This week, Reception children have been exploring how numbers can be composed of 1s. Children in their Maths learning, have experienced the concept of subitising small quantities and learnt to use their skills to identify the numbers within 3 and 4. Taking their learning further, children have begun to investigate the composition of 3 and 4. Composing and de-composing numbers have made them aware about the part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 2 is composed of 1 and ‘another 1’. They now know that ‘1 and 1 and 1’ makes 3. They have been learning from practical experience that a ‘whole’ is made up of smaller parts and is, therefore, bigger than its parts. When children are able to compose and de-compose numbers mentally, they will become more fluent in their knowledge of number bonds, which will enable them to efficiently calculate in KS1 and KS2.
Do take a good look at the photos and you can see how busy our reception children have been!