Children\'s Mathematics

purpose and shows the equipment to the children. Sometimes a graphics area

becomes outdated and needs revival: then a theme may restore some interest. Here

we suggest some themes that give a mathematical focus:

• calendars


• cheque books


• birthday cards


• petty cash receipts


• raffle tickets


• recipes.

Observations of this area are important to see what the children write and how they

are using the area and these can be added to their records and also used for planning.

Do children use mathematics in their own self-initiated learning? This is a useful

assessment point. If children freely put their mathematics on paper then they are

beginning to make connections between practical and more abstract forms of math-

ematical thinking: this will help them move into standard forms of maths.

Max and Alex, aged 7, in the graphics area – self-initiated maths

activity

This started a craze in the graphics area of making multiplication rolls in all lengths

and with a variety of numbers. I used this opportunity to discuss repeated addition

and the connection to multiplication: this reinforced work on multiplication the

children had been engaged in previously in the term. It also presented an excellent

link to the repeat function on the calculator.

Max and Alex invented what was later termed ‘a multiplication roll’. Max cut out

a long strip of paper. He wrote ‘3’ at one end and rolled it up so the 3 was

hidden and then he wrote another ‘3’ and rolled it up and repeated this until he

had run out of paper and he had made a complete roll. He undid the roll and

rolled it backwards adding the 3s in his head and he ended with ‘27’ which he

put on the other side of the paper. He then ‘tested’ Alex by giving him the rolled

up paper and explaining you have got to add the next number ‘and you keep

going until you get to the end’. Alex tried and retried; eventually they did it

together. Alex then made one for Max to try. He chose the numeral ‘1’ to use in

the multiplication roll. Max laughed and suggested that they could make that

really long and so they taped several strips of paper together and wrote

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 and so on. They tested the strip on Nicholas who found it

fascinating. At the review session they shared what they had been doing with the

rest of the class.

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