During Kindergarten, the main focus of instructional time should be on two important areas: (1) comparing and representing whole numbers using sets of objects; (2) explaining shapes and space. Kindergarten should focus more on teaching numbers than other subjects with additional learning time.
Students utilize numbers, including written numerals, to symbolize amounts and address quantitative issues, like tallying objects in a group; tallying out a specified amount of objects; contrasting sets or numerals; and simulating basic combining and separating scenarios with sets of objects, or later on with equations like 5 + 2 = 7 and 7 – 2 = 5. Kindergarten students can be shown addition and subtraction equations, and it is recommended that they practice writing equations, although it is not mandatory. Students select, merge, and utilize efficient methods for solving mathematical problems, such as promptly identifying the quantities of small groups of items, counting and generating sets of specific sizes, totaling objects in merged sets, or determining the remaining objects in a set after some are removed.
