Mathematical thinking involves seeing how your child uses his brain to play with the concepts of parts and wholes and his ability to see math in everyday life.
Mathematical thinking is important for three reasons: it is a necessary skill to master in your child’s schooling experience; it is a way of learning mathematics itself; and it helps your child in solving problems later in life.
One of the best ways to build early mathematical thinking skills in your child is to make numbers and math concepts fun and relatable to the everyday experiences he has. This will increase his desire to learn more and have an appreciation for math in the future.
Early math concepts appropriate for your child include shape sorting, matching games (putting one part with another part), color sorting, and simply playing with collections of things (seeing math in everyday life).
Learning about numbers is one of the first steps to your child becoming a mathematical thinker. He will become a mathematician through counting, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence activities.