There is no doubt that language is crucial to children’s mathematical development. If they don’t have the vocabulary to talk about multiplication, or statistics, or division, then they will find it very difficult to make progress in their understanding and knowledge of these areas.

The first National Numeracy Strategy highlighted several reasons why children don’t respond in the classroom or do not complete tasks successfully. These include:

1. Not understanding the spoken or written instructions, such as ‘find two different ways,’ or ‘circle the even numbers’.

2. Not being familiar with the mathematical vocabulary, such as ‘product’, ‘quadrant’ or ‘perimeter’.

3. Being confused about everyday terms that have a similar, though more precise meaning in maths, such as, ‘area’, ‘table’ or ‘factor’.

It is not just in the early years that children need plenty of opportunity to develop their mathematical vocabulary. Throughout the primary years children need to be given oral work based on practical activities as well as opportunities to read aloud and write in a variety of ways using this language.

Having vocabulary displayed in the classroom is a great way to help children to become familiar with the language of mathematics and our latest resources can help with this. With over 30 sets of words linked to different aspects of the curriculum, they can be printed and cut out to display on classroom walls at the most relevant times of each term. Why not take a look now at our superb sets of mathematics vocabulary display pages, available in two sizes.