Download the article: Math in the Kindergarten
The foundation for learning math lives in the body in the rhythm of the breathing and the heart. This "math genius" lives in the body of each individual human being through the rhythmic system. Of course, children see their parents doing activities that they want to copy and these activities may relate directly to math through computation, sharing of resources or with direct relationship to currency by watching mother purchase groceries, for example. Children begin to count through imitation. Watching mother divide the potatoes onto plates for dinner is a mathematical experience. By watching and copying others, children begin to understand the outward manifestations of simple mathematics. So, as you can see, the world of math is already a part of their natural experience of the world.
The foundation for beginning to teach math in the elementary grades begins in nursery and kindergarten classes with social and practical experiences, simple number rhymes, games, songs, and stories. During the course of a child's kindergarten experience, children learn math concepts through their experience of the world around them. They learn through movement, making things and playing. The children play "store" using shiny chestnuts to "purchase" items. A group of children may build a train and sell "tickets" for the ride. A basket of small puppets is distributed among a group of children before the beginning of a puppet show. Social concepts such as sharing with a friend are learned early in the Waldorf classroom. There is a natural expression of equality and division when they learn to take turns and share.
Through singing and rhythmic activity, the children begin to experience math as mathematical reality permeates the world. We sing, clap, and dance to the rhythm inherent in number. They experience themselves, as one, first through separation from their parent. Then they experience the "oneness" of the sun shining down upon them in a verse such as:
Sun above me shining,
Shine into my golden crown.
Sun above me shining,
Shine into everything I do in the world,
Sun above me shining,
Shine into my heart so good.
The children experience the concept of two: day and night for example. There isn't a kindergarten child who could start the day without wearing two slippers. The children experience the four seasons and the four elements. Early in the year the children learn that five children fit comfortably on the "ready" bench near the door. On bread baking day, each child receives one bun. We touch lightly on fractions when a child requests a second helping and receives a bun divided in half.
One of the tasks of early childhood is to master body skills: finger plays and movement games that help develop physical coordination and form the basis for the formation of speech. Matching rhythmical counting with body movements forms a basis for later mathematical learning and forms a valuable foundation in the body through the mastery of number and rhythm. During circle time, the children imitate rhymes that incorporate the gesture of counting on their fingers. The teacher brings math imaginatively, through the use of games and seasonal rhymes, both which bring math concepts in a creative way. The children are essentially unaware that circle time presents an opportunity to begin to learn to count, add, subtract, divide and multiply. The children may imitate these rhymes, finger plays and other games learning to count to five, ten, twenty or higher in games of skill such as jumping rope.
Number representations are a natural part of the nature stories and fairy tales that we tell in kindergarten. In the Brother's Grimm story, "The Queen Bee," for example, two brothers set off on an adventure and fall into disorderly ways when they are joined by their third brother known to them as simpleton or "simple one." Simpleton, with help from three different animals, releases the castle from enchantment after completing three tasks. His deeds, with the help from the animal kingdom, free the three beautiful princesses from their sleep. In the end, the three brothers marry the three princesses. This brief outline illustrates how fairy tales succeed in bringing mathematics to children on a subtle level.
In the forward to Ron Jarman's book, Teaching Mathematics in Rudolf Steiner Schools for Classes IVIII, Chris Clark states that "As a child beholds the universe, it looks for connection with the elements of that universe as well as with the contents of his own mind and soul: a connection with the innermost self." Children experience math in the world around them. Because arithmetic arises out of the rhythmic system of the body, it is natural that in kindergarten we bring the unfolding of math through rhymes, songs and stories. However, direct intellectual teaching does not take place. The child is encouraged to take in the world with his senses. The teaching of mathematics, reading and science happens organically with the child whose natural inclination is to explore the world.
Five little leaves so bright and gay
Were dancing on the tree one day.
Brother wind came into town,
O-O-O-O
One little leaf came tumbling down!
Four little leaves so bright and gay,
Were dancing on the tree one day,
Brother wind came into town,
O-O-O-O
One little leaf came tumbling down!
Three little leaves so bright and gay,
Were dancing on the tree one day,
Brother wind came into town,
O-O-O-O
One little leaf came tumbling down!
Two little leaves go bright and gay,
Were dancing on the tree one day,
Brother wind came into town,
One little leaf came tumbling down!
One little leaf so bright and gay,
Was dancing on the tree one day,
Brother wind came into town,
One little leaf came tumbling down!
One little, two little, three little witches,
Fly over haystacks, fly over ditches,
Slide down the moon without any hitches.
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One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again!
Why did I let it go?
Because it bit my finger so!
Which finger did it bite?
The little one upon the right.
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Five little peas in a pea pod pressed,
One grew, two grew, so did the rest.
They grew and they grew and they did not stop,
Until one day the pod went POP!
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Two little beaks went tap, tap, tap!
Two little shells went crack, crack, crack!
Two fluffy chicks peeped out and, Oh!
They liked the wide world so,
They left their homes without a fret,
And two little shells are now to let!
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Here is the beehive, Where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees!
Here they come creeping out of the hive,
One, two, three, four, five,
ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM, see they're alive!
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Games and Stories
Stepping over stepping stones, one, two, three,
Stepping over stepping stones come follow me,
The river's very fast and the river's very wide,
So we'll step across the stepping stones,
To reach the other side.
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Finger Plays and Rhymes
Five tiny fairies hiding in a flower.
Five tiny fairies caught in a shower,
Daddy Cock-a-Doodle standing on one leg.
Old mother speckle-top lays a golden egg.
Old Mrs. Crosspatch comes with a stick,
Fly away fairies, quick, quick, quick!
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Five Little seeds a-sleeping they lay,
A-sleeping they lay,
A bird flew down and took one away;
How many seeds were left?
Four little seeds a-sleeping they lay, et cetera.
There were five little buns in the bakery shop,
The kind all sweet with the honey on the top,
Along came a child with a penny to pay,
She took one bun and then she went away!
There were four little buns in the bakery shop,
Etc…
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Jump Rope Songs
Tell me, tell me, tell me true,
How old, how old, how old are you?
One, Two, Three…
My old Granddad made a shoe,
How many nails did he put through?
One, Two, Three…
Bubble gum bubble gum in a dish,
How many pieces do you wish?
One, Two, Three…
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My mother made a chocolate cake.
How many eggs did she break?
One, Two, Three…
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