More About Big Math for Little Kids

Given this research, BMLK was developed to engage children in exciting and challenging explorations of deep mathematical ideas they are interested in.  It aims to stimulate playful but purposeful learning, and integrates mathematics into everyday activities and other academic areas. 

BMLK provides teachers with many different opportunities to help their children learn “Big Math” concepts.  First, the curriculum offers teachers a sequenced, in-depth coverage of various mathematical concepts.  Second, the curriculum provides teachers direct ways to connect literacy, language and mathematics.  Finally, the curriculum presents opportunities for math learning to directly connect from the classroom to the home. 

The BMLK curriculum covers six units:  number, shape, patterns and logic, measurement, number operations, and space.  In the number unit children learn to say the counting sequence, to use a number to tell how many (cardinality), and to use ordinal numbers to identify positions in a line (ordinality).  In the shape unit children learn the names and important attributes of two- and three-dimensional shapes as well as the concept of symmetry.  The patterns and logic unit gives children experience with patterns involving sound, color, shape, letters, and numbers. Children also learn to reason logically through the use of clues.  In the measurement unit children develop basic measurement principles as they investigate length, weight, capacity, temperature, time and money.  The number operations unit extends children’s understanding of number by introducing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division concepts through manipulatives, stories and games.  In the spatial relations unit children learn to identify positions in space, navigate through space, and represent space using maps.

BMLK is intended to be taught throughout the year on a daily basis.  Lessons involve playing games, reading storybooks and engaging in activities with children.  They include many manipulatives and other “hands on” materials for children to explore and manipulate, and many opportunities to interact with the other children in the classroom.  The curriculum provides explicit learning goals and outcomes, and suggestions for different ways that teachers can assess their children’s mathematical understanding.

The curriculum also aids in deepening children’s mathematical concepts by providing connections between language, literacy, and mathematics.  Every activity has a list of mathematical terms that teachers should use and introduce to children, and each unit’s storybook helps to link literacy and mathematics by allowing children to explore mathematical concepts with characters in the story. 

The program further attempts to foster language development by encouraging children to explain, justify, and communicate their mathematical ideas.