NumberSense Day in the Junior Prep

“I’m just not good at math.”

“I’m not a math person.”

“I wasn’t born with the math gene.”

Unfortunately, these phrases are all too familiar to teachers and parents. Children often go through school and life being bombarded with messages that imply some people are good at math and some people aren’t.

The JP NumberSense Day is planned so that teachers can bring positivity to math lessons and develop in students a growth mindset and a healthy attitude toward mathematics that will give them the stamina to persevere and overcome challenges.

Students could dress up their uniforms in an allocated number or number of their choice. These were some of these accessories seen in the JP. This was an opportunity to consolidate and reinforce mathematical concepts.

One student displayed his medals, and this was a proud moment to share his accomplishments with the class in a mathematical way.

Days of the week were clearly visible in one student’s number sense demonstration and certainly a novel and fun way to learn the days of the week. One-to-one correspondence using colourful stickers linked to numbers was exhibited. Identification and formation of numbers was practiced incidentally.

Classroom activities of smarties across the grades included sorting into colours, counting, tally and bar charts, number bonds and patterns.

The JP NumberSense Day was aimed to promote a hands-on approach, bring excitement to learning mathematical concepts, make learning fun, encourage engagement and collaboration.