Help! 30 to 50 months DMs in maths dev problem!

[dreamgirl]

Which DM would you click in 30 to 50 months in maths to evidence a child talking about length and using language of size? I know there is the DM in 22-36 months to do with Lang of size and there is the order 2 items in length in 40-60 months but the 30 to 50 month ones in shape, space and measure are all about shape, aren't they? What do you all do????

[Panders]

I think what your child is showing is "developing" in this area, so nothing really to "click" (I assume you mean on tapestry or something similar?).are

 

If I were to use an observation where I had seen him show more experience and language of comparison to do with size, length etc. I would say just that - he/she had a good time playing with ...... today and said...... showing a growing understanding. Or you could even say this child is entering the 40-60 phase couldn't you, these age bands are a guidance not a reality.

[dreamgirl]

Thank you for your reply! We are attaching our observations and on the spot obs in to target tracker and some of us are uncertain which DM to attach it to. If they are basically 30-50, as they have just gone in to nursery, I feel reluctant to click on 40-60, but do you think I'm wrong?

[Panders]

I think I would probably say you could interpret "beginning to talk about the shapes of everyday objects, e.g. 'round' and 'tall' in your assessment 30-50, as the example used is 'tall', then surely it could also mean a child saying 'long', longer, longest, short, shorter shortest, the important part is the child's understanding of the vocabulary he is using.

 

I would say it depends on how you can quantify your assessment, if it is a tick, I wouldn't just give 40-60, if though, I could say a child is just entering 40-60 in their understanding, i.e. towards the lower end of 40-60 along with my tick I would be happier.

[catma]

I'd actually say that this is where splitting the DM descriptors into individual things to tick causes too much angst.

I'd be reading the whole band and considering all the things I know about the childs mathematical knowledge and making a professional judgement about security or not across all the skills to be honest!!

Although the descriptors in Dev matters et al are about shape, the curriculum is wider than that so the other skills will still be being developed even though you may not focus on them for your assessment purposes. This means you need to consider how a child is bridging across the skills described in adjacent bands I think.

Cx

[BroadOaks]

I agree with Panders comment and i would also add that statement ie "Tall" when talking about about the size of the object ie bigger, smaller etc, "tall" being an example used for a child to begin talking about the differences in size or shape of objects.

 

Also catma's point is also very important regarding looking at all the examples within Mathematics and making an assessment based on overall strengths this area no matter the age band. If they are secure in a large percentage of 22-36 Maths as you would expect of a child of 36-40 months of age, and either emerging or developing in many areas of 30-50 Maths but emerging at a few areas at 40-60 maths then maybe concentrate primarily on securing the 30-50 Maths so they get a great overall foundation for 40-60 band that is also covered in Reception in most cases.

[green hippo]

It's a bit worrying that even Early Excellence are using the statements as a ticklist for baseline! I was very surprised.

[dreamgirl]

Thank you, everyone. Food for thought. Am I alone in feeling some areas of learning have helpful DM statements to guide practitioners and some don't, notably writing and SSM both in 30-50??