On being ready

This blog begun life as series of tweets, in June 2019.

Are you ready for school? Are you ready for tea?

Are you ready to go out? Are you ready to hear this?

(how does my foot compare to the alien's foot?)

What does ‘being ready’ mean? As a mathematics educator now working mainly with adults who work with 4-, 5- and 6-year-old children, I am hearing much lately about how their Reception children need to “be ready for Y1” (or their Y1 children for Y2).

For some folk it seems, in relation to mathematics teaching and learning, ‘being ready’ seems to mean doing something or teaching something earlier than one would normally, or one would want to. Examples are introducing tens-frames or the part-part-whole written representation in Reception.

Some of the discussions have echoes for me of the word ‘pace’, which was previously introduced as an essential part of mathematics lessons and that seems, for good reason, to have bitten the dust with the advent of teaching that focuses on building depth and understanding – which takes time.

I remain evangelical (yes, that is the word) about building adults’ confidence to craft and integrate playful, meaningful mathematical explorations into Reception and Y1 (actually any year group, but for the purpose of this blog let’s stick to Reception and Y1). Now it seems that R and Y1 are merely a preparatory period for the years that follow.

No.

We are Human Beings, not Human Be-comings.

I currently see early years pedagogy being dismantled, rubbished and ignored, both overtly and subtly, by those in positions of educational influence, and even by those in organisations that purport to support teachers in increasing the appreciation of the power and wonder of mathematics at all levels of schooling. And it is ostensibly in the name of achievement.

This is the completely wrong track to be on. To be ‘ready’ for later mathematics, our Reception and Y1 children need to be doing, with delight and gusto, that which is appropriate NOW. Pouring, jumping, mixing, collecting, hiding, chatting… (fill in your own preferred tasks).

‘Being ready’ mathematically is about entitlement. Reception and Y1 mathematics needs to consist of rich, playful, broad, deep and fun-filled experiences, indoors and out, supported by confident adults excited about what their children bring to their new learning, and who are able to build upon that.

‘Being ready’ is about agreeing the minimum requirements mathematically for all children in R – with no one left behind. And we start the year with a group with a good base knowledge. It’s about deep knowledge of numbers to ten, it really is not about introducing a tens-frame or a written method a year early.

Please take some time to discuss ‘being ready’ with your whole staff. I will be doing so with the early years groups I work with over the next weeks and months.

Or we are in danger, in the words of @RuthSwailes, of being ever more ready for death.