This can be through by asking questions such as ‘Which brick is the biggest?’ and ‘How many circles are there’. Through this they make sure to give the children time to answer the question, as this will build upon their self-esteem and confidence. If a child may feel too pressured to do something or answer a question, they may lose interest in the activity and therefore this will be ineffective to their development.

If a child is interested in what they are doing, they are most likely to have a more effective learning. It is the role of the practitioner to find out what the children’s interest are and then use this to their advantage by changing and adapting the environment to their interest and needs. To achieve this, practitioners in my setting have positive relationships with the children’s parents. To find out what the child’s interest are, they ask the parents what their child usually plays with at home and why they find this interesting. This can help when it comes to planning activities to help achieve the child’s next steps. If a child is interested in dinosaurs, the practitioners should plan an activity that includes either counting dinosaurs, weighing dinosaurs or etc. This is an effective way in how the practitioners can meet the children’s needs within mathematics as this will make mathematics seem more appealing to the children this therefore means they will be more intrigued and are more likely to develop more in mathematics.

D2:

It is vitally important that practitioners support children’s mathematical development effectively. Practitioners can support children through scaffolding. This is a strategy that is used by identifying the child’s zone of proximal development, this means identifying what the child can do without help, what they can`t do and what they can do with help. Scaffolding is a way of stretching and challenging children`s learning and development so that the child doesn’t become bored. It is important to stretch a child`s development as this ensures that they won`t stay at the same age and stage and that they will gradually improve. It is important to not push the children to much as this may have a negative impact on their development. By identifying what stage the child is at currently and what they can achieve in the future without making assumptions is important to supporting a child`s mathematical development. Scaffolding was a theory that was founded by Vygotsky, he believed that if practitioners used mathematical language and concepts through play and use the child’s past experiences to help those plan and scaffold activities, this will effectively support a child’s mathem