Oct 12, 2026 · 13 min · 10 segments
**Are you missing maths opportunities in your setting because you're only looking for numbers and counting?** Early maths is happening everywhere, from a baby fitting objects into containers, to a…
So one of the things that I really want you to know about is that it's happening constantly with whatever's going on every day, every minute in your setting.
It happens when a toddler tries to squeeze themselves in a box, [coughs] excuse me, that's, uh, too small.
It's happening when a child tells you, "Mine's bigger than yours." It's happening when a child builds a tower and discovers it won't stay standing.
It's happening when you- they fill a bucket up with sand, empty it again, fill it again.
It's happening when they spot a pattern, when they sort, when they compare, when they build, when they measure, um, when they solve problems.
So today I wanted us to think beyond counting and what does mathematically rich in early years environment actually look like.
More importantly, mathematical development isn't something that suddenly begins when a child reaches preschool.
The foundations are really built right from the beginning, right from the language.
Um, and children develop an understanding of numbers and numerical patterns and everyday experiences through shape, space, and measure.
And that's why we need to stop thinking of maths as an activity that happens at 10 o'clock on a Tuesday morning or a Thursday afternoon.
So one of the things that I really want you to know about is that it's happening constantly with whatever's going on every day, every minute in your setting.
It happens when a toddler tries to squeeze themselves in a box, [coughs] excuse me, that's, uh, too small.
It's happening when a child tells you, "Mine's bigger than yours." It's happening when a child builds a tower and discovers it won't stay standing.
It's happening when you- they fill a bucket up with sand, empty it again, fill it again.
It's happening when they spot a pattern, when they sort, when they compare, when they build, when they measure, um, when they solve problems.
So today I wanted us to think beyond counting and what does mathematically rich in early years environment actually look like.
More importantly, mathematical development isn't something that suddenly begins when a child reaches preschool.
The foundations are really built right from the beginning, right from the language.
Um, and children develop an understanding of numbers and numerical patterns and everyday experiences through shape, space, and measure.
And that's why we need to stop thinking of maths as an activity that happens at 10 o'clock on a Tuesday morning or a Thursday afternoon.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.