Nursery

Pre-School

Kindergarten

At Home 

This is a perfect time to introduce children to numbers with Stern Structural Arithmetic blocks cube patterns and devices. The success of Dr Catherine Stern’s method lies in the fact that it commences activities natural to all young children and considers their age and specific stages of development....

Sensory motor development

This is the period where infants learn from ‘concrete’ experiences through what they ‘see’ what they ‘hear’ what they ‘touch’ and from their sense of ‘smell’.  Sensory input is especially important at the early stages of numeracy and is a vital aid to memory. Many children do not have sufficient concrete experiences, and are expected to move into abstract thinking and learning when they are not equipped to do so neither emotionally nor intellectually, because they have not yet developed the necessary mechanisms to deal with abstract thought processes.

What else is developing

Another important area is cognition or processing systems.  A child’s spatial awareness, h/her ability to discriminate, to perceive information through what they see and hear, (visual and auditory perceptions), their memory functions, the ability to order as with getting dressed – knowing that underwear comes first, then the shirt or dress, blouse and skirt, the cardigan or sweater, next their coat, socks before shoes. With number work, using number names in a particular order.  These processing systems underpin learning.  Some children do not develop these systems naturally.  If this area of development is overlooked, these deficits will become a major contributor to a child’s failure with maths.

The Stern mathematical devices provide an important structure which makes the learning as CERTAIN as possible, the blocks represent numbers

Numerals are symbols and concepts are abstract – children this age will learn in keeping with their age, developmental ability and growth from using manipulatives that represent numbers and these will make the number system VISIBLE!

The Counting Board provides the structure and the blocks represent the numbers 1 to 10. Activities are nurturing and simple. 

Because there is only one set of blocks one to ten in the board, early play may be restricted but thought provoking!  If a child wants to build a bridge six units long and three units high he needs to support his bridge at both ends but there is only one three, at the other end he must solve the problem by using the two and the one block. A similar problem occurs when building a wall around a field, he alters and rearranges the blocks until he has the wall that he wants, with the gate where he wants it.  Meanwhile he gets to know his blocks and how to combine them for his purpose. Less consciously he gets to know the numbers they represent. This is developing the child’s spatial and discrimination ability, his perceptions and memory.  He would also be developing his ability to judge sizes.

Using the structure of the Counting Board children match blocks to empty grooves and learn both cardinal (quantity) and ordinal (order and position) of the blocks. 

 The vertical stair provides insights into:

Order, size, position, early vocabulary – small/smallest, big/biggest next, behind, in front, after, too big, too small, practice with number names 1-10 and practice reversing the count from 10 to 1.  Children are enabled to associate these new words to their actions from using the blocks and device.

The Stern programme is being used in Kindergartens, Nurseries and Pre-Schools and also as a method for home schoolers.  We are also supporting many children with SEN from early years to adulthood.

Contact us on 0044 (0)1747 861503 for more information

These are some observations reported by teaching staff using Stern in the Nursery:

• Engagement in the learning – the children loved the sessions and were highly motivated by the materials. They wanted to experiment with them and talk about their findings.  Teachers liked that fact the materials made it possible to physically demonstrate many mathematical concepts.
• Spontaneous learning – The materials have motivated the children’s learning. At assessment stage using the Counting Board, the children spontaneously completed the board working from the smallest to the largest block. When placing the Pattern Boards 1-10 onto the ‘home-board’ a number of children immediately saw that the 10-board went at the end and then sequentially positioned the other boards.
• Spontaneous use of mathematical vocabulary – was generally noted, especially when children took the role of the ‘teacher’ and were able to demonstrate appropriate use of vocabulary.  Whilst some children enjoyed this task, others who were shy were reluctant to perform in a group situation, however, when the materials were left out, these children were observed spontaneously acting out the role of the ‘teacher’ with a smaller number of friends and were demonstrating very good language skills.

10-Box

Children play a series of games to discover the combinations to 10. Once the number names are assigned children broaden their understanding of the bonds to ten, 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7 and so forth to 10 and nothing makes 10.  This is the best way for children to understand the concept of zero.

Look at the block formation, you can see the stair or order of numbers 1 to 10, you can also see the double for 10, you can also see two pairs of like blocks in a different order, this is a ssimple way to build up a child’s knowledge of the law of commutativity… that is does not matter in which order the numbers are it will never alter the total as in 2 and 8 or 8 and 2 or 2+8=8+2.

The Pattern Boards teach concepts based on odd and even numbers

the higher levels of number work toward the end of the school year and will move on to adding and subtracting 1, 2, and 0, problems solving, number stories prior to moving into a reception or pre-prep class. This will obviously give them a head start with maths and more importantly they will enjoy it! 

   Find out how we can give your child a head start with maths, contact us

                                            0044 (0)1747 861503

Further Observations:

• Diagnosis and Assessment - The materials are clearly showing teachers gaps in learning; where there is a miss-match between a perceived ability level and the actual performance and understanding.  Whilst many children were able to count by rote, and some with 1:1 counting skills in place, there was an awareness that the children did not have a good understanding of the cardinal or ordinal aspect of number.  Further to this, it was noted that some of the children with good counting skills found activities in the Counting Board difficult.
• The spatial and comparative tasks required the use of different skills and memory activities highlighted areas of the children’s learning which needed to be further developed.  It was felt that lot’s more repetition at the level 1 activities stage, was needed for some of the younger more immature children.  It was felt that a great strength of STERN materials is that they give practitioners a clear insight into how these young children are thinking even when they are unable to articulate it for themselves.