Develop a Deep and Flexible Conceptual Understanding 

Students will engage in play and exploration to discover numbers and their relationship to quantity. Through this exploration, students will create connections between using tools, such as number lines, and counted objects, patterns, shapes, and data to increase curiosity and to solve problems in their environment. Building these connections is a vital foundation for establishing and applying the understanding of operations.

Students will develop the sequence of numbers and, through application and practice, fluently apply the counting procedure up to 20. Students will accurately recognize and name numerals up to 10, describe sizes and colors, and identify simple shapes.

Students will identify a problem in their classroom environment and through various experiences, develop a strategy to solve the problem.  They will practice creating models that show their thinking. Through problem-solving, students will strengthen their ability to recognize similarities and differences and sort objects by attribute, applying this to various situations.

Students will begin to communicate their reasoning about mathematical situations in the classroom. They will be encouraged to articulate their thinking in response to critical questions such as, “Why do you think it is true?”, and “Does anyone think the answer is different, and why do you think that?” Students will begin comparing and sorting objects and explain the reasoning that led to their outcome. Students can practice reasoning during interactions at play or centers. 

Students will see math as something that helps them interact with their world and is vital to solving real-life problems throughout the day. They will build on their natural curiosity and develop the habit of looking for relationships and patterns within their environment to become resilient and effective problem solvers. Students will use math in inquiry-based centers to develop a meaningful use for math. 

Develop the Ability to Make Conjectures, Model, and Generalize 

Students will recognize patterns around them within the classroom and the real world and make predictions about those patterns (i.e. exploring and discovering patterns in nature or weather). Students will make sense of problems by making generalizations of prior conceptual understandings and applying them to the new situation. 

Students will expand their mathematical vocabulary with math-specific language to describe patterns they notice around them. Students will solidify ideas through cooperative conversations, peer interactions, and exploration through play or centers.