Maths and Numeracy
Songs and Rhymes bring maths to life for children. By singing rhymes and songs with children, you are supporting their mathematical understanding. Using music can,
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- Help children connect a number quantity with its name. When we hold up 5 fingers to represent Five Little Speckled Frogs we are helping children connect that visual representation with the number name.
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- Giving a visual representation for number relationships. When we sing ‘2 Little Dickie Birds’, we are supporting children’s developing number senseof one and one equalling two as well as supporting the conceptual understanding that when one bird flies away then there is only one left and when that flies away there is zero remaining.
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- Emphasise small quantities, creating strong foundations and understanding with small quantities before moving on to larger numbers.
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- Develop finger perception. Lots of finger rhymes and action songs help children to tell which finger is which. Research says that the brain ‘sees’ our fingers when doing maths calculations even when we aren’t using them and that children who have good finger perception do better mathematically.
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- Support learning Forward and Backwards Number sequences. Children learn to say the order of the numbers forwards and backwards through songs.
Children need daily access to rhymes and songs. Join in with the number action songs videos on the YMI YouTube channel or in the YMI Making Music Team.
Five Little kids in a Flying Saucer
Patterns
Virtually all mathematics is based on pattern and structure. A pattern is any sequence which has a rulesuch as repeating or growing sequences.
A child’s ability to spot patterns is more indicative of their later mathematical achievement than their ability to count. It makes a considerable contribution to our mathematical understanding. Children need exposure to a wide variety of patterns.
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- Join in with the pattern song videos on YMI YouTube channel or in the YMI Making Music Team.
There was an Old Woman who swallowed a Fly
Listen and Respond
Children should have opportunities to count and copy sequences of sounds. They find this more difficult than counting objects whether in pictures or in real life. They have to co-ordinate the number word in sequence to their perception of each sound.
They may use one of these strategies:
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- Counting the individual sounds as they occur
- Recognising the pattern in terms of its number of beats and answer without counting.
- Mentally replaying the pattern and counting the number of sounds while replaying it mentally.
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- Clap rhythms to children asking them to repeat them back to you. Start with simple rhythms and build to more complex ones as the children become more confident.
- Ask the children to count the number of sounds they hear e.g. 4 claps. Ask them to clap a specified number of times.
- Discuss the duration between the sounds and the speed of the sounds they hear. E.g. 4 stamps of equal length, 3 short claps and a long thigh slap.
Realising the Ambition
In this Education Scotland document we find on pages 76 and 77 the following statements.
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- Involve me in simple counting songs with repetition and rhyme.
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- Sing and recite counting songs and rhymes with me linking to visual representations using rhyme and rhythm.
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- Continue to sing and recite counting songs and rhymes with me linking to visual representations of numbers that involve counting, ordering and recognising number
Links to Resources & Information
You can download this document for Maths Songs and Rhymes
You can subscribe to our YMI Borders YouTube Channel where we have playlists and learning videos from all the tutors.
This the link to the Early Years Playlist on the channel
For teachers and support staff you can access our YMI Making Music Team pages on Glow. If you are not already member of the Team you can request access.
