Combine family fun and learning – take your child out to the ball game and jump-start math skills! Baseball is rich in mathematical experiences and teachable moments, two major ways that preschoolers understand math.

 

by Joan M. Thomas

Having fun at a baseball game with friends and family is one of those memorable experiences that children can hold dear forever. In later years, they may not even remember the first time they played or watched a game, no more than they remember when they first grasped the meaning of one–two–three. But equating learning with having fun is a particularly good thing.

Children as young as 3 or 4 can catch baseball fever as easily as a cold. It can be just as simple for them to get into math. For learning the one–two–three’s of baseball can aid them in their journey toward understanding the basics of math. As with anything else, once they’ve nailed down the basics, the rest will likely follow.

Mary Mickelson, who taught in the Ferguson Florissant School District in Missouri for more than 20 years, has an acute grasp of baseball as well as early learning patterns. Her husband, Ed Mickelson, was a minor league baseball star, and even had a short major league career. In the 1950s, he played for two different St. Louis clubs, the Cardinals and the Browns. (He tells his story in his book, Out of the Park: Memoir of a Minor League Baseball Player, published by McFarland.)

Mary points to three ways that preschoolers begin to understand math: 1) object handling, 2) mathematical experiences, and 3) teachable moments. Baseball is especially rich in the latter two. And for preschoolers, the quintessential mathematical experience is counting.

Counting through a game

As a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics report, Early Childhood: Where Learning Begins - Mathematics - June 1999, asserts, “Counting and becoming familiar with numbers will help your children understand all other aspects of math.”

It is natural for children to want to count. Howard Gardner, the originator of the theory of multiple intelligences, once said, “Preschoolers see the world as an arena for counting. Children want to count everything.” They can count items like the peas on their plates, building blocks, and balls. Then, they can further that enjoyment of counting through experiences like watching or participating in a baseball game.

Part of the allure of our national game is that one can appreciate it from so many facets. Veteran aficionados seriously concentrate on every play and every call. More casual observers drink in the ambiance and revel in rooting for the home team. Most children fall into the second category. Still, with their propensity for counting, a ball game provides them with all kinds of experiential opportunities.

Children can count the players on the field wearing the same kind of uniform. They may start to correlate counting one, two, three with the number of chances a batter gets—and the number of outs a side gets.

And the experiences go beyond counting. Though children might not yet recognize number symbols, they will notice the pattern of the scoreboard and a fan’s scorecard, and later realize why the term “top or bottom” of an inning is used. That could work as an initial lesson on fractions—the top half and the bottom half. Plus, that is one way they can learn the practical use of numbers.

Seize the moment

Teachable moments occur, Mary Mickelson says, when a child asks a question. Say the little tyke wants to know when the game will be over so he can go home. That is one golden “teachable moment.” The adult can point to the scoreboard and explain that after there are numbers in at least nine boxes, the game should be over. That allows a sense of time and progression.

Adults need to realize that little children are still learning the fundamentals. Listening to what children say will often shed light on what they do not yet understand. Mary suggests that people who come to loathe math may have lost their natural math curiosity because at some point someone failed to listen.

Mary Mickelson tells about a kid on a team that her husband coached. A good player, the boy started to calculate his own stats, and remarked, “I like baseball. It makes you think.”

When you get a child started thinking, the sky is the limit. And baseball presents the opportunity to investigate every field of math, including physics. No matter who wins the game, baseball is a winner for parenting children.

Children’s baseball books abound

To enhance a child’s basic understanding of baseball, there are a number of good books available at stores and over the internet.

James Buckley’s Baseball 1-2-3 board book is for infants or preschool children. About it, the publisher says, “Kids’ natural interest in baseball combines with their curiosity about counting…”

My Baseball Book, by Gail Gibbons, for ages 3 to 7, gives a clear explanation with words and illustrations. It includes details like the components of a baseball diamond, a shape the youngster will come to appreciate. The young reader can count the nine members of each team depicted. And as baseball lends itself to numbers, they are used throughout the book.

Another book, geared to ages 5 to 8, is Baseball Counting Book by Barbara McGrath. It uses numbers one to 20 to introduce the game of baseball.

 

The author of three books, freelance writer and historian Joan M. Thomas also enjoys writing feature stories and essays on current topics. Born in Carroll, Iowa, she now lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, Bob, and canine pal, Sasha.

© Photo by Ben Blankenburg | Dreamstime.com