Many parents are unaware of what important teachers of math they are. Yet every day we talk math with our young children. By the first year of life, we have begun to use math terms with our children.

Many times, however, we don’t pay as much attention to this as we should.

Before you can begin to understand how many ways you teach math, we need to begin showing you where you use math concepts and are not even aware of it. When you do laundry and wash clothes separately based on color, you are sorting and classifying.

When you keep score at a sporting event and talk about one team being ahead or behind this includes number and operation. If you give directions to someone from one place to another you are talking spatial relationships.

Songs you sing to your toddler or games that use numbers and counting or comparison words such as “big” and “little” are measurements. When you ask your baby if she wants more that is a math word. Math is all around us.

Even without adult help, infants and toddlers are natural mathematicians. “All gone,” “more,” “empty,” “full” and many more words and phrases you use enrich your young child’s everyday math experience. But there is more you can do as a parent.

Put math into practice

Talk with your child about how she has two eyes, and so does her teddy bear. Then count them. You could also give her three crackers and you only two. Show her the difference by counting. Then tell her she can eat one and then you will both have two.

You can even point out that she is using “mama” and has said it three times. You can talk with her about shapes and spatial relationships by talking about how the dog is under the climber but your doll is on top.

You can talk about, “You’re sitting next to your kitty.” You can also say that, “Some of the crackers we have today are square and some are round.”

Measurement is another that introduces math to a young child. Size, weight, quantity, volume and time are all measurements we use. Talk about the long nap she took today or about moving the stool is hard because it’s heavy.

More math …

Patterns also lay a foundation for math when she sees that on Mary’s shirt it has stripes of white, blue, white, blue, white blue. This is recognizing patterns.

Collecting and organizing information is another mathematical concept. When you say, “Let’s put the dolls in the basket and the balls in the box,” you are teaching her about organization.

Math is all around us. Let your child hear the many ways new math words can be used that will deepen her understanding of math concepts.

The more math talk you use the more likely your child is to be successful in math as she gets older.

The more we talk math and share our enjoyment of the experience with our young children, the more likely your child will develop a positive attitude toward math learning and learning in general.

Think of terms that are used with math and use them with your child. She will begin to have an understanding from just hearing the words. Works like numbers, count, compare, long, short, curve, circle, triangle, square, larger, fewer, more less, add, minimum and maximum are just some of the words you can use.

Once again, it is clear that as a parent or caregiver, you are also her teacher. Maybe you never thought you would teach math, but here you go.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which publishes newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents. To reach current First Teacher Executive Director Nicole Brewer, email nicole@firstteacher.org or call 360-681-2250.