Math goals will be very individualized, just as any other goal. Similar to my IEP goal example post about play and language and literacy, this post will review goal examples that are aligned with the early learning standards for my state as well as the ABLLS- R and the VB-MAPP. Best practices is to use data for instructional purposes as well as goals for each learner.
Early learners are exposed to pre-academics and academics through play. There are learners who learn best sitting down for age appropriate amounts of time. We meet our learner’s where they are at and teach them the way that they need. Developmental skills are modified and activities are differentiated while they are exposed to age typical norms. Some fun and age appropriate ideas to work on language and literacy both at school and in the home are:
- Share books with children, counting items you see on the pages or reading math based books such as:
- Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
- Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
- The Greedy Triangle by Marlyn Burns
- I’m Trying to Love Math by Bethany Barton
- Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
- Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood
- Quack and Count by Keith Baker
- One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre
- Eric Carle’s 123 by Eric Carle
- Who Eats First? by Ae-hae Yoon
- Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
- Where’s Spot? by Eric Hills
- Cook together and label numbers you see on tools or ingredients and nutrition facts
- Count toys and incorporate math games while playing with toys
- Math based children games:
- Bingo
- Hi Ho Cheerio
- Monopoly
- Feed the Woozle
- Quirkle
- Create and play with sensory bins with math themed materials inside
- Color sorting activities with pom poms and egg cartons
- Match domino pieces to written numerals
- Sort toys by their colors during clean up
- Notice and vocally label the number, size, shape and color of the things around you.
- While out in the community, talk about the colors of different fruits you see, count items you see while out for a walk, label the sizes and shapes of things you see in your backyard or at the park.
Some IEP examples for early learners are:
- ______ will count objects using 1:1 correspondence that are presented in random sets of up to 10 with 90% independence across 2 consecutive days.
- After an adult counts aloud objects in sets presented in random order (1 through 10) ______ will answer “how many” with 90% accuracy across 3 consecutive sessions.
- ______ will label written numerals 1-15 when presented in random order with 95% independence across 3 consecutive data points.
- When shown a card with a written numeral on it, in random order (1-5), in 4 different environmental settings, ______ will put objects in a grouping matching the written numeral with 90% accuracy across 2 days.
- ______ will identify groups when presented in a field of 3, corresponding to the appropriate vocabulary “more”, “less”, “greater than”, “fewer”, “equal to”, or “same as” with 90% accuracy across 2 consecutive sessions.
- ______ will place objects in groups of a single attribute labeled by an adult with 90% accuracy across 3 consecutive data points.
- ______ will identify coins by their names with 90% accuracy across 2 consecutive days.
- ______ will identify times on a clock when verbalized by an adult and with a visual in a field of 3 with 90% independence across 2 consecutive days.
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