Thank you to all the parents/carers who came to our Maths Cafe today which was all about the importance of pattern for children and early development of mathematical thinking. 

Patterns are central to maths and children have an instinctive idea of patterns.

Research shows that children’s ability to see patterns forms the basis of early mathematical thinking. When you teach children to become aware of patterns, they will build up the skill of spotting patterns for themselves, they will see how patterns change and notice irregularities.

Pattern awareness can vary significantly between children. Early patterning begins with matching one-to-one with objects, pictures or numbers.

From birth to 3 years old you should provide patterned material and small objects to arrange in patterns.

For 3 and 4 year olds you should be introducing more pattern recognition. Talk to children about, and identify the patterns around them, so they can learn the words that describe different patterns.

As children become more confident in making patterns and seeing connections, they will be able talk out loud about what they have noticed.

Children will start to identify the mathematical relationships and connections around them in the home, your setting and outside in nature.

Patterning supports the foundations for recall of the counting sequence and understanding number operations.

Learning about patterns and connections will help children to make their own predictions and form logical connections. It’s an important foundation for later mathematical thinking and reasoning.