goldfish between you and your brother.”

Many of us have prejudices about math, however, math is a part of everyday life and helping our young child to enjoy math is a joy for us as adults as well.