Essay on The Aim and Importance of Literacy and Numeracy

Practitioners can support children by setting up a range of activities that include all stages of maths development and meets individual needs. In my placement, they have jigsaw hop-scotch in the 3-5-year-old room. The children need to put the pieces in the correct place to be able to complete the hop-scotch. This allows the children to work individually or together to put the number in the correct order. This allows the children to recognise numbers as well as develop the child’s physical development. Then the practitioner can observe and assess if the child can count any higher and the child’s development which will allow the practitioner to plan using the EYFS Development Matters (Early Education, 2012) for support to allow the child’s development to improve but still meeting their individual needs.

Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.

The objective of EDC141: The Numerate Educator was for students to obtain the chance to develop their mathematical skills, build mathematical competency, and positively chance their disposition (as a pre-service teacher) towards the importance and the functionality of maths. The key to success is to learn from one’s mistakes and work (by practicing mathematical questions) to further improve one’s results. This I managed to do by increasing my Mathspace results from 64% to 68% (as shown in Appendices 1A). The Australian Curriculum focuses on developing student’s capabilities in six areas: number, Algebra, Geometry, measurement, statistics and probability. Using evidence from the Mathspace test results, the NAPLAN results and activities of ‘What

Literacy is fundamental to all areas of learning from an early age, as it unlocks access to the wider curriculum. Being literate increases opportunities for pupils in all aspects of life and lays the foundations for lifelong learning and work.

The aims and importance of learning provision for numeracy development are to ensure all students understand that maths is a vital part of everyday life and will continue to be used throughout their life. Primary schools will teach students to learn various methods and techniques to be able to reach the correct answer. The end goal means more students will be able to solve a mathematical problem, independently, using a method that suits them. They can then develop their learning to improve their knowledge and apply it to real life situations; such as counting in groups of numbers such as 5’s or 10’s, which in turn can be applied when paying for

Numeracy development is important for all children as maths is an important part of everyday life. The way in which maths is taught has changed greatly over the years. When I was at school we were taught one method to reach one answer. Now, particularly in early primary phase, children are taught different methods to reach an answer, which includes different methods of working out and which also develops their investigation skills. For example, by the time children reach year six, the different methods they would have been taught for addition would be number lines,

- To encourage the effective use of numeracy and maths as a tool in a wide range of activities within and out of school

The National curriculum states that in Mathematics teachers should use every relevant subject to develop pupils’ mathematical fluency. Confidence in numeracy and other mathematical skills is

“Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development.

For pupils to use a calculator effectively requires a sound knowledge of number. As children learn how to enter simple one step calculations that involve whole numbers, they can explore

The school worked on a year and a half form entry basis and so classes were generally small. During numeracy children were divided into three ability groups and each group was taught separately. My partner and I (Miss M) worked with the lower ability group. Ofsted (2009) noted that the ‘arrangements for teaching numeracy in smaller groups have had a dramatic effect on pupils' progress, improving mathematics from a relative weakness to one of the school's strengths.’ However, doing so may mean that children know that very little is expected from them. According to Cockburn (1999, p15) ‘if a child is labelled as not being able or lacking in confidence, it may not be very long before that child ceases to perform to the best of their abilities.’

Children at this age also have different skills related to numeracy. Fostering numeracy skills in early childhood education not only predicts for later Math achievement but also for greater literacy skills (NAEYC, 2009). Since mathematical concepts are often intertwined with so many areas such as science, literacy, dramatic play, block building, and more, math learning centers offering interdisciplinary materials and activities ensure that young children grow to understand and appreciate the real life applications of mathematical concepts (Fu, 2010).

It is important to support the development of language, literacy and numeracy at this early stage as it forms the basis for each child’s future learning needs and ability and will also allow you to observe and understand if there is a need for additional support. It will also help children to grow and to become confident, educated individuals and succeed in their life goals.

Is it important to be a literate person in today’s society? The ability to function well depends on whether or not a person is literate and can comprehend what is going on around them. If a person doesn’t have the basic ability to read, they will feel the stress and dependency on others because of their illiteracy. Illiteracy is a big problem because without the knowledge of reading, illiterate people can’t perform daily tasks and responsibilities in daily life. When all it would take is a mere two minutes out of your day, don’t you think illiteracy can be helped or even extinguished?

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.