MathMat is a teacher-led program of mathematical activities designed to stimulate the numerical and spatial knowledge of 5-year-old preschoolers.

About

These activities have been developed by UQAM professors on the basis of didactic theories, in a playful perspective adapted to preschoolers. All the activities were tested in Quebec classrooms.

MathMat is structured around two major mathematical themes: number and the structuring of space. Each of these themes is divided into sequences and activity capsules that call on mathematical knowledge and related practices.

MathMat invites preschool classes to get involved in mathematical activities that raise stimulating questions and solutions.

Activities

In order to encourage mathematical engagement among preschool students, the activities proposed in MathMat aim, first and foremost, to enable students, alone or with others, to make choices and take action to solve a problem proposed within an activity. The activities in MathMat are designed to provide students with what they need, in terms of materials, to implement a problem-solving strategy. In return, the material results of the student’s action provide feedback on the appropriateness and relevance of what he or she has achieved. This is undoubtedly the originality of the didactic approach behind the activities proposed for preschool. They enable students to judge the appropriateness of their strategy (or that of their peers), based on the material effect of their action.

Secondly, teacher-led discussions help to identify the effective strategies used by the students, so that they can reinvest them and, if necessary, improve them when solving new problems.

MathMat is:

1

Fun activities to encourage  mathematical thinking

2

The use of concrete materials handled by students

3

A new and original approach that stimulates mathematical reasoning

Training courses

MathMat

Duration 15 h

This 15-hour training course is given exclusively face-to-face, in two non-consecutive 6-hour days and one 3-hour half day

Following this training, teachers will be able to:

  • Take ownership of the knowledge issues involved in the activities
  • be equipped to observe the strategies implemented in action, and thus improve their interactions with their students.

MathMat provides teachers with the tools to stimulate, observe, interpret and appreciate their students’ mathematical development.